Voxbiblia's blog

It looks like I haven’t been keeping to my monthly blogterview goal :S I do apologize. But if it’s any comfort, you can pop over to my personal blog to take a peek at what controversies I’ve been churning out.

But I haven’t been completely inactive! For this month’s blogterview, we have Mark V Hoffman, a pastor and professor who blogs at Biblical Studies and Technological Tools. Mark also previously hosted a travel seminary to Turkey and Greece in 2004, and will be organizing another trip early next year.

Read some of Mark’s favourite verses that have followed him through the years here.

HH: Thanks for setting aside time from your busy schedule for this interview! I know you have been rather busy, and have recently taught an intensive Greek intro class, so I really appreciate the extra effort!

For starters, tell us about yourself – Why did you choose to leave behind your engineering route and become a pastor?

Mark: The accurate answer is that I didn’t choose to become a pastor, but God chose me! I switched from an Engineering to Religious Studies major as a sophomore at the University of Illinois, but I did not do so joyfully. I had been raised in a church-going family and attended parochial grade school from 2nd-8th grade with Bible and catechism memory work every day. That shaped me in important ways, but somehow I had perceived that being a Christian was something of a burden which mainly was about being good and trying to be better. I chose engineering because of the job prospects.

I was starting to get into Computer Science (and the UofI was a pioneer on the AARPNET and video terminals, so it was an exciting time), but there was that the nagging thought that I ought to be doing something more significant. I went through some personal and spiritual searching once I started taking Bible and religion courses in that secular and academic setting. It certainly was not like I had been taught back in parochial grade school! It really wasn’t until seminary that I discovered the joy of being called to a pastoral ministry, and I realized that it had been God directing my life all along. It’s wonderful to find what I get to do instead of being burdened with the stuff I thought I had to do.

HH: Pastoral leadership is quite a heavy responsibility. What encourages you to keep on going?

Mark: It’s a bit different now teaching at a seminary, but I was a parish pastor for 14 years before starting at Gettysburg. I do understand my teaching position as my ministry calling, and there are “heavy responsibilities” both in the parish and the seminary. What keeps me going? Foremost, I enjoy what I’m doing, and all along I’ve felt like I’ve been doing what I should be doing. There are great rewards in making connections with people and being part of their life and faith journeys, whether it’s sharing Communion with someone hungry for God’s presence or having a student come to some exegetical insight. Both as pastor and professor, it’s an awesome and amazing responsibility to have people trust me and think that I can provide guidance. I really have a blast teaching, but one thing I miss from the parish is the opportunity to be involved in people’s lives from birth to death. Not many vocations offer that range of interaction with all the joys and sorrows that mark the steps of people’s lives.

HH: I see that you hosted a travel seminar to Turkey and Greece in 2004 and are going again early next year. What are the trip highlights?

Mark: We have added some new stops on our upcoming trip, but of the places I’ve visited, I most enjoy Ephesus, Philippi, and Corinth. Part of their appeal is simply their close connection with Paul, but it is also partly because these sites have enough restored that you kind of get a feel for the place and can stand in spots mentioned in the New Testament. I’m thinking of places like the agora in Philippi (Acts 17) or the bêma in Corinth (Acts 18) or the theater in Ephesus (Acts 19). In addition to these significant sites, I also enjoy interacting with the people and cultures of Turkey and Greece and eating their food!

HH: In your opinion, how important is it for the average Christian to understand Scripture? In our previous interview with Julie Ferwerda, she expressed her belief that the lay person should study texts in Greek and Hebrew with the help of simple tools, and not simply rely on scholars or theologians to interpret it for them. Would you agree with her? If so, what tools would you recommend to help someone get started?

Mark: Well, the obvious answer is that it is very important for the average Christian to understand Scripture. I suspect your real question is about the level of expertise in reading Scripture that we might hope or expect the average Christian to have. I may be a ‘professional’ in the field of biblical studies, but my goal is not simply to be an answer repository for the questions the average Christian may have. Instead, my goal is to equip my students (either at seminary or in a congregation) to ask the right questions and know how to go about getting answers for themselves. I am aware that a little knowledge can be dangerous, and I have most often encountered this problem in faulty exegetical claims made by preachers (who hopefully have received original language training).

Nonetheless, I think it is worthwhile and important for every Christian to read the Bible with understanding, and that is going to require some engagement with the original languages. Technology—by which I mean Bible software and online resources—has made this possible in a way that we couldn’t do 10 years or so ago. I think the way to come at this for most people is to compare English translations, using a variety of literal and dynamic/functional ones. (I also encourage people to use Eugene Peterson’s The Message. I realize that it can only loosely be called a translation, but, besides its readability, Peterson really did work with the Hebrew and Greek.) A careful comparison of the English versions will usually highlight when there is a difficulty in the original texts, be it a text critical or translation issue, and that’s when a person can start doing some work in the original languages. The notes in The NET Bible and its online counterpart are particularly helpful at pointing out such textual matters that need to be considered.

I’ve tried to compile a web page guide of “Suggested Resources for Basic Bible Study” and another one for “Technological Resources for Studying and Teaching Scripture” that should get people started in the right direction, and many of these resources are free or low-cost.

HH: Based on your background in computer studies, what do you think of Voxbiblia? Despite seeing a push towards encouraging Christians to study the Bible in depth, a large number of Christians barely find the time or motivation to really understand the Bible. Voxbiblia tries to cater to this by allowing users to sort and search for passages that relate to their present circumstances. Do you think this feature is useful?

Mark: I commend Voxbiblia for its mission of using “the most advanced technology to bring down the thresholds to Bible usage.” Its focus on providing the Bible in audio makes it somewhat distinctive, but the “Thematical Bible Albums” is probably what makes it unique. For people who don’t know where to start with Bible reading this thematic approach can be quite helpful.

It also reminds me of a Bible I once had that a page of references for “When you are…” which included a list of situations or emotions. I suspect many people have something going on in their lives that has motivated them to think about looking in the Bible for insight. You won’t necessarily get to the passages in the Bible that might be most helpful simply by doing a word search on “grief,” for example. Developing a more extensive repertoire of such thematic approaches is a good direction for Voxbiblia to take.

HH: We’re also trying to develop a more extensive repertoire, so if anyone is interested in sharing and building our thematic library with us, please let us know! We’d appreciate it!

HH: And so, a final question to lighten the mood of this interview – If you could sit down and have a cuppa tea with anyone in the Bible, who would it be?

Mark: Being a New Testament scholar, I’ll limit my range to NT people, and I will eliminate the most obvious choices of Jesus or Peter or John or Paul. A person who intrigues me is Barnabas. He is first mentioned in Acts 4.36, so he was part of the earliest community of believers. He travelled all around the Roman Empire with Paul and seems to have been well connected with both the Jerusalem community and the Pauline communities. Paul appears to have had a falling out with him (Acts 15.39 and Gal 2.13), but I think it’s because Barnabas was trying to mediate between the competing factions. I suspect he would be far more pleasant company for tea than Paul!

HH: Once again, thank you for spending time to give our readers a little peek into your life! I hope your Greek class went well!

Interview by Chong Hui Hui
Marketing & Communications Manager of Voxbiblia.com

Yes, I know it’s supposed to be a monthly blogterview series. But I hope this interview totally makes up for it!

Julie Ferwerda is one of my favourite bloggers – her blog (http://www.julieferwerda.com/) is down-to-earth, heartwarming, inspiring, and truly reflects how God is embedded into every part of her life. This month, I was privileged to be able to interview her for our blogterview series! (Yes, it’s a long read, but it’s truly enjoyable and filled with many interesting bits, so read on!)

Read some of Julie’s favourite verses that have inspired her and kept her going through tough times here!

HH: Thanks for agreeing to be Voxbiblia’s second interviewee. I’ve only recently discovered your blog, but it is beautifully crafted and I’m already addicted to it. I find myself having to stop myself from reading what you write – there’s so much to read! – and get on with my other tasks!

Julie: Thank you so much Chris…I appreciate your wonderful feedback and kind words!

HH: Tell us more about yourself – I know you’ve already given a great intro on your blog, but it’d be lovely if you could give us some insight into how you came to Christ, and how He became such a huge part of your life.

Julie: I love the verse, Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” I have come to understand that truly no one “comes to Christ” because we all start out wandering and lost (Isaiah 53:6). There are three parables back to back in Luke 15—the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. They all tell the same story—each is sought after UNTIL it is found. All people have been created in the image of God, and all are that coin, that sheep, and that son.

To answer your question as to my personal journey, it has been a process of learning truth and being set free to know and love God in stages. As a young child I put my faith in Christ for saving me from my sins. As a young adult I surrendered myself as much as I could, considering my flawed understanding of God and areas of distrust. After a few more years of wandering in the wilderness of holding back on God and trying to create my own “Promised Land,” I began to really learn who God is in that desert because I had nowhere else to go. That’s when I experienced His faithfulness and was able to surrender all. Since then, life has been an amazing journey of living by faith. It has been a great adventure! Since He found me and brought me “home,” He has never let me down.

HH: Bible study is a tough number for many Christians – It requires dedicating time and effort, and it’s just so convenient to say “I’ll do it tomorrow”. How did you get started on Bible study, and how would you encourage someone to start doing it regularly?

Julie: The best way I know of is to read through the Bible in a year and commit to doing it for at least two years. I did this for 8 years and used the One Year Bible, divided into 15 minutes of reading each day in the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. I liked this a lot because when I came to a difficult book (like Leviticus), I still had three other places that were relevant and easy to understand. But some people don’t like jumping around, so there are many reading plans to choose from.

In my opinion, the most accurate modern, popular version is the NASB, but the NLT is the easiest to understand and GREAT for beginners. The Bible looks so different when you put it all together. You begin to see themes emerging, you begin to see God’s bigger plan for mankind, and naturally you get excited about digging in deeper. Anybody who really wants to grow in relationship with God can set aside 15 minutes a day to read. And getting into the Word is like priming a pump—it takes water to get more water! Start reading, and watch God put desire in your heart to know Him more and search out His mysteries.

For those who might be interested, I wrote a commentary for the One Year Bible last year that explains the text with deeper insights and I am happy to share it. It reveals symbolism, historical and ancient Hebrew perspectives, themes, and many other insights.

HH: You mentioned that some areas of personal passion in Bible study are Hebrew perspectives and the bigger picture of the Scriptures as offered throughout OT symbolism – Would you like to elaborate more on that?

Julie: As I have begun to study from a Hebrew perspective, I realize that the Western application of the Bible is completely missing the boat. This is really why you see a spectrum of zealous scholars who insist on many dogmas and doctrines, yet none of them agree. If you start a book mid story, and you don’t go back to read the first few chapters, you can pretty much make up your own context and base the rest of the story on false presumptions and errors.

The fact is, the Scriptures contain a Story (His-Story) about a plan of ages. It just like any great novel—there are characters, a plot, a villain, a hero, tension, conflict, mystery, romance, and a happily ever after. But the first half of His Story (the OT) is much different than we have been taught. This is due to a couple thousand years of the development of misinformation and human agenda (much like the telephone game where a story changes after being retold several times). The OT (Old Testament) is rife with critical symbolism and critical details of the Story, and ancient Hebrew perspectives are vital for unlocking the meaning for us.

I will give a couple brief, tangible examples. First is the Abrahamic Covenant. Nobody in church today talks about the Abrahamic Covenant, yet it is foundational to God’s plan for mankind. It is a unilateral covenant, meaning that God “signed it” for both Himself and mankind. He will be faithful to fulfill it regardless of the actions of men:

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. …Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed…” Gen 12:3, 18:18

Now, if you were someone who had never read the Bible and you were not indoctrinated to see it through certain lenses, and you read those two verses, what would they be saying to you about God’s plan for mankind?

Here is one more of many examples. One of the most dangerous and ridiculous doctrines of the modern church is the doctrine of “free will.” You will not find one ounce of support that man has “free will” in the way that the Church teaches today. Free will would imply that man can change destiny for himself and for others, against the will and plan of God. If Adam was exercising this type of free will when he sinned, and God had to come up with a plan B, then what’s to keep mankind from messing up plan B? And then plan C? The truth is, Adam and Eve fulfilled plan A, and plan A will continue on schedule until the last chapter of this Story (Rev. 22). God frequently declares throughout Scripture that everything is ultimately under His control, not the control of man. “Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, from ancient times I planned it” (Is. 37:26).

What God did give to mankind, in different, individual proportions, is called, “dominion.” This is basically the influence that God allows each person to have over his or her environment, but it is completely limited. Sure, it involves a measure of choice, but ultimately, that choice cannot cross a set boundary. This is the meaning of the parable of the talents that Jesus taught. To each is given so many talents—or so much influence and impact—and each is responsible for what they do with that influence. Investing it in heavenly things (loving God and people) multiplies the return, investing it in earthly things (loving yourself) brings about discipline and great loss.

HH: Are Bible translations important to you? You’ve expressed that lay people are qualified to study Greek and Hebrew texts – If people have studied Bible texts in its original form, do translations still matter?

Julie: Well, first of all, there is no “original form” in our world today. The earliest manuscripts are not available, so even in the Greek and Hebrew, we are operating on copies of copies of copies, etc. Most Christians teach that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God (on practically all doctrinal statements), yet even pastors learn in seminary many glaring errors and inconsistencies that they don’t bother to inform their congregations. In essence, they are living a lie to do this because, though they are aware of the contrary, they require their congregations to agree to the inerrancy of their Bibles.

If you try to question inerrancy with most Christians, they quote Matthew 5:18 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17, saying that God promised to preserve His Word. But if you actually read these verses, you will find no such guarantee. In fact, a simple comparison of different Bible versions will reveal many bold contradictions (compare Philippians 2:6 between KJV and NASB)! Is there evidence that this would happen? Consider Jeremiah 8:7-9:

“But My people do not know the ordinance of the LORD. How can you say, `We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, and what kind of wisdom do they have?” Jeremiah 8:7-9 (NAS)

At closer inspection, it becomes clear that all versions of the Bible are corrupted in various places—whether through innocent errors of interpretation or in many cases, blatant human agenda. Was God sleeping when this happened? Was it another plan B? On the contrary, He planned it this way. Proverbs 2:1-5 says IF we seek for understanding as if looking for buried treasure, THEN we will find the knowledge of God. Many times in the NT Jesus talked about hiding truth from the crowds, as well as the scholarly, learned, religious leaders of the day and revealing it to the childlike. It is still the same today. God has allowed His Word to be “shrouded” so that those who seek Him “in Spirit and in truth” would find Him, while those who take a lazy, half-hearted approach, or those who are full of pride in their knowledge, would not.

It is important to understand that lay people (average Joes) can certainly study the Hebrew and Greek texts with success. It is no accident that God chose Greek for one of the Scripture languages because it was the common people’s language of the day, was understood in the inhabited world, and has maintained meaning in the last 2-3 thousand years. Also important to note is that the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament Greek Septuagint. I believe this is significant. You can find the Greek Septuagint today and it is, in my opinion, a critical study tool because of the consistency of words, phrases, and themes between OT and NT (http://www.apostolicbible.com/index.htm).

So how do we distinguish truth from error if we don’t have a single, unadulterated Bible or manuscript to turn to? For honest seekers, very first is to learn Hebrew perspectives on the Bible so that the correct foundation is laid for understanding the symbolic pictures of the Old Testament and for understanding the bigger picture of God’s plan for the story of the ages. One of my favorite Hebrew teachers is Mark Biltz at ElShaddaiMinistries.us. Second, it’s important to compare different translations (i.e. KJV, NASB, Hebrew and Greek Interlinear Bibles*, Septuagint LXX) to see which wording from any given passage fits into the bigger picture of God’s plan. Ultimately, it is not an exact science, and MUST be Spirit-led. However, as you begin uncovering truths, the Bible begins to become an immense, multi-layered Master-Piece, much deeper and mysterious than you ever imagined! You also become more attuned to things that don’t belong.

*Free Greek/Hebrew Interlinear Bible online

HH: Here’s a work related question – Voxbiblia and Biblesearch.org has come up with an ‘album’ system, which allows people to categorize the Bible into different topics (e.g. marriage, depression, etc.) and, for Biblesearch.org, comment on them. Do you think this is useful, and would you use it?

Julie: I don’t think I would personally use it. I use concordances now for theme studies of Greek and Hebrew words and concepts. I think it’s probably a great idea for some people though who don’t know where to look for hope and encouragement.

HH: Finally, to end things off with a swing, if you could sit down and have lunch with anyone in the Bible, who would it be?

Julie: Either David or Joseph. Both of their examples/testimonies got me through the two darkest battles of my life. One was deep, life-altering sin (an affair) and the other was extreme injustice. And what is super encouraging? Someday I will be able to sit down with both of them over lunch and discuss how much their strength and example got me through this life with hope!

HH: Once again, thanks for taking time off for this interview! I really appreciate it!

Julie: My pleasure!

Let me introduce myself. I’m Hui Hui, also known as Chris, the spanking new marketing and communications manager for Voxbiblia.com. It’s a privilege and joy to be working here at Voxbiblia, where our common goal is to make the Bible more easily accessible to the masses.

Just in case you’re wondering, this blog post came about when we decided to start a blogterview series, and realised, “Horror of horrors! She hasn’t been introduced!”

Exaggerations, of course.

But yes, this explains why this post has been backdated to the time when I started at Voxbiblia. If you have been a loyal fan of our blog, we truly apologize for sneaking in a post.

Just a few snippets about me – I’m a “made in Singapore product”, which basically means that I was born in Singapore, raised on a huge variety of food from all cultures and am adept with both English and Singlish*.

*Singlish=Singaporean English, for those who are wondering

Oh yes, I can speak some Mandarin as well, but (unfortunately) it probably sounds more English than Mandarin.

So, after 15 hours on Qatar Airways, I’ve finally settled myself into a new home, here in Stockholm. I am blessed with the opportunity to work in Sweden itself during this one year period!

I’m in an exciting company with fantastic colleagues, working in a beautiful office while enjoying my Swedish meatballs. And I’m probably the luckiest girl in the world right now

Just back from the book fair in Frankfurt. Have you been there? If you have, you’ll never forget it. It is so enormous – the New York of book fairs. And just like New York, it is over-crowded, hot and full of action. The main difference is that most people speak German, and while mine is a little rusty, I still managed to get a lot out of it.

The first thought is – who are going to read all these books? Then, after a while you realize that probably you see all the major books that are brought to market at this specific moment. It is a rather mighty feeling.

Bibles? Yes, there were Bibles. Not too many of them. The Americans probably had most Bible related stands as far as I could count. But the Germans were not bad either. Even if you from time to time can feel greatful that there actually are anybody out there still, I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw from the novelty perspective.

Once again I have to make an exception for the Germans. I think the German Bible Society (www.dbg.de) and their work with www.bibelonline.de is very promising. They showed several good digital products. It felt fresh and compelling.

I was also happy to note that we got a very good reception for our thoughts concerning Voxbiblia and Biblesearch.org everywhere we went. Except for Libreria Editrice Vaticana – the Vatican Library slash publishing house (www.libreriaeditricevaticana.com). On the direct question from one of his assistants if he was interested in digital publishing the director  answered a blunt “no”.

Well, I guess there still are some souls out there to win for the digital age.

Johan Jorgensen, CEO and Founder