I am going to start something new in my writing experience. My Brother Tom is very well read in many subjects. Plus, he has a college degree in Liberal Arts and is able to articulate well. He loves to read and is always learning new things. For the most part his area of interest is in the Bible and Biblical history. He and I write letters and/or emails frequently and he has given me permission to share some of these letters with my readers.
My question to my brother Tom was: What is the most effective way to read/study the Bible?
Dear Judy,
One cannot expect detailed answers to every problem.
Although I do not believe that I have found a final or complete answer to your question, “What is the most effective way to read the Bible?” I will tell you what I have concluded so far. One thing that can go wrong in our reading of the Bible is to expect to learn from it what it does not teach. A book by Christian Smith, The Bible Made Impossible, is helpful here. Biblicism,” writes Smith “pervades the evangelical book-publishing market.” He lists these titles among others: Biblical Principles for Starting and Operating a Business; Cooking with the Bible; The Bible Cure for Cancer; Bible Answers for Every Need; Gardening with Biblical Plants; Biblical Strategies to Financial Freedom; etc. What we learn from the Bible about salvation in Christ is relevant in every area of life, but to expect detailed answers to every problem is misguided. This kind of Bible reading will distract us, making it more difficult to understand what God is really telling us.
The Importance of Context
Of primary importance in reading any text, including the Bible, is to pay attention to context. Words only have meaning within sentences, sentences within paragraphs, and paragraphs within whole works. It is a big mistake, one made especially by Bible readers it seems, to read one small part and think that the clear, determinate meaning has been grasped. God’s redemptive promises for individuals and for the world are only understood as we see them unfold in the Bible as a whole, in the history of Israel reaching fulfillment in Christ. Not only textual context, but cultural and historical background information is also very helpful. We can better understand what a writer is saying if we know his social context and something about his original intended readers. So we need to ask, for example, “What kind of culture was it that Paul was embedded in, and what kind of people were his intended readers?”
The Guidance of the Holy Spirit
Next, Judy, I strongly suggest not going it alone as you read and interpret the Bible. Many Christians seem to think that in addition to the Bible all that is needed is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They think that too much input from theologians and biblical scholars will only be detrimental. I think this attitude stems from American individualism and a misunderstanding of the Protestant principle of the perspicuity of Scripture. No human authority is greater than the Bible, and you and I have to be the ones to make the final decision on what we believe. But the extra-biblical literature left to us by God’s people who have canonized the Scriptures and faithfully reflected on their meaning throughout the ages is a very valuable resource.
Interpreting through one specific Denomination
The Bible should not be interpreted through the lens of only one denomination’s doctrinal perspective. No single branch of the world-wide community of faith has produced a final dogmatic formula. Denominational lenses can be profitably used if used as suggestive interpretive tools. The perspectives of the various denominations all have something to contribute to effective Bible study. But the vast richness of meaning within Scripture will continue to yield new knowledge and insight until our Savior returns.
Tradition and Creeds
The larger tradition that produced the Apostles’, the Nicene and Athanasian ecumenical creeds is of primary importance. These creeds that protected the church from heretical readings of Scripture were being formulated at the same time that the early church was selecting the writings that were to be included in the canon of the New Testament. The same “rule of faith,” the essential Apostolic Gospel of Jesus Christ, learned by direct experience with Christ and past down at first by oral tradition, served as the selective criterion in both endeavors. Creed and Scripture are mutually enlightening; Scripture provides the primary witness to Christ and creed gives us the unifying essence of that witness. This larger tradition also includes the writings of the early church fathers, the medieval scholastics, the Reformers, Christian philosophers and modern and postmodern biblical scholars and theologians. These are all part of the world-wide community of faith that has tried to remain true to the original witness to Christ in each new age.
Biblical Literature
It is also important to be aware of the type of literature we are dealing with in the various parts of the Bible. If Genesis, for example, contains mythological or legendary elements, we can be hindered in theological interpretation (that is, an interpretation that yields God’s meaning) if we read those elements as factual history. If Adam and Eve, for example, are not two individual human beings who disobeyed God in the remote past but are symbolic of you and me, then we avoid the problem of how we can be held accountable for their sin. God is telling us that we are the sinners, not that those two individuals who lived long ago sinned while we inherit the blame. Biblical scholars also have helped us to see that the Bible contains narratives that may contain a core of historical truth but have legendary additions (such as the stories about Samson or David and Goliath). Certain stories, although entirely fictional, are used to convey very important theological truths (Jonah and Job being two examples).
The Human Element
My next and probably most controversial suggestion is that reading the Bible effectively requires seeing the human element in it, even to the point of admitting that it contains human error. The Bible is God’s Word in human words. I have talked to Christians who say that if one single error could be found in the Bible they could not believe anything in it. Most of these people admit that inerrancy only extends to the original manuscripts, but they have confidence that no crucial error has crept into our modern versions. But whether in the originals or only the copies, inerrancy is not a credible assertion. The perfections of God should not be attributed to human writings, even ones that God has appropriated to reveal himself and his way of salvation to us. If we realize this we do not have to be confounded and put on the defensive by every possible (or alleged) error or contradiction that appears in the text of the Bible (such as the very different account of Judas’ final moments found in Acts as opposed to Matthew). The modern doctrine of absolute inerrancy seems to have been put forward by those needing a foundation of pure, errorless truth as a guarantee of certainty. The inerrancy doctrine is supposed to prevent subjectivism and relativism in the interpretation of Scripture, but this doctrine itself has produced controversy and divisiveness.
Our goal in Bible study
I want to finish this letter with a quote from the book by Steven E. Fowl entitled Engaging Scripture. After commenting on the variety existing in different Christian communities he says this: “Despite this variety of contexts in which Christians interpret scripture, their primary aim in all these different settings and contexts is to interpret scripture as part of their ongoing struggles to live and worship faithfully before the triune God in ways that bring them into even deeper communion with God and with others.” Fowl is reminding us that the ultimate goal is not just propositional knowledge but communion with God and a life that honors and trusts him in all things. This goal can only be accomplished if we read in humility with the help of the Holy Spirit, seeing in all of Scripture our personal Savior, the church’s Lord and Savior and the world’s redeemer, Jesus Christ. I hope that these suggestions will be of help to you as you continue your devoted study of God’s Word. Do not hesitate to let me know about anything you think I might have gotten wrong.
Love, your brother Tom
