“All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” 2 Timothy 3:16
It truly was a fortuitous slip of the tongue. As the reader in the church we were attending in Texas on vacation announced the Gospel reading, he did not say, “The holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 5th chapter,” but he said instead: “The Holy Ghost according to St. Matthew, the 5th Chapter.”
And he was right. What is found in the fifth chapter of Matthew are the words of the Holy Ghost. And the sixth chapter. And the seventh.
More clearly: The entire Bible is the book of the Holy Spirit. The Bible’s words are His words. The Bible books all His books.
Now if we truly grasped that this was true, we would have a hard time reading anything else, a difficult time listening to something else. Why? When we read the Bible or hear it read to us we are encountering, literally, the words of God!
So the lectern in the sanctuary of our church. The lectern is a smaller wooden stand, the purpose of which is to hold the Word of God, God’s book, the Bible. The lectern is therefore not simply a utilitarian piece of furniture, but a symbol for what in in face conveys: God’s words to us.
So common even before the Reformation of the Church in the 16th century were lecterns in churches carved in the shape of eagles, the Bible being read, resting in its wings. The chapel of the university I attended in Germany had one such lectern.
Why an eagle? Wikipedia has a nice explanation:
“The symbolism of the eagle derived from the belief that the bird was capable of staring into the sun and that Christians similarly were able to gaze unflinchingly at the revelation of the divine word. Alternatively, the eagle was believed to be the bird that flew highest in the sky and was therefore closest to heaven, and symbolized the carrying of the word of God to the four corners of the world.”
Not every church, nowadays, has such a stand for the Bible in their sanctuary. Removing it, it is thought, eliminates questions of authority, of a book-based theology, of tricky questions about the origin of texts and the like. It is better to have a person simply read the Bible, and have those listening, believe the person, rather than the book the person is reading.
But it’s not the same, is it? We don’t believe the Word of God because someone else believes it. We believe it because it is the Word of God, His words, His speaking to us.
Yes, it IS a book. But what else SHOULD it be? A tree? A rock? Hieroglyphics scratched on a wall somewhere? Even when the actual voice of God was heard, people argued about what had happened (cf. Jn. 12:29).
So the comforting written Word of the Holy Spirit: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
