Over the years, indeed, over the generations, in our household we have accumulated books ‑ books in the study, books in the bedroom, books in the passages, some of them dog-eared with use and some dusty with neglect. Very many of them are books to do with Bible study, in one way or another. It's a sign that we are getting old, perhaps, that it is books that we still gather. Our children have gathered tapes, then CDs, and our grandchildren are proficient in the mysteries of technology and accumulate gadgets which are rather quickly out of date. That is their way of finding out about the world. Our old books have served a purpose as we walked along the Christian way - not all of them, of course. Some are so erudite and closely written that only a Victorian could have the determination to persevere with them. Others are so obviously wrong in their viewpoint that they have been quickly put back on the shelf ‑ yet where is the boundary between thoughts that are stimulatingly different and what is dangerously misleading?

Let's sample two or three. Here is a Christmas present which my wife received in 1955, `Understanding God's Word', written by Alan Stibbs of the Oak Hill Theological College. "The simple purpose of this book is to suggest to willing seekers and would-be students of divinely-revealed truth"... ways to study and believe and obey God's written Word with enlarged understanding. From Holy Scripture we are meant to learn (1) what God has done in Christ for man's redemption, and (2) how men are to live lives that will please God. God rewards diligent seekers - despite our intellectual limitations - but we all have our prejudices and misconceptions, tending to see in Scripture only what we want to see This book is full of guidance and practical suggestions for those who are ready to learn - it has a sensible, scholarly approach to matters of manuscripts and translations, the study of words, Hebrew and Greek idioms.... And advice. "Regard Christ and His two comings as the main subject..." "Compare scripture with scripture".... "Recognise the inevitable paradoxes of truth about things infinite and be prepared to accept both extremes - both may be right in different ways.".... "Never stop seeking to make further progress in understanding and obedience."

Next is a little red book inherited from an uncle who had it for his birthday in 1966. It is one of the series in William Barclay's Daily Study Bible, on the Acts of the Apostles. This book is different - it is not advising students how to go about their study, but is an example of a scholar laying out his knowledge for the benefit of others. The aim of the series is "to make the results of modern scholarship available to the non-technical reader in a form that it does not require a theological education to understand", to make the New Testament teaching relevant to life and work today, to "enable men and women to know Jesus Christ more clearly, to love Him more dearly, and to follow Him more nearly". We dip into it, Acts 20. We find Paul saying goodbye to the elders from Ephesus. He is captive of the Holy Spirit, not knowing what lies ahead "but he knew he must face it and he knew he could face it". Paul reminded the elders of their duty, and their danger. "Through all this scene there runs one dominant feeling, and that is the feeling of an affection and a love as deep as the heart itself. That is the feeling that should be in any church." "When love dies the work of Christ cannot do other than wither and fade.'

The next book may have been saved from the rubbish bin, for it has 8 blank pages and must have been thrown out from a bookshop. It is of a more recent era, and has photographs, beautifully tinted pages, diagrams, display panels with selected Bible passages on a given subject. This book is for people who want to get started in the Bible. It takes us on a guided tour of the Bible from beginning to end, introduces the main characters, explains what is happening, and shows what the book has to say to us today. It is called the `User's Guide to the Bible', written by Chris Wright, and must have been published about 1980. Opening it at the back page I find `The ultimate event - what will it be like when Jesus comes back? Although it is beyond our imagination, the New Testament does give us some details.... Jesus will come in person. It will not just be his `influence' it will be recognisably Jesus himself.. seen by all mankind." The favourite New Testament word for the event was also used for the public arrival of a king in a town with great splendour and spectacle...as sudden as lightning, as unexpected as a thief in the night. We are to be ready at all times. Our job is to prepare for it, not waste time trying to predict it... "The return of Jesus will bring to an end the present world order, with all its twisted corruption, evil and frustration. But that destruction will not be God's last word on his creation. He will create a new creation in which he will once again live with his people. Christians do not look forward to living as souls in heaven, but to life in resurrected bodies, with Jesus Christ, in God's new creation,"

There is much more that we could sample, a whole world of books. Beyond that, there is a world of instant 'information' which can be called up on screen. It may be just as accurate or inaccurate as what our forefathers accepted from the printed word. Modern day 'Bereans' still need to check and cross-check, to compare new ideas with what we have learned in the past. As students of the Bible let us deepen our own understanding (while being kindly to other students). Let us discover again the love shown in the lives of our Lord and His followers (and show it in our own lives). Let us look prayerfully and thoughtfully and hopefully to the future (for our world belongs to God and the future is His care).

GC