ESV
Finding the Reformed Favorites
If you spend any time reading blogs with a Reformed bent, you know that there are certain characterizations that can be made: we like the English Standard Version, the Puritans, John Piper, and complementarianism, among many other (sometimes stereotypical) distinctives.
Lately I’ve been realizing how funny it is that I sort of stumbled upon a lot of these likings without even realizing they were hallmarks of my theological persuasion. I guess that is probably what happened to a lot of us!
The English Standard Version. I’ve detailed my history with this version before. But in brief, I’ll just say that I learned about the ESV in high school. My uncle and aunt tried to convince my family to buy into it.
The Puritans. I knew about Jonathan Edwards because of John Piper’s emphasis on him, but I was never a big fan. In my J-term class this past January, I did a twenty-page review of Puritan literature, a subject I selected because it sounded vaguely interesting. Then I realized how very much I admired the Puritans, and since then have loved reading more about them. I’ve also discovered that a lot of other Reformed people love the Puritans!
John Piper. I think I learned about him from my dad, who liked Desiring God and Don’t Waste Your Life. He read some of Don’t Waste Your Life to us, again, when I was in high school. I love that book. From there I began accessing Desiring God’s online resources, and have been so blessed by them.
Complementarianism. My history with this is kind of complicated, actually. My extended family has a background with it that I can’t really get into. But suffice it to say that from a very young age I have believed in the complementary order - without knowing to call it that, or before I ever heard of CBMW.
It’s been fun finding an online community that shares my affinity for these particular aspects of our faith. More than that, I love challenging and being challenged in the essential elements of the faith - the gospel and the cross, Scripture, the church, etc. Good times are had by all!
Politically Correct Scripture
My favorite Bible translation is the English Standard Version. I like it because it combines accuracy with readability. I like to read the ESV Blog occasionally, and yesterday I noticed a good post there. It was about how different passages of the Bible are viewed as “difficult” or “problematic” in different historical periods.
For example, in the Victorian period (late 1800s and early 1900s), atheists often complained that the Bible was not outspoken enough about the dangers of alcohol.
Isn’t it interesting how we think the Bible should fit our cultural standards? Two modern-day examples come to mind:
- Evangelical feminism. This arose in response to secular feminism. Suddenly biblical scholars were finding more “correct” and “contemporary” ways of interpreting Scripture in regard to women’s roles.
- Homos*xuality. Now that it is more accepted in the culture, some scholars have scrambled to find ways to reinterpret passages that have traditionally been interpreted as calling homos*xuality sin.
The moral of the story is, let’s not fall prey to the temptation to make the Bible say just what we want it to say for our time. The Bible is not always going to be politically correct. It certainly wasn’t when it was originally written!
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I'm Anna. I'm 22. I love reading and writing. I'm a recent college graduate living at home. And I hope you are blessed by what you read here.