Why do many Christians elevate the practice of "quiet time": isolated, often hurried and brief daily Bible-reading? Jen Wilkin—author, speaker, and leader of many Bible studies—challenges this practice. She believes that, rather than instilling deep Bible literacy, the typical "quiet time" encourages shallow reading and pursuit of instant gratification in the form of cheap satisfaction or vague encouragement at the expense of comprehension.
Reading any book this way would not yield a thorough grasp of its themes, narrative, characters, and worldview, Jen says, so why read the Bible this way? While affirming its inerrancy, Jen cautions against treating Scripture like a magic 8-ball. The practice of quiet time is indeed formative, but not necessarily for the better. She proposes an alternative method of Bible study involving, among other things, extended (if not daily) reading and regular input from other careful Scripture-readers.
Show notes:
Credits for the music used in TBM podcast can be found at: hebraicthought.org/credits.
Rituals Teach: Why We Can’t Ignore Leviticus (Mark Scarlata)
Update: Now Accepting Questions for Upcoming Q&A Episodes!
What Can Non-Jewish Clergy Learn from Jewish Studies? (Jeff Jacoby)
The Sexual Reformation: What Does the Bible Actually Say about Gender? (Aimee Byrd)
A Look Back at Rethinking ’Quiet Time’ (Jen Wilkin)
Beyond Bible Study: From Consumers to Participants (Caroline Smiley and Kyle Worley)
What Do Rituals ’Do,’ and What Makes a Ritual Sacred? (Ben Noonan)
The True Causes and Purposes of Religious Doubt (Matthew LaPine)
Love Enemies Better through Knowing the Biblical Land (Danielle Parish)
Still Trying to Find Yourself? Try Losing It First (Alan Noble)
The Church Needs African Hermeneutics (Liz Mburu)
The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America (Aaron Griffith)
Extreme Violence, Nahum, and Reconciliation in the Congo (Jacob Onyumbe Wenyi)
What Biblical Racial Reconciliation Actually Looks Like (Anthony Bradley)
The Torah Is Not a Law Book (Jerry Unterman)
No One Asks for Forgiveness in the Bible? (Joshua Berman)
African Americans Understood Paul‘s Words While Slave Owners Twisted Them (Lisa Bowens)
What Are Sermons for, and How Can They Be Improved? (Jonathan Pennington)
Three Grinches in a Pod: Complicating Christmas
Toward an Integrated Liturgy of Work and Worship (Matthew Kaemingk)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
강유원의 책담화冊談話
The Art of Manliness
Cult of Conspiracy
Through the Word
Dear Hank & John