How the Bible was inspired

Bailey starts by reminding us that we each have our assumptions, examined or not, about what the Bible is and where it came from. . . Bailey suggests that our understanding of biblical inspiration can be loosely grouped in five categories:

1. Mechanical inspiration views the author as a “human tape recorder.”
2. Verbal inspiration allows that the human personality of the author is involved but God inspired the precise words.
3. Another view is that the ideas were inspired but not necessarily the precise words.
4. Some would argue for an inspiration in much the same sense a poet is inspired but at a higher level.
5. Others would so they Bible is inspired but no more so then Shakespeare or other great writers.

[Note: There are serious questions about the Jamnia theory which Bailey presents regarding the recognition of the OT canon..]

New Testament Origins

But what does it mean to say that these books have authority? Bailey writes that early in the process the Church asked, “What are the books the apostles have passed down to us?” Notice this is not the same as asking "Which books did the apostles write?" The question was one of apostolic endorsement and determining which ones have broad acceptance across the Church community. Furthermore, the driving agenda was not “What can we include?” but “What can we throw out?” Bailey suggests these were the driving questions for at least the first 250 years after Christ.

. . . The books of the New Testament have authority because they spoke to the hearts of early Christians across a broad range of communities (just as they do today.) There was no rush to create an authoritative list. Over time, the authenticity of the books made themselves known to the Christian community. Rather than imposing a list of official books in the fourth century, the fourth century can be seen as the culmination of a slow brew process.

Luke’s Origin:

Bailey’s central point of emphasis is that the Bible was not dictated by angels as illustrated on the front of ancient manuscripts. Rather, God moved through a community to create the written word that became scripture. By looking at Luke we can get an imperfect glimpse of some of the process involved.

These three posts give us some sense of the nature of the book we are dealing with when we come to the Bible. It should inform our understanding as we read scripture. But as we interpret the Bible there are any number of errors we can make. Bailey has identified seven sins of biblical interpretation. We will turn to those next.

Write-in with your own ideas. Be sure to note whether you hunt wild or stocked birds, the bird season (early, middle or end) that your idea works best in, area of the country and type of cover you hunt.

I hunt in NJ on public land with stocked birds.   

1. Here are some ideas from Mike Schoonveld published in Game and Fish Magazine

              a. Squeeze Play - Start in the middle of the field and push birds to the corners .The birds may tend to hold rather than run into the open. Beat the brush at the corner heavily to get the pheasant to flush.

        b. A variation on this is to divide the field into sections and cover each section by walking in concentric circles. This technique "traps" the bird and forces a flush as your circle tightens.

              c. Mike also writes that on public land, hunt afternoons and start in the back fields first and hunt your way back to the car. Makes sense as  hunters tend to work from the car out forcing birds away from the roads.

 Lynn Burkhead writing in ESPN outdoors suggests:

              a. Identifying the convergence of food, cover and loafing areas, then hunt the edges among/between these areas. This reminds me of trout fishing in a steam where you trying to identify the trout lies  (feeding, escape, cover). This is a good late season tactic when food is growing short and cover thin. It may also work well in stocked areas after the pheasants have survived the initial onslaught of hunters and have gotten wilder.

         b. Lynn also suggests that we keep the birds guessing: which direction you're going to take, switching corn rows, stopping frequently. 

 Ken bailey writing for Outdoor Canada reminds us to:

    a. Move quickly thru areas with little pheasant holding potential (see suggestions above to ID places where pheasants hang out).

    b. Scout for birds from hillsides, either as they move from roosting to feeding areas or as they are flushed by other hunters.

    c.   When hunting creek bottoms hedge rows etc. and you have a human partner, works opposite ends of the cover and hunt to the middle. No partner, try working a section of the cover and then popping out and circling back into the cover further down the row to halt moving birds.

Hunt into the wind as birds will flush in that direction and you may get more flushes and less running.

In stocked areas hunt the non-stocking days. I did this in Southern NJ WMA and found groups of pheasants perched in trees. 

Walk slowly and stop often as you would in still hunting for deer.

 Check under pine trees when there is snow on the ground as pheasants will look for places to keep their feet dry.  

Good luck! and write-in as you use these tactics this fall so that others can benefit from your experience.