How to Read the Bible
And How Not To
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. —2 Tim 3:16–17 (KJV)
Yes, years ago, I used to believe that it was critical for salvation to accept a literal reading of the King James Version of the Bible. No, I didn't realize the quote above was a reference to the Septuagint, which includes the Apocrypha in the Hebrew Bible.
Today, I'm a bit embarrassed at the fact that I went there. After all, how could that passage refer to its own inclusion in a book that hadn't even been created yet? It goes beyond unreasonable and right into complete fantasy.
I have since learned about how faith development works in humans, and I understand more about why I went there. (Let's leave faith development for another conversation.) So I now find reflection upon that time of my life to be incredibly informative and enlightening.
In retrospect, I know I said things that hurt people, and I'm very sorry for my behavior during those times. My regret reaches the level of personal embarrassment over the fact that I behaved that way in the first place.
I realize now that my behavior was an expression of the belief system that I had been sold on. I'm thankful I was able to break out of it. And, I realize that the only way someone can see how problematic it is is through hindsight after escaping.
From what I gather, my story isn't unique.
Many progressive Christians were raised in a church that taught them that a literal view of the Bible was the only valid way to read it. And, if they read it any other way, they would go to hell.
Like myself, they now see the damage that they did as a result of that belief.
How do I read the Bible now?
In a previous article, I've already talked about the difference between biblical thinking and theological thinking. And in those installments, I noted that I believe we are meant to move beyond biblical thinking into theological thinking.
But, once we've moved beyond the biblical text, what use is the Bible?
I personally find the Bible to be extremely valuable in my own faith journey. Here are some things I consider while reading it.
1. The Bible is a compilation of historical documents
The authors of the texts that make up our Bible were human beings living in historical contexts who wrestled with their faith.
This is a well-established fact among academic Bible scholars. There is no reputable Bible scholar out there who would challenge this.
I reject any notion that Christian dogmatic belief should determine how we study the Bible. Rather, we have to look at the texts of the Bible the same way we do any other historical text.
This leads to certain very clear conclusions.
The authors did not have all the answers.
They didn't have the same questions we have today.
They weren't always right.
They sometimes wrote to correct the theology of other texts found in the Bible today.
The result is a very messy compilation of ancient texts that quite frankly don't easily speak to our own historical context very well.
2. The Bible isn't a Judeo-Christian version of a Magic 8-Ball
This is where the gross misuse of the Book of Revelation comes in. We cannot go to the Bible and use it as an oracle to learn about the future.
I do believe it helps us to understand patterns in life, but that is a very different thing.
It is also incapable of giving us direct answers for the bigger issues we have today.
When I read the Bible, I let a text help me wrestle with my questions rather than looking to it for answers.
3. The Bible has a dark—very dark—side
Did you know the Bible was a powerful tool used to empower slavery in America? Indeed, many pastors at the time argued that it justified its institutionalization.
And they were right.
The texts of the Bible do indeed justify slavery. Period.
There are various types of slavery in the ancient world that are accepted in the texts, and one form is not unlike what black people experienced in the 19th century (chattel slavery). So, yes, the Bible was used to support the abuse of human beings because it does support the abuse of human beings.
Even worse, when the Hebrews are sent into Canaan to claim it for themselves, God demands the genocide of all living inhabitants (men, women, children, animals).
Yes, genocide.
The whole idea that we have sacred texts at the center of our faith that support and empower the evils of slavery and genocide is a hard truth to swallow. It threatens our natural spiritual and emotional sensitivities.
But we must not pretend that it is otherwise. We must not pretend that our sacred texts do not have a dark side.
If we do—if we hide from this blatantly obvious reality—we run the risk of not recognizing it in other places in scripture when we come across it.
That can then lead to using the Bible to bless evils in our day and age.
And I would argue this is exactly what is happening right now.
Which brings us to the next tidbit…
4. The Bible cannot be used as a template to respond to today's social issues
The most obvious issue here is the treatment of LGBTQ+ people. In fact, it is a great example of why we cannot use the Bible as a template for today.
What the Bible describes as “homosexuality” is a reference to a particular form of domineering relationship in the ancient world.
When we are talking about homosexuality today, we are talking about a loving relationship between two consenting people, which is a completely different thing.
Once we realize that the Bible is referencing cultural phenomena during the writing of the texts, then we are able to step away from inappropriate analytical and theological constraints to pursue faithful answers to the questions of our day.
5. The fallibility of the Bible is what makes it such an amazing dialogue partner
The writers of the biblical texts were fallible human beings. They made mistakes. They got things wrong. But, just like you and I, they were wrestling with their faith and trying to become who they were meant to become.
Isn't that exactly what we need if we are looking for a mentor?
I know I would not want a mentor who had all of the answers. If my mentor did have all the answers, I would never have to work for anything and be able to experience what it's like to truly innovate and overcome.
In other words, I would never truly be able to grow.
And, any good teacher's goal is for their students to grow beyond them.
This is where the biblical texts shine
When we have our questions in life, we can come to the text as a dialogue partner and ask, "How did those before me answer their similar questions?"
Sure, we know their answers may not be the right answers for us, but listening to those who have come before us (who have wrestled just like us) can be the inspiring gift we need to help us to listen deeply to where God is moving in our lives.
6. Follow the theological themes
I've already talked about this before when I discussed thinking biblically and thinking theologically.
You want to notice the themes that seem to dominate the texts.
Here’s an example to show how this works for me…
I’m sure you’ve noticed that justice for the poor dominated Jesus' teaching.
Once you notice that, you can ask, "Why?" What is going on with Jesus' wider perspective that makes the poor so important to him?
The answer is found in his understanding of the Kingdom of God. In his vision of the Kingdom, prosperity is reversed. Once the kingdom is realized, the hungry will be fed and the rich will go hungry.
Aha! So, this is all really about a new, divine social order. (Big insight!)
Now, we can drill down further and ask, "Where else do we see other references to this new social order?"
A quick look through various texts reveals references to the ritually unclean, the sick, the injured, the blind, widows, and orphans, among others.
Now we're starting to pull together a theme, and this is what we see:
The kingdom of God as a new social order is about intervening on behalf of those who have been actively displaced and marginalized in society and restoring them to their rightful place.
In his own context, what Jesus preached was nothing less than compassionate full inclusion.
Now that I've arrived at a strong general theme, I get to ask, "What does preaching compassionate inclusion look like in my world?"
You already have my answer in a previous installment where I talked about who "the poor" really are. And now you know how I arrived at that conclusion.
The best of both worlds?
I call using the Bible as a dialogue partner a "reasonably theological" use of the texts. By moving beyond the text into theological thinking, we can avoid certain approaches that lead to disaster.
Because we take the context seriously and study the Bible as a historical document, we avoid turning it into an operator's manual for life that can be used to oppress others.
We also avoid making fantastical claims about what a passage means that are disconnected from any sense of reality, which can result from excessive use of allegory.
Using the Bible as a dialogue partner like this requires an evaluative posture that leads to creative answers to spiritual questions.
In other words, it is not uncritical. In fact, it requires the use of critical thinking skills in the life of faith.
When we shift toward being reasonably theological, are we moving away from Christianity as a religion to Christianity as a philosophy?
That all depends on what you see happening in that shift.
To explore that question, we need to go back to the early church and see how early Christianity related to the religion and philosophy of its day.
We’ll start diving into that next week.
Peace, Bo
www.evolvingchristianfaith.net
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Excellent commentary, Bo!!!!