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Thought for the Week

Clifton College's Chaplain, Kim Taplin, brings us his 'Thought for the Week'

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Love Story

The best book to read is the Bible.
The best book to read is the Bible.
If you read it every day,
It will help you on your way.
The best book to read is the Bible.

The words of this traditional children’s song advocate the virtues of the bestselling book of all time. It has been estimated that 5 billion copies of the Bible have been printed over the last 200 years. It is now available to read in nearly 3,000 languages.

The Bible is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 writers over a period of 1,660 years. It contains a fascinating range of literature – history, biographies, poetry, myths, legends, sagas, legal codes, liturgical hymns, parables, love songs, wise sayings, sermons, letters and visions of the future – and the secret to interpreting its message is to understand which type of story is being read at any given time.

The Bible teaches us how to be in relationship with God. It is essentially a love story. It records God’s loving and gracious actions to woo us back from unfaithfulness. It invites us to return to Eden.

The Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, was one of the most brilliant intellectuals of the twentieth century. His output of theological tomes was extensive. He was once asked if he could summarise all that he had written. Barth thought for a moment, and then quoted the children’s song:

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

8 March 2010

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