by D. A. Carson<\/p>\n
“If you approach the Bible with a certain amount of skepticism, it’s pretty easy to be guilty of having the uncertainty seep over into outright skepticism, unbelief, and criticism. If, on the other hand, you approach the Word of God with a certain reverence, then even when you don’t understand, you might at least say, “Well, I don’t have this figured out, but if there’s one author behind the whole thing, it must make sense in the mind of God. I just wish I understood it a little better,” which is at least a more humble approach to the text.<\/p>\n
“Even at the human level, you must surely assume the New Testament writers were not twits, really stupid. Even with that amount of respect, it pays to listen and listen and listen and think through things again.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
“O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way<\/em>” (Psalms 119:97-104).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by D. A. Carson “If you approach the Bible with a certain amount of skepticism, it’s pretty easy to be guilty of having the uncertainty seep over into outright skepticism, unbelief, and criticism. If, on the other hand, you approach the Word of God with a certain reverence, then even when you don’t understand, you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[913,1079,1065],"class_list":["post-70523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible-study","tag-reverence","tag-skeptics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42866,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/reverence\/","url_meta":{"origin":70523,"position":0},"title":"Reverence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 89:1-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hebrews 12:28-29 - Offer service to God with reverence and godly fear \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reverence means \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cA feeling of profound awe and respect and often love; veneration.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The word literally means \u201cwith downcast eyes\u201d or bashfulness. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Psalms 2:11 - Serve God with fear, rejoice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/worship-in-reverence\/","url_meta":{"origin":70523,"position":1},"title":"Worship in Reverence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by David A. Cox via Market Street Messenger \"By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified\" (Leviticus 10:3). It is easy to come to worship without thinking deeply about why we gather. For many, attending services has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/flip-flops-short-shorts-and-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":70523,"position":2},"title":"Flip-Flops, Short Shorts and Worship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles Box Our dress in worship is not a \"fashion show.\" But, is it possible to become too casual, too indiscreet, or too revealing in our manner of dress when we gather for worship? Recently, we were visiting a Wednesday night church service, and near us sat a girl\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60526,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/true-reverence-for-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":70523,"position":3},"title":"True Reverence for God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gilbert Alexander A man dressed in splendid robes, with chains of gold about his neck and a great ring of gold on his finger, stands before a multitude of people, an ornate miter upon his head. In one hand, he holds a golden censer with burning incense in it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Pope-300x242.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40019,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/come-as-you-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":70523,"position":4},"title":"Come as You Are","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dan Gatlin A popular notion of our generation is \"attend the church of your choice.\"\u00a0 Sectarian bodies, promoting this concept, have tried to make themselves as attractive as possible to the general population in order to increase their membership.\u00a0 There are some churches that focus on a particular group\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36170,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-science-and-skepticism\/","url_meta":{"origin":70523,"position":5},"title":"The Bible, Science, and Skepticism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Psalm 33:4-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A literal reading of the Bible tells us that God created the world, that the universe was created in six days, and the world is about 6,000 years old. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet the literal reading is often rejected, not on the basis of Scriptural teachings, but because it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}