July 25, 2013|7:51 am
Four Dallas Theological Seminary graduates who formed a
non-profit publishing group aimed at closing the
ever-widening gap in biblical understanding between
scholars and laymen, recently released their fourth
installment in a series of Bible studies through the 66
books of the Bible. The publishers say that Philippians:
Displaying God in Godless Times encourages
Christians to do what they were called on to do during
Biblical times – live out their faith in a primarily
secular society.
"The idea of 'Displaying God in Godless Times' is this
idea of citizenship," Rhome van Dyck, one of Sacra
Script Ministries' founders and who co-wrote Philippians,
told The Christian Post. "As Christians, you are
supposed to live out in front of a secular culture and
so for the Philippians it was the Roman culture that was
very secular and very destructive, much like times
today. It's not a unique thing for the secular culture
to press down on Christians."
Van Dyck added, "It's about living out your faith, not
being a secret Christian, not being someone who is
arrogant or pushy, but living it out in front of them in
Christian character. That is really the emphasis in
Philippians."
Sacra Script Ministries – derived from the Latin phrase
for sacred Scripture – began addressing grave concerns
five years ago about the state of the church and the
lack of knowledge that many professing Christians have
about their faith, Scripture, and the God they worship.
The publishers point out that 60 percent of Americans
can't name even five of the Ten Commandments, according
to data from a recent Barna Research Group study. "No
wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time.
They don't know what they are," said George Barna.
"We realized that many people did not have a grasp of
Scripture and that there were very few materials
available to understand individual passages within the
overall story of Scripture," said van Dyck, who holds a
Th.M. in Historical Theology.
"Unlike Bible studies designed to push the Bible
forward into today's context, our mission is to
transport students of the Bible back to the culture and
time period of the Bible, by illuminating the original
meaning and connecting the central message of the person
and work of Christ," van Dyck said. "We studied the
Scriptures to determine how God teaches us and how we
learn best from Him. Jesus taught using objects, humor,
and word-play that shook things up for His students. It
is our desire to pattern our methodology after Him."
Van Dyke said that although many people, especially
those who have been churchgoers for quite some time,
"know pieces of Scripture," they do not really know "how
it all fits together into one cohesive story."
Problems arise when people try to apply only the parts
of the Bible they know to solving problems in their
lives, he said.
"We go through all these segments and what we've missed
is that these stories in Scriptures, these segments,
these passages, all are connected to showing us that our
Savior is sufficient to see us through the difficulties
and challenges of life," van Dyke said. "So what we end
up lacking is an actual relationship with Jesus, an
actual knowledge of Him."
He explains, "We've spent a lot of time taking passages
and making principles and steps and applications for us,
and some of that is okay, but primarily the message of
Scripture is you are fallen and God is providing us a
Savior who is sufficient and able to save."
"What we found is that a lot of people know pieces of
Scripture, especially if they've been around church a
long time, but they don't really know how it all fits
together into one cohesive story."
Sacra Script's team includes seminary-trained
contributors with various specialties, including
biblical narrative analysis, educational methodology,
biblical and ecclesiastical history, technology, and
professional media production.
With Dallas Seminary as a common thread, each member
comes from a different country and cultural background,
including Rhome van Dyck of Vancouver, British Columbia
and throughout parts of Canada; Carlos Astorga of Mexico
City and Monterrey, Mexico; Rhome's wife Vanessa van
Dyck of Houston, Texas; and Jonathan Murphy of Belfast,
Northern Ireland.
Publishers say that many different tools are included
in the beautifully bound books to help readers
understand God's Word. Field Notes throughout the book
contain detailed written explanations, outlines, word
studies, pictures, notes, illustrations, maps and
timelines in order to capture the meaning.
Sacra Script Ministries desires to "address the
biblical needs of the Church by equipping the Body of
Christ with excellent Bible studies that convert content
into meaning. For more information visit: http://www.sacrascript.org/.
