A thinking teenager asked me a thought-provoking question, "In all your years of studying the Bible have you changed any of your beliefs? If so, which ones?" This opened the floodgates of thought that led to my oral admission, "Yes. Lots of them."
But isn't this the way it ought to be? Isn't this exactly what the New Testament authors often wrote about, as encapsulated by Peter in his last divinely inspired words--"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Peter also wrote, "Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,Wasn't it Paul who wrote, "But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ."
Spiritual growth brings change because whether it's physical or spiritual, growth, means change: changed attitudes, changed lifestyles, changed beliefs as new truths in the Old Book which have been there all along leap off the page with impact on our minds and lives.
Paul sets the tone. When writing his last epistle and near death, he begs Timothy, "Bring me the books, especially the parchments." Dr. Charles Ryrie expounds on Paul's request:
"What were these books which Paul so greatly desired? Exegetical and historical works on the Old Testament, and undoubtedly nonreligious but nonetheless great literature of the world, for we know that Paul was acquainted with such.
"Now this is a most intriguing request to my way of thinking for many reasons. First, here is a widely traveled missionary who felt the need for a personal library. Second, here is the great homiletician who had barrels full of sermons and little prospect of preaching them who still needed to read and study. Third, here is a man who was not content merely with a file full of notes or a library full of books unless they were used. Fourth, here is the man who under the superintendence of the Holy Spirit wrote a fifth of the inspired books of the Bible but who still sensed his need for learning from the writings of mere men.
"I think every student and preacher should often remind himself of the well-chosen, though sarcastic, words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon who said: 'In order to be able to expound the Scriptures, and as an aid to your pulpit studies, you will need to be familiar with the commentators: a glorious army, let me tell you, whose acquaintance will be your delight and profit. Of course, you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that you can expound Scripture without assistance from the works of divines and learned men who have labored before you in the field of exposition. If you are of that opinion, pray to remain so, for you are not worth the trouble of conversion, and like a little coterie who think with you, would resent the attempt as an insult to your infallibility. It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what He has revealed to others.'
"And finally, Paul’s example reminds all of us not to neglect the ancients. Do not by-pass the worthies of yesterday for the lessers or even greats of today. I shall never forget the thrill when I began to study in the National Library of Scotland. It was surpassed perhaps only by the occasions when I used
the library of the British Museum in London.
"Practically any book that has even been published in the English speaking world, plus many others, can be found in those two libraries, and it is a genuine thrill to feel that you are sitting at the feet of all those whose books are contained in those two libraries. We do all too little reading today. Television, illustrated magazines, that which is euphemistically called visual education, discussion groups have all taken the place of plain, ordinary, but rewarding, reading.
"Discussion reaps the limited knowledge of the participants. Reading reaps the limitless knowledge of the sages and of the ages. Do not content yourselves with less than these greats. And you will find them in books. Make much of . . . the library.
". . . books so necessary, [yet] the most important thing in Paul’s mind was the parchments. Most especially, he says, using superlative and giving top priority to these parchments. What were they? Parchments were dressed skins used for writing which were first made at Pergamum. That they were used in the first century and what they were used for is attested to by no less an authority than Sir Frederic Kenyon. He declares: 'It is true that skins had been used for the reception of writing in Palestine and elsewhere at an earlier date, and from the tradition recorded in the Talmud, which required all synagogue rolls to be so written, it is fair to conclude that the Old Testament books were habitually written on skins in the first century.'
Thus although papyrus was the common material used for writing, parchment was reserved for important and precious documents, like the Scriptures. The parchments which Paul was calling for, then, were his own personal copies of Old Testament books and perhaps some New Testament fragments. These had undoubtedly been carefully collected over the years and were probably annotated in the margins by his own hand. We who can buy a Bible in any dime store can scarcely appreciate how valuable these were to Paul, though anyone who has had to discard a favorite Bible which he has carefully marked for many years can begin to understand. One thing is perfectly clear: Paul considered the sacred Scriptures his most important possession. Do you?"
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