Saturday 18 August 2007

Good Bible Reading

Hints from "Mr Anderson":

- Vary the speed / tone / pitch of voice, slowing down for the important bits

- Emphasise contrasts
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but man is tested by the praise he receives.

(Proverbs 27:21 NIV)
Here, you emphasise man, not tested, since man is contrasted with silver and gold. The idea of testing is already there in the "crucible" and "furnace". You can emphasise praise to bring out the other contrast.

- Bring out the force of the passage

In short, the Bible reader needs to understand what's going on in the passage and highlight its meaning. Reading well is not just about having good public speaking skills, but about being a good exegete.

2 comments:

mattnbec said...

Ah, how it warms my heart to know others care about how well the Bible is read! So often God's word is read as though it is dead rather than living, or badly read because people haven't already read and understood the passage. Thanks for talking about how to read the Bible aloud.

Honoria said...

Hi Matt n Bec,

Nice to meet you.

Have you heard of "The Backyard Bard"?

www.thebackyardbard.com

They are excellent Bible readers. In the world's eyes, they may be seen as dramatists who perform an ancient work (and have been in the Melbourne Fringe Festival). But really they just love the Bible to bits and want to help others to love it too.

Other Bibliophiles:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8919399424910324675&sourceid=zeitgeist

this guy does wonders with Hebrews 9-10, from the ESV!

Ah...!