Yogi Berra and Biblical Theology

Credo Magazine interviewed me on my new book, What Is Biblical Theology?, and Yogi Berra made a contribution to a snippet:

The second of the three main sections of your book is devoted to some of the major symbols found in the Bible, including the Bible’s images, types, and patterns. Why is it imperative for Christians to understand and rightly interpret these symbols?

I happen to have on my desk a copy of Baseball’s Greatest Quotations. Trying to understand the Bible without understanding the symbolism employed by the biblical authors would be like trying to understand Baseball’s Greatest Quotations with no knowledge of the game of baseball.

Even someone with no knowledge of baseball can appreciate Yogi Berra saying “Ninety percent of this game is half mental.”

But what about when Yogi, a catcher, comments on the manager experimenting with playing him at third base: “Third ain’t so bad if nothin’ is hit to you.”

If you know baseball you get it. If you don’t know baseball, as Yogi said: “In baseball, you don’t know nothing.”

Yogi Berra aside, the point is that the biblical authors, borne along as they were by the Holy Spirit, intended the symbolism they employed to convey more than the bare words would bear.

You can read the whole thing here.