Ok, what about this for a little cheapy evangelistic book. Piggy-backing on the King James 400th anniversary, why not a short book going through some of the more famous phrases of the King James translation? A short chapter on each, building up a gospel presentation as we go.
So far I've thought of...
Let us make man in our own image
Trinity, creation, us
.
Adam knew Eve (nudge nudge)
The 'biblical sense' of know is very deep. That's the kind of sense in which we're meant to know God
.
Love thy neighbour
Love God and Love neighbour is the law. It describes the life of the Son. But it doesn't describe your life does it? What's wrong with us...
.
Money is the root of all evil
Slight misquote - the love of money is the problem. And it's a root. Money's not the only thing that captures our hearts. But that's our problem. What we love is all akimbo.
.
Scapegoat
Explain importance of substitutionary sacrifice
.
The sufferings of Job
Optional chapter on suffering
.
The valley of the shadow of death
It starts with "the LORD is my shepherd" but it enters the valley. This is the way of the LORD. Maybe stuff on Psalms as prayers of Christ from the depths. He enters the valley for us.
.
The wisdom of Solomon
Son of David, portrait of Christ (some Psalm 72 stuff?)
.
Thus sayeth the LORD
Bible, prophecy, all Christ-focused.
.
Unto us a child is born
Incarnation
.
A prophet hath no honour in his own country
They received Him not...
.
Turn the other cheek
Stuff on Jesus' teaching as embodying His own life of other-centredness
.
Do unto others...
So true, and yet, do we?
.
Ye must be born again
You must be born again.
.
Let him who is without sin cast the first stone
Just tell the story
.
Jesus wept
Stuff on Jesus entering into our mess
.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends
Christ's love as ultimate
.
He gave up the ghost
Jesus death
.
Our Father in heaven
The essence of prayer is Jesus bringing us to the Father...
.
Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these...
Gospel faith leads to gospel love. Perhaps stuff on importance of church
.
No rest for the wicked
Biblical portraits of judgement. Not Dante. God confirming us in and leaving us in our restlessness.
.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb / They will soar on wings like eagles / Hallelujah
New Creation
.
God so loved the world...
Appeal to trust in Jesus
.
What else? Any thoughts?
.
Would a dictionary of quotations help on identifying well-known KJV phrases to choose from?
Some stuff from 1 Corinthians 13? That chapter, and often in the KJV, is still pretty popular fare at weddings.
Such a book would also be great for international students studying English who want to see where certain phrases come from.
It would be easy to add the Good Samaritan, David and Goliath, speck in your eye...
In a slightly different format you could add some BCP quotations that are linked to KJV language e.g. dust to dust, ashes to ashes, with Gen 3.
If you can combine the quotations with various art works and the explanation you could make a very nice coffee table style book.
Skin of my teeth - Job 19
Apple of [the] eye - various Bible refs
Pearls before swine - Matthew 7
Filthy lucre - various Bible refs (I got this from one of your sermons)
And, more discursively, "David & Goliath" [although misapplied in our culture to situations where the power lies on Goliath's side...]
Some of these phrases?
As well as selling an estimated 1bn copies since 1611, the KJB went straight into our literary bloodstream like a lifesaving drug. Whenever we put words into someone's mouth, or see the writing on the wall, or go from strength to strength, or eat, drink and be merry, or fight the good fight, or bemoan the signs of the times, or find a fly in the ointment, or use words such as "long-suffering", "scapegoat" and "peacemaker" we are unconsciously quoting the KJB. More astounding, compared to Shakespeare's prodigal 31,000-word vocabulary, the KJB works its magic with a lexicon of just 12,000 words.
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/21/king-james-bible-english-language
The idea is great, Glen.
Thanks for all that help.
I'm also thinking of doing some five part videos on crucial bible stories for the uninitiated.
- The Garden
- David and Goliath
- Prodigal Son
- The Cross
- 1 Corinthians 13
It's exciting to think what's possible with the new job.
Can a leopard change its spots? Man cannot change himself.
The two Creation equations:
1) MAN ("dust of the ground") + BREATH OF LIFE = A LIVING SOUL in Gen. 2:7 and
2) MAN ("flesh") + SPIRIT = born again in John 3:7
are too close for comfort!
Shibboleth. It would be good to illustrate what fallen man is capable of doing.
I'm looking for more information on fasting. When, how, etc. Can you please help?
This is such a great idea - you MUST do it!!!
... And my folks often use (usually, patronisingly, to me!) "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings"!
Pride before fall? From Prov. 16:18? A profound statement of humanity and all creation, with the pride of satan and humanity bringing about the Fall of all creation.