Thursday, April 10, 2014

My Bible

On May 29, 1979 my Granddad Carver presented me with a Scofield Reference Bible.

It was the day I graduated from college and had made the decision to follow Guy Sayles to Seminary because he'd called one day saying he thought it a good idea I attend while he was there.

Though he's long dead, I still love my Grandfather passionately.

Mr. Scofield ... not so much.

We were in Seminary Chapel one Tuesday morning singing a Hymn and I was sitting with the "Bob Dylan" brigade, a group of Hippy Seminarians who love Dylan as much as Jesus so they sang like him.

"AHHHH ... MAAZZZZ ... ing GRAAAAAACE," they belted out in the nasal, monotone kind-of-singing-but-kind-of-talking sort of way.

On this day the Bob Dylan Brigade sang/spoke a much beloved Hymn but they changed the words.

"My hope is built on nothing less ..than Scofield notes and Broadman Press."

Had I not been sitting with them I would have missed the new lyric because they were completely drowned out by the several hundred pious Seminarians who sang the actual words, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ my righteousness."

 I busted out laughing drawing the ire of several Professors sitting nearby.

The Broadman Press is the publishing company for the Southern Baptists and these same Professors had written commentaries on the books of the Bible for it.

Scofield notes appeared in 1909 and is a very fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible.

Cyrus Scofield wanted everyone to read Scriptures just like he did so he put his thoughts on the same page so you don't have to think at all about what you were reading.

Plus everything Jesus ever said is printed in red so you can't miss it.

To this day I'm not a huge fan of Cyrus ... Miley or otherwise.

Though ... had Cyrus Scofield done a naked photograph on his Bible like Miley  has on her wrecking ball ... I wonder what I would believe today?

But I'm working on something for Bar Church this weekend and grabbed my Bible to look up something and my Granddad, whom I still love passionately, was immediately raised from the dead while Sarah's gone to work out and I'm home alone.

Flipping through the Bible he gave me, there are tons of notes written in the margins and lots of Cyrus notes underlined.

My eyes grow moist.

Looking up I can see my Grandfather like I haven't in a long time.

I can hear him too.

"I never would have thought about Bar Church," he laughs because he often laughed at the way I approached faith, "but I'm proud of you and want you to do good this week. That's why I gave you that Bible."

And I baptize myself in love and tears.