John Byron > Quotes

“The Hebrew was called to walk, as it were, backwards into the future. Disciplined remembrance is institutionalized in biblical faith because we are called to interpret our present circumstance in light of God’s known faithfulness in the past.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“The “feel” of this letter is that of the reassured voice of a parent on the end of a phone when they are finally able to speak to that son or daughter who has been missing in a city recently struck by an earthquake or some other disaster. It betrays the mind of a person who has tried to remain confident that everything was “okay,” yet battled doubts.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“for Paul the gospel was more than an announcement; it was a theological and historical connection to the Story of Israel that finds its completion in Jesus.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“I don’t think I ever thought the early chapters of Genesis should be read “literally” in the creationist sense. But I did develop a strong commitment to reading Scripture as the word of God, which I have never lost, though I no longer find it necessary to say that, to be the word of God in human words, it needs to be inerrant. (I would now say that the Bible is trustworthy for the purposes for which God has given it.)”
― John Byron, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship

“For Paul especially, the success of his mission would be confirmed not by how many converts he won, but by those he stood with in the presence of Jesus at his second coming. Paul’s athletic metaphor of the crown in the context of eschatology suggests that, for him, it’s not just how you run the race but how you finish it that is important.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“Anxiety is more and more a part of the modern age, and leaders/pastors are not immune to it. There is fear of failure, of not having the necessary gifts, of a lack of people and finances, of conflict, of not being respected and appreciated, of the unexpected, of not being wanted or needed any more.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“being in ministry is about more than numbers saved, programs started, and buildings built. It is about relationship.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“Paul’s opening demonstrates something important about ministry. It is never done by one person.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“the process of study is not simply (a) to defend old certitudes or (b) to abandon them in light of new critical learning. It is rather an agile readiness to reformulate in light of new awarenesses (and revelation!) that comes from being led by the Spirit out beyond our comfort zone through this strange book with its strange voice that brings us to the strange God who refuses to submit to our certitudes or our cultural expectations.”
― John Byron, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship

“Since this is probably the first letter written by Paul, it means that this is the first occurrence of “gospel” in any extant Christian document.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“There is much that the modern church can learn from reading the Bible as the Story of God.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“In the latter stages of our failed society, I am increasingly convinced that the life and practice of the church may provide a radical and real alternative to the toxic ways of our society.”
― John Byron, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship

“Within the context of fulfilling our call, we tend to forget the need to stop and examine our motives and methods. It’s easy to become caught up in the good things that are going on in ministry and overlook whether our motives are correct. We need to look in the mirror, examine ourselves, and ask God to reveal to us if our motives are correct.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“It’s never easy to wait, but we usually can be patient because we know that the “when” we are waiting for will soon be the “now” we can enjoy. But it is harder to wait when there is no clear end in sight, when you don’t know at what point in time the “when” will finally become “now.” This is particularly true in the life and ministry of the church.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“In Paul’s hands everything, even the opening address, becomes an opportunity to remind his readers of God’s work in their lives.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“The story of the Bible is creation, fall, and then covenant community — page after page of community — as the context in which our wonderful redemption takes place.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“I can only say that my own faith would be superficial had I known nothing but happiness.”
― John Byron, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship

“Ministry is not for the faint of heart. It requires courage and fortitude undergirded by confidence in the call of God on your life.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“Judaism the collective body of written and oral law along with traditions and customs are identified in Hebrew as halakhah, the way of walking. It is a comprehensive way of referring to how one lives life, both corporeal and spiritual, in obedience to God.15 Paul refers to “walking” thirty-two times in his letters, six of which are in 1 and 2 Thessalonians.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“5. We are always the “junior partner” in interpretation. The senior partner is God’s own Spirit. It is the Spirit who occupies not only the text, but the entire long procession of readers whose heirs we are. To confess the “one, holy, apostolic catholic church” is to acknowledge that we belong to a wondrous reading community. Such a company can protect us from excessive anxiety, for that company that invites us to read always reassures us in the midst of our reading, “Do not fear.”
― John Byron, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship

“Ministry, however, is a community effort. It requires all of us to pitch in and do what the Lord bids.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“to go on hearing the Bible as the Word of God we must also do creative theology rooted in the Bible, theology that is not just a painstaking arrangement of proof-texts but draws on all the rich resources of understanding and experience that are available in our context and that engages the concerns and the challenges of our context.”
― John Byron, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship

“Life is messy, and sometimes when you are trying to help someone, you get dirty. But that is part of being family.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“I really love what I do. But I don’t think it would be as satisfying if I didn’t have the chance to “parent” those whom God leads to us.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“In ministry it is important that we always allow our heart, which includes our motives, to be examined by God.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“Nouwen suggests that the temptation of power is irresistible because “it offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.”
― John Byron, 1 and 2 Thessalonians