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You can find previous episodes of “The Stone Chapel Podcast” at Lanier Theological Library.
“The Stone Chapel Podcast” is part of the ChurchLeaders Podcast Network.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and space.
Andrew Abernethy
Hi. I’m Andrew Abernethy, Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College.
David Capes
Dr. Andrew Abernethy, welcome to “The Stone Chapel Podcast.”
Andrew Abernethy
It’s great to join you, David. Thanks for having me on.
David Capes
It’s great to see you. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you. Since the last time we met and talked you have become the president of the Institute for Biblical Research, which is close to my heart and to that of many, many other people. So congratulations.
Andrew Abernethy
Thank you. I love IBR and am honored to be able to provide some service over the next three or six years.
David Capes
Well, in a minute, we’re going to talk about your book “Savoring Scripture: A Six-Step Guide to Studying the Bible.” But before we do that, let’s tell people a little bit about who you are. For those who don’t know, who is Andy Abernethy?
Andrew Abernethy
The first thing people notice about me is I’m pretty tall. I’m six foot, five inches. So I have people who have either talked to me over Zoom or see my picture online, they’re like, “Whoa, you’re way taller than I thought you’d be.” With my height and growing up in a basketball family, basketball is something I enjoy. I used to play three days a week, and then the body says only one day a week.
David Capes
One day a week and ibuprofen. You have to ibuprofen to do that?
Andrew Abernethy
That’s right. It’s not pretty, but I still enjoy it. I am Professor of Old Testament here at Wheaton College. I teach range of classes, from classes on biblical interpretation to courses in Hebrew and book studies in Hebrew and survey courses. I’m married to my beautiful wife named Katie. We had our 15th year anniversary over the summer. The Lord’s blessed us with three kids, and we’ve got a dog named Coby who likes to swallow socks. You know, he has thrown up socks, and one got stuck in his intestine. We thought he was going to need a big surgery, but somehow it got through there.
David Capes
Yes, these things shall pass, right?
Andrew Abernethy
Right! These things shall pass. So that’s a little bit about me.
David Capes
You have been quite a well-known scholar in your own right, particularly on the book of Isaiah, and we’re going to talk about that on the Exegetically Speaking Podcast. But this is your first time to be on our podcast here at the Lanier Theological Library, which is a podcast about really good books and important books and you’ve done that with this particular book. It’s called “Savoring Scripture, A Six-Step Guide to Studying the Bible.” It’s published by InterVarsity Press.
Andrew Abernethy
Yes, it’s been out about two years. You mentioned I’m an Isaiah scholar, and a lot of the books and articles I’ve written up to this point in my career have been either just for academics or for the seminary trained pastors or students. Sometimes I’ll post on Facebook about a book that’s out there. I’ll have long-lost friends from high school say I’m going to buy your book. But I will quickly have to say, “No, please don’t buy my books.”
But this is a book that I’ve written that’s really for people of all backgrounds. Whether it’s someone new to theological study and wanting to think more carefully about how to study the Scriptures, or more of a lay person or pastor. I’ve even had a number of academic colleagues read through this book and describe it as an invitation to what Paul Ricoeur refers to as a second naivete, like a kind of chance to re-engage reading scripture with a child-like posture. It’s a way that recovers a delight in reading scripture and meeting with God through it. So, I’ve seen it hit people in different sorts of ways since it’s been out there, and so I’m honored to be on “The Stone Chapel Podcast” to share more about this book.
David Capes
Well, it will go out to a lot of people who will go out and buy it, because they’d like to know how to read the Bible better themselves. They would like to know, is there a process by which we can engage the Scripture in a more meaningful way. And that’s in a sense, what you’ve done and you’ve put it on a shelf that a lot of people can get to. That may include some of those people on Facebook who are your friends from many years ago. One of the chapters that fascinated me early on is the chapter on posture. One of the first things to talk about is “posture” because that seems to be important from the way you approach it.
Andrew Abernethy
Yes. First, let me describe what “posture” is, and then maybe describe a little bit about what’s behind it. By posture I’m thinking about whether there could be a posture of heart and mind that actually positions us well to receive and hear from God as we read the scriptures. Usually, if you’re studying in a book of the Bible, or in a biblical interpretation class, the first step is analyze or examine or observe. But I think when we’re trying to create an approach to study in the Bible that aligns with the nature of the Bible itself, I think posture is the right way.
One of the passages that really is meaningful to me personally, is from Matthew’s Gospel. We all know the part where Jesus says “come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I’ll give you rest”. But right before that, Jesus says that he’s praising God that he’s hidden from the wise and the learned, and instead, is making this known to little children, for such is the pleasure of God. So Jesus is pointing us to this realization that those who are going about life thinking that they’ve got it all figured out, that they’re intellectual so saying if anybody’s going to understand this passage, it’s me. I’ve got a PhD, or I’ve been studying this stuff. Jesus turns that on its head and says, you know, actually, the father takes pleasure in helping people truly understand they are the “little children”. This is reflected in the disciples, these fishermen, these tax collectors, these unexpected people you see being invited into the mix and coming to know who Jesus is. I lean into this invitation to a childlike posture as a starting point for coming before God, acknowledging our need for God through the Holy Spirit to truly help us know him through studying the Word.
