[Other Advertisements]  [Main Page Menu]
                       Connect the Dots
                            A d v e r t i s m e n t
          A contributor, having said Frankenstein is excellent
preparation for Bible study, was invited to participate in a Bible
study program. During the introductory session, it was explained
that there were no right or wrong answers to the study questions
participants would be given each week. The majority of questions
were to be answered, using only those verses assigned for that
week. In answering “challenge” questions, which were optional,
participants were free to use verses other than the assigned verses.
     After being shown a set of study questions, our contributor
asked for clarification. “Would it be incorrect, in formulating an
answer to the fourth question, to consider verses from the sixth
chapter of Matthew?” our contributor wanted to know. It would be
incorrect, it was explained, because the fourth question was not a
“challenge” question. Only those verses from John assigned that
week were to be used in answering the fourth question. When our
contributor asked to know the reason for this rule of exclusion, our
contributor was told that the value of the rule would be something
participants would be able to understand after some weeks in the
program.
     The generously inclusive statement, that there were no right
or wrong answers to weekly Bible study questions, had been
contradicted by the answer to the above inquiry.  Although our
contributor spoke with five individuals responsible for the
program’s operation, none was able to explain why the Lord’s
Prayer or any other Biblical material ought to be excluded from
consideration in the course of Bible study. One, however, did say
that, if our contributor would wait until participants had been
assigned to discussion groups, he would be able to inform our
contributor of the discussion group leader’s attitude with regard to
the rule. Our contributor was given assurance that experiencing the
fellowship the program offered would make it worth keeping quiet
about the rule that could not be justified and which disproved the
claim of inclusiveness. This assurance, however, only evidenced the
truth of Gemellus’ dictum that “When we are afraid to speak our
minds, we have already begun to lose them.”
     This experience is related to illustrate how the tyranny of lesser
considerations continues at the cost of the greatest considerations.
The individuals representing the Bible study program spoke of
being “in the Word,”   not comprehending the depth of depravity
that comes of mistaking credulity for faith.
                                               110    [To a Candid World Menu]
             To a Candid World, Copyright 1998,  Thomas Wolfsehr