This is the message we
heard from Jesus and now declare
to you: God is light, and there is no
darkness in him at all. 1 John
1:5 (NLT)
John Wesley, in the preface to his published sermons declared
himself homo unius libri, a man of ONE book:
TO candid, reasonable men, I am not
afraid to lay open what have been the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have thought, I am a creature of a day,
passing through life as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to
God: just hovering over the great gulf; till, a few moments hence, I am no more
seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing,—the way to heaven;
how to land safe on that happy shore. God
himself has condescended to teach me the way. For this very end He came from heaven. He hath
written it down in a book. O give me
that book! At any price, give me the
book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. [2]
Contemporaries of Wesley (as well as later and modern critics) used
the term in a derogatory way as if to say a person of one book was somewhat
limited in knowledge, understanding or ideas.[3] Wesley used it to underscore the importance
of Scripture.
Along with Wesley I hold what is generally called a high
view of Scripture, that it contains nothing false, only the truth of
God. I’m not a John Wesley scholar, but
I believe he got this view from a common friend of ours, Paul, who wrote to
Timothy:
You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have
given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ
Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to
teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches
us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do
every good work.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NLT)
It was common for the “learned elite” of Wesley’s day to look down
on common people. And for those
preachers who went to the common people, with the simple message of the Gospel,
a homo
unius libri evangelism, it was seen as something of a wasted life.
Scripture would disagree with that.
The teaching of your word gives light, so
even the simple can understand.
Psalm 119:130
(NLT)
What I would suggest, based on history and (mostly) on Scripture
itself, is that when a person places more faith in any thought or belief system
humanity has created (science, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, and so on…),
than in the One who gave the Word from above, that person probably hasn’t
read Scripture; worse, not even as intellectually-honest as a
simple person, that one has read it, and denied what is plain truth.
Call me a Bible-thumper or whatever term fits
your unbelief; like Martin Luther, here I stand, God help me, I can do no other;
the Bible is God’s Word.
My only real problem with God’s Word isn’t a lack belief – I believe
it to the depths of my soul, that it is true and without any error; my biggest
problem with the Word of God is Russell not being as obedient to the revealed
Word of God as he should be.
For You Today
If you’ve settled in your
heart that God has truly given us all we need for salvation and training in
righteousness in the Holy Scriptures, you’ve taken one of two steps that place
you in right relationship with God. The
other step throughout your entire life is to do what that book says.
Let’s be homo unius libri, a
people of one book, AND a people of one obedience to what the
book has told us to do.
[2]
John Wesley in the Preface to Sermons (quoted by Henry Craik in A Man
of One Book, 1916) Bartleby.com
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