Quotes about Conversation

We do not honor the Lord nor do we uphold the gospel by playing make-believe. Neither are those who engage the kinds of issues discussed in this book necessarily on the slippery slope to unbelief. Our God is much bigger than we sometimes give him credit for. It is we who sometimes wish to keep him small by controlling what can or cannot come into the conversation.

The findings of the past 150 years have made extrabiblical evidence an unavoidable conversation partner. The result is that, as perhaps never before in the history of the church, we can see how truly provisional and incomplete certain dimensions of our understanding of Scripture can be. On the other hand, we are encouraged to encounter the depth and riches of God's revelation and to rely more and more on God's Spirit, who speaks to the church in Scripture.

Then a meal was set before the man, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I came to say.” So Laban said, “Please speak.”

“My brothers,” Jacob asked the shepherds, “where are you from?” “We are from Haran,” they answered.

“Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked. “We know him,” they replied.

Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.

So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not the donkey you have ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?” “No,” he replied.

And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house.

Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” “To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”