"unstoppable" from John Frye

What would it be like to have all the word of God seen on the face of the earth, gone (except for Esther and Genesis)? What impact might this have? In John Frye's wonderful story telling ability we read about what could happen if that was the case in his new book: Out of Print: A Novel.

Again these are very real people, down to earth, and John knows people well, a pastor for over thirty years. After the "unthinkable" had happened, followed by a period when people are at a loss to understand why ("unexplainable") we now see another miracle taking place, but in a different direction. From consternation and fear, we see God's word prevailing through people all over the world who had committed it to memory. In the effort most of the Bible was retrieved, including its original languages of Hebrew and Greek, as well as its translation into worldwide languages. The interest in hearing God's word recited by his people was a phenomenon in reading rooms all over the world. And people who would not have darkened the doors of a church were interested and listening. Even the Islamic scholars, who had suggested that the disappearance of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures was a judgment by Allah, were taken back by what had unfolded before them.

Towards the end of the chapter John describes through the conversation of tthe Christian friends in the story much of what John is getting at in telling this story. That in hearing God's word read out loud, people can begin to hear God's voice to them. And that the word of God and God's work through it is more important than our theological differences as Christians.

In the words of Harold Johnson, the evangelical professor in the story:

The Bible simply being recited has become a magnet for human attention. The way Jews are showing an interest in the New Testament and Christians are needing the Jews for the Old Testament is uncanny. Catholic and Protestant scholars are developing a deep respect for each other as they work together to have just the Bible itself accessible. The profound Christian-Jewish, Protestant-Catholic-Orthodox cooperation has caught the attention of the Muslim world. Something truly greater than our differences is causing us to communicate with each other. (p. 66)

Another important quote from Pastor Steve in the story:

The watching world is taking note of the love that Christians and Jews have for their Scriptures. The Bible is not being used anymore to harangue and judge and belittle and ostracisize others. It is simply being spoken and lived out by people who deeply treasure it. The Bible was meant to be a lived Book, not just a learened Book. Maybe it's as simple as "A love letter needs to be read in a loving way." (p. 71)

There are some parts of the story that need to be resolved. Like all the loving, painstaking work done by the husband and wife team, Hank and Karla. How God used the disappearance of his word in Luci's life and her leaving Wayne, her boyfriend because of that, since he has no interest in what she has found and wants the old Luci back. Some good story lines, and if you get a chance to meet John, you'll see the love and humanness which he has cast in this story and its fictional characters of very real people.

I really like what John is getting at in this story and I'm trying to "get it" better myself. And I haven't even uncovered all the themes in the chapter, like the difference between God and the Book of God. And yet how important that Book is as God's word to the world in Jesus.

This chapter alone has plenty of fodder for good discussion, and for a deeper appreciation of this wonderful gift we have from God, in Scripture. And one thing that comes out to me loud and clear is that nothing can stop God's word and his work of love in Jesus and we best get in line with it, and find our place in this Story of God. It is truly unstoppable!

What hits you about this chapter or what is said here or from the book itself? What would you like to say about this?

1. unthinkable
2. unexplainable

Next week: chapter 4: "unsurpassable".

"unexplainable" from John Frye

Hit with the unthinkable, the Bible's text disappearing everywhere, Christians are left with the question, "What on earth is going on?" This is from chapter 2, "Unexplainable" in John Frye's book, Out of Print: A Novel.

We see a pastor trying to grapple with this problem. His whole ministry was about helping people understand the word of God through his teaching. What would he do now that the entire Bible had disappeared (except for Esther and Genesis 34)? His little five year old son reassures his daddy that he'll be a good pastor, and lets him know that he still prays to Jesus. The pastor feels lost, but in the Sunday service the shaken congregation's faith seems to come alive, as he leads them in reciting Psalm 23. And they find various ones in their midst who have memorized other psalms.

Muslim scholars gather and decide that the best tentative explanation they can come up with is that Allah has done this to judge the Christians and Jews for wrongs done against Muslims through the centuries to this day. A televangelist to keep the money coming in lets people know that Jesus told him that the devil stole the word, relating that to Jesus' parable of the sower where the devil steals the word before it can take root in people's hearts. The seminary professor in conference with other Christian and Biblical scholars simply doesn't know, but casts doubt on the idea that the devil could do something that God promised would never be done.

I wonder about us here in the United States. We have access to so many different translations, renderings and editions of the Bible. What do we do with this great gift we have? What if all the sudden it disappeared, no more words to read of it anywhere? What would we make of that? And indeed something of the same has happened in countries in which the Bible was prohibited. The accounts show many whose faith became strengthened and to whom God's word became more precious than ever. But why? And how? And what is involved in that?

You are left hanging after this chapter, wondering what might come next. Though some light is beginning to break through as people begin to see the importance of God's word, Scripture, being hidden in their heart, in their memory- establishing their relationship with God and life in the world. And how in that Jesus is central, as a small group led by the pastor sings He is Lord .

John knows people well, a pastor for nearly 30 years in one church and pastoring again. These fictional people come to life and are as real as you and me, as well as the problem they face. I'm left intrigued and wondering just what this means for us who often lazily read our Bibles and find the words at times tedious and all too familiar.

What about us? What does the Bible mean to us? What place does it have in our hearts and lives? How might we be misusing the Bible, or missing the point in our use of it? Or for some of us, why do we neglect the Bible at times? Could there be a good time for setting it aside temporarily? Why or why not?

These and other questions we can ask as we ponder this chapter. It's a time of hurt and pain in the story. But often those times are times of needed change.

What thoughts might you have on this, or possible explanations to the "unexplainable"?

1. unthinkable

Next week: chapter 3, "Unstoppable"