exiles to Judah. You know the story:Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians

in 587 BC, and now, half a century later, the Babylonian king Cyrus had

allowed some of the exiles to return and attempt to rebuild the temple and the

walls of Jerusalem. When Ezra summoned the people to hear the words of the

law of Moses, they gathered together before the Water Gate. He and others

read from it from early morning until midday, and the ears of all the people

were attentive to the book of the law. And as the readers spoke the holy words

from the book, all the people weptas they recognized their own fallibility and

God's grace.

Beginning a paper at an academic conference with this story was

extraordinarily moving, and adeptly led the listener into the author's

argument that Scripture does indeedmatter, and that it has compelling power,

and that it continues to be the source of the church's life.

What was striking to me were the common themes in the lamentations

of these two quite distinct voices -- ones which I heard over the course of a

few hours. The novelist and the ethicist, for different reasons, both were

disturbed at the diminishing of biblical knowledge and biblical authority in

the North American context. Both were calling, either implicitly or explicitly,

for a rediscovery of the text, encounters with the Word which has decisively

influenced multiple individuals, communities and cultures which have come

before us.

Prompted by the words of these two Bible-appreciators, I began

reflecting more carefully on what our vision and goals are for teaching the

Bible at Goshen College. With what biblical knowledge, biblical perceptions,

and biblical commitments do we expect students to leave our school? What do

we hope students learn, discard, understand, believe and embrace about the