This article was originally published on Daily Citizen - Culture. You can read the original article HERE
Conservative actor Tim Allen is continuing his cover-to-cover reading of the Bible, an experience he has described as “amazing” and “unexpected.”
The beloved actor is known for playing Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on the sitcom Home Improvement, as well as the manly Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing.
Of course, Allen also starred as Santa Claus in The Santa Clause film trilogy and in the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses, and he voiced Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.
Allen is now hard at work producing and starring in a new comedy Shifting Gears; its pilot season is expected to air on ABC sometime in 2025.
The actor has also been hard at work digging into God’s Word.
“Continuing my reading of the complete Bible,” Allen recently posted on X, adding,
Finished a rather intense Ezekiel now on to Daniel. The challenge in reading this Book is how I translate words that the Eternal expresses to the temporary. I need a Snickers.
In August, Allen first shared publicly that he had begun reading Scripture.
Never took the time in all my years to ever read and really read the Bible. Currently almost through the Jerusalem Bible Old Testament and almost done with the Prophets. Next up to New Testament. So far amazing and not at all what I was expecting.
Allen’s discovery of Scripture, and his determination to read it from beginning to end, is greatly encouraging and admirable.
It’s also a challenge: How many of us have read the Bible from cover to cover?
Allen’s admission that he is struggling to “translate words that the Eternal expresses to the temporary” is an understandable one. Thankfully, how we should view Scripture is a question that Christians throughout the centuries have asked – and answered.
In their book From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible, Dr. Norman Geisler and Dr. William Nix write, “Orthodox theologians through the centuries have agreed that the Bible is verbally inspired, i.e., the written record came by God’s inspiration.”
“For some eighteen centuries of church history the orthodox view of inspiration prevailed. With only minor dissenting voices, the great fathers of the church held firmly that the Bible is the Word of God written down.”
Today, however, there are various competing theories of inspiration ranging from verbal dictation (meaning God directly gave the authors of Scripture a word-for-word verbal diction) to an inspired concepts view (meaning God inspired the concepts of Scripture, not its words) to even several unorthodox views.
Orthodox Christians generally hold to verbal plenary inspiration, meaning all (plenary) of the words (verbal) of Scripture were inspired by God.
As we read in 2 Timothy 3:16,
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (ESV).
Drs. Geisler and Nix describe what it means when Christians say the Bible is inspired. They list three essential aspects of inspiration, including:
- Divine Causality. God is the Prime Mover in the inspiration of the Bible. It is the divine which moved the human. … God is the ultimate source and original cause of biblical truth.
- Prophetic Agency. The Bible which [the prophets] wrote is the Word of God, but it is also the words of humans. God used their personalities to convey His propositions.
- Written Authority. The Bible is the last word on doctrinal and ethical matters. All theological and moral disputes must be brought to the bar of the written Word.
“The Bible is inspired in the sense that Spirit-moved men wrote God-breathed words that are divinely authoritative for Christian faith and practice,” they write.
“An adequate definition of inspiration must have three fundamental factors: God the Prime Mover, men of God as the secondary causes, and a divinely authoritative writing as the final result.”
Since the Bible is the very Word of God, it’s unsurprising that the Book has greatly changed and influenced the course of history. Drs. Geisler and Nix further describe how the Bible is one-of-a-kind:
[The Bible] is one of the oldest books in the word, and yet it is still the world’s bestseller. It is a product of the ancient Eastern world, but it has molded the modern Western world. Tyrants have burned the Bible, and believers revere it. It is the most quoted, the most published, the most translated, and the most influential book in the history of humankind.
Many Christians in earlier centuries did not have direct access to God’s Word. Many were also illiterate, and so could not read Scripture if they wanted to.
Viewed in that light, Christians today have a great privilege with direct and easy access to God’s Word. Do we take full advantage of that privilege?
Allen’s struggle with applying God’s Word to “the temporary” (i.e. the here and now) is also an important thing for Christians to consider.
When reading Scripture, Christians should remember that the Bible is full of various genres of literature including ancient history (Genesis), poetry (the Psalms), wisdom literature (Proverbs), ancient biography (the Gospels), historical narrative (Paul’s epistles) and apocalyptic literature (Revelation). Keeping these genres in mind can impact how we interpret what Scripture says.
Christians should also keep the Bible in context, remembering that each verse is a part of a larger chapter and book. Scripture was also written to a specific audience, in an existent culture, and for an intentional purpose.
Keeping these factors in place, we know that God speaks through Scripture to us here and now.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV).
Congratulations to Tim Allen on continuing to dive into Scripture. Consider praying that he might be blessed and challenged as he reads God’s Word.
If you want to read more Scripture, but don’t know where to start, check out our available resources below.
To learn more about the Christian faith, check out C.S. Lewis’ classic Mere Christianity. You can also listen to Focus on the Family’s award winning Radio Theater: C.S. Lewis at War.
If you want to better understand the Bible and be part of God’s redemptive mission, check out RVL Discipleship: The Study.
To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
Related articles and resources:
How Do We Know The Bible Is True?
Is the Bible True? 5 Reasons Why The Answer is Yes
Where to Start Reading The Bible
How to Read the Bible – as a Family
Conservative Actor Tim Allen Gets New Show ‘Shifting Gears’ as ‘Woke’ Entertainment is Rejected
Actor Tim Allen Begins Reading the Bible, Finds it ‘Amazing’ and ‘Unexpected’
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