DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY THAT?
By David J. Batty
88 pages. £6.00 inc. p&p
Published by the author and available from 18 Priory Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 7NE
Mr. Batty has written this slim volume out of a concern for the right handling of the Scriptures. He is aware that Christians can so easily bring their assumptions to the text of the Bible and, instead of actually reading what is there lay a wrong interpretation on the passage.
He is an advocate for a slow, careful, assumption-free reading of the Word.
He demonstrates his key principle by looking at 12 diverse subjects. They range from ‘in order to be saved we must accept Jesus as our personal Saviour’ to ‘not all Jesus’s words are to be taken literally’.
So, as we gaily sail across the ocean of biblical interpretation, this book is a shot across our bows that reminds us not to impose our loose mental framework on the actual meaning of Scripture. It is an easy-to-understand volume and a salutary reminder of our obligation to handle the Bible accurately.
I found myself trying to assess how many points out of 12 I got on Mr. Batty’s right interpretation scale.
