When I’m serious about studying Christian thought, I love to go to the writers of the first two to three generations of the church. These people were trying to figure out what this new movement meant, what it meant to live with a risen Jesus.
Especially the Desert Fathers were concerned with pride. They knew the power of pride to bring people down.
I’ve been rereading some of the theologians of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. What amazes me is that these very smart and educated men all latched onto certain verses from the Bible and then built a system of theology on them. One source noted that Calvinism is “proved” by these six verses. Meanwhile Arminianism by a different set of six verses.
A few hundred years later a preacher in a small village near my home town was studying scripture and “discovered” a Bible verse. He built a “Biblical Research Institute” and started a movement called The Way International.
What I do find amazing is the hubris of people who read a translation of a translation and then proceed to tell people they know exactly what God thinks.
There is a phrase from French psychologist Émile Coué repeated by Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series—“Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.” (Oh, that was said to help many people, but it didn’t work for Chief Inspector Dreyfus.)
The first step to knowledge is to recognize our lack. Then, dispelling hubris, we learn a little bit more each day. I think we could read Matthew chapters 5-7 everyday for the remainder of our lives and everyday realize something new to apply to our lives.
[Check the beginning of Proverbs Chapter 2.]
Faith Venture 
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