|
Introduction to Reading the Bible
Chances
are that through your life you will meet people - perhaps friends, neighbors,
or other acquaintances - who may invite you to be part of a Bible study
group. And should you say yes, you may sense their way of doing Bible study a
little too simplistic, too neat or too moralistic, all of which may make you
wonder if there are other ways of approaching the Bible. There are, and in
what follows, you'll find some suggestions toward that end.
The Bible: What It Is and Isn't
The Bible could be defined as a written interpretation of how God has acted
in history to create, sustain and guide the community of faith. A key word
here is interpretation: the Bible is interpretation, not dictation. That is,
the Bible was not somehow written in heaven and delivered to us word for
word. Rather, it describes how ancient Israel
and the early Christians interpreted such events as the exodus from Egypt and the
death and resurrection of Jesus. The Bible is communal, not individual. It
was produced by the community of believers for the community of believers.
Moreover, that community was diverse; it comprised persons from a wide
variety of backgrounds. Consequently, the Bible, written by and for them, is
pluralistic, not monolithic. Matthew's audience, for example, is different
than Mark's, and hence, Matthew's message may differ from that of Mark's.
Thus we ought not expect stories in the Bible to be in complete harmony with
each other. When we recognize the diversity in scripture as well as its
communal and interpretive character, our study of the Bible can lead us to
fresh and surprising insights.
The Bible: A Text
The Bible, needless to say, is a collection of books or written texts.
Sometimes, however, we forget the books of the Bible were written a long time
ago, in a different part of the world, and in ancient languages no longer in
use. There is a "distance," then, between the text of the Bible and
us moderns. In doing Bible study, we need to recognize there will be things
we won't understand because the text is far removed from our culture and
experience. Yet there are ways for us to begin to bridge the distance between
the text and us. First of all, use a good, modern translation, but not a
paraphrase such as The Living Bible. On the one hand, it is hard enough to
understand a biblical passage because of its distance, let alone having to
contend with an archaic English idiom. A paraphrase, on the other hand, puts
you at an even greater distance from the text in that it is not based on the
original Greek and Hebrew, but is one person's attempt to express in
contemporary speech the words of an older English version.
A recent translation, in addition to its clarity, is valuable in that it is
based on a Greek and Hebrew manuscript tradition which is superior to those
available to translators a century or more ago. A few translations for you to
consider are the New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and
the New American Bible. The latter, originally published in 1970, had its New
Testament revised in 1986.
When you begin to study a passage, chances are the verse divisions will first
catch your eye. These might suggest to you that Bible study proceeds on a
verse-by-verse basis, with each verse having some meaning over which to
puzzle. But it's a mistake to begin this way. Rather, forget the verse
divisions for a while. Do your initial study of the text on a macro instead
of a micro scale. That is, skim the book as a whole. Try to establish what
kind of material it is. Is it a letter? A gospel? A book of prophecy? Then,
look for the major divisions within the book. The clues here are words and phrases
like "After these things..." (Genesis 15:1); "...when Jesus
had finished these sayings,..." (Matthew 7:28); and
"...therefore..." (Roman 12:1; Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 5:1).
Once you've established the major divisions of the book, attempt to describe
the character of each larger unit. What is their relationship to each other?
For example, the "Therefore" of Romans 12:1 signals that Paul is
beginning to sketch the ethical consequences of the theology he discusses in
chapters 1-11. Then move to the smaller units within the large section. What
are these? Parable? Miracle stories? Narrative? Judgment oracles?
Admonitions? How are they related to each other? Did the author bring them
together because they share a common theme? An example here might be the
stories in Luke 15. Note that they are all parables about something (or
someone) lost. Might Luke have brought them together in this chapter in order
to answer the objection made to Jesus' ministry in l5:2? It is only after
considering such questions of structure that you will want to move to study
individual verses or groups of verses.
The Bible: A Text In Context
The "distance' between us and the Bible is historical and cultural
as well as literary. As a good translation and attention to outline and structure
help us to bridge the literary distance, there are ways we can begin to
overcome the Bible's historical and cultural remoteness. The key is to try to
gain a sense of the original context of the book or passage. Based on what is
written, what do we imagine the original audience to have been like? Matthew,
for example, quotes the Old Testament far more than the other gospel writers
and adds details that likely would be understood only by someone familiar
with Judaism (cf. Matthew 23:1-12). Might it be that Matthew's original
audience comprised Christians of Jewish heritage? In contrast, Luke 1:1 -4
and Acts 1:1 suggest that Luke wrote his gospel to a Roman official named
Theophilus. It's not coincidental, then, that Luke's story ends in Acts 28
with St. Paul preaching the Gospel of Christ
in Rome, the
capital of the empire.
Our imagination, though, can carry us only so far in recreating the context
of a passage. The point comes when we must turn to other resources. Colleges
and universities have religious studies departments that offers courses in
Bible. If not, many history department should have offerings in the history
of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. Feel free to sign up for
one and expand your horizons. Also,
don't forget that your pastor is well versed in biblical studies and the
cultural context of the biblical authors.
Become a part of a bible study in the church or ask for personal study
with your pastor. In addition,
remember the library. It has access to the vast amounts of literature on the
topic.
Most college libraries will have copies of recent and reliable Bible
dictionaries and commentaries. The Harper's Bible Dictionary (1985), edited
by Paul Achtemeier, and The Harper's Bible Commentary (1988), edited by James
L. Mays, are two reference works to which you can turn for information on
biblical books, authors and events. For you own library, you might want to
purchase two inexpensive paperback introductions to the literature and
history of the Bible: Reading The Old Testament, by Lawrence Boadt, and
Reading The New Testament, by Pheme Perkins. Published by Paulist Press, they
represent the mainstream of contemporary Catholic and Protestant scholarship.
The Bible: 'Was Christum Treibt'
Finally, after studying the text and the context of a biblical passage,
we've come to the point of asking the question of relevance. We understand
what the passage may have meant when Isaiah spoke it or Matthew wrote it, but
what does it mean for me? If we acknowledge the "distance", as discussed
previously, between the world of the Bible and us, it may be that some
passages will not have as much relevance as others. Perhaps some are so tied
to their original setting that they have little, if any, significance for us.
The ritual and cultic laws of Leviticus, as well as Paul's words concerning
the use or non-use of head coverings during prayer (I Corinthians 1 1:2-1 6),
are such texts.
And then there may be issues today unanticipated by the biblical tradition.
Even St. Paul
experienced some of that. In I Corinthians 7:25, he deals with the question
of whether or not a person should get married since the end of the world
seems so close. Paul writes that about this he has "no command of the
Lord"; i.e., there's no direct word of Jesus (nor of the Old Testament
scriptures) to answer the question. So he simply proceeds to "give his
opinion" of what seems best for the well-being of the Christian
community.
Similarly, not every concern we have will be addressed by the Bible in a
direct way. Like Paul, after we have searched the scriptures and been
informed by them, we too may be able to offer only an opinion. Above all, as
we seek to discover what scripture might say to us, we're guided by Luther's
principle, "Was Christum treibt." That is, does the text
"drive" (treibt) us to God's gracious action in Christ? The Bible
points us to Christ when (1) it indicts us for our vain efforts to earn God's
favor; (2) it recalls for us how God took the initiative to deliver Israel
from oppression in Egypt and exile in Babylon; and (3) it addresses us with
the promise that in Christ God has acted to deliver us from sin and
death.
With this as a guide, we can avoid our bible study becoming simplistic and
moralistic. Rather, by not expecting the Bible to speak to everything on the
one hand, and on the other, by affirming that the central message of
scripture is that of God's grace for us, Bible study can offer us a living
word to create and sustain faith.
Originally written by Thomas Lee, a campus pastor at the University of Montana,
Missoula, and
adapted by Pastor Jira Albers.
The confession of faith of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America witnesses to the fact
that the expression Word of God
in the Bible does not always refer to the Bible. While accepting the
Scriptures as "the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and
norm of its proclamation, faith, and life,'' the ELCA also confesses that
"Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate'' and "the proclamation
of God's message to us as both law and gospel is the Word of God.''
At the beginning of John's gospel, the Word of God refers to Jesus Christ:
"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.'' 1 Peter says, "That
word is the good news which was preached to you.'' Therefore, when we read
biblical references to God's Word,
it is important to ask whether we are reading about (1) Jesus, (2) the
message of the Bible, or (3) the Bible itself.
The confession of the ELCA underscores the fact that the biblical message
centers ``in all its fullness in the person and work of Jesus Christ.'' From
a Lutheran perspective, Jesus Christ is Lord of everything, including all of
Scripture.
Inspired by God's
Spirit
The ELCA affirms both divine inspiration
and authentic human authorship of the Scriptures, confessing, "the
canonical scriptures of the Old and New Testaments'' are "inspired by
God's spirit, speaking through their authors.''
We also recognize that the Bible is not so much one book as a library of
books written over hundreds of years and only later gathered together to form
the present canon, or authorized collection, of Biblical books. These books
contain many different types of literature---history, poetry, myth, parables,
letters, and some forms of symbolic writing (as in parts of Revelation,
Ezekiel, and Daniel) that require careful study to be understood correctly.
Inerrant?
We do not have any of the original
manuscripts of the Biblical books. What we have are copies of copies and translations
of copies that have been preserved and passed on. All Biblical scholars know
that there are many minor variations in the available manuscripts. This fact
is often noted in the footnotes in our English study Bibles.
The existence of variants in the manuscripts is one reason for not describing
the text of the Bible as "inerrant.'' In its literal meaning, that word
implies that there are no variants or inconsistencies within Scriptures. Some
seek to maintain the inerrancy of Scripture by attributing all
inconsistencies to copy errors made by careless scribes. But this interesting
theory is not a Biblical teaching, nor is it supported by historical study of
available manuscripts. Little, if anything, can be gained by attempting to
establish the original perfection of manuscripts that no longer exist.
Some of our congregational constitutions refer to Scripture as "the
inerrant word of God,'' as did the constitution of the ALC [a forerunner of
the ELCA]. If we continue to use this expression, it is well to remember, as
Dr Fredrik A. Schiotz, first president of the ALC, pointed out, that the
"inerrant word of God,'' described in its constitution "does not
apply to the text but to the truths revealed for our faith, doctrine, and
life."
In his insightful booklet, Is the Bible
Inerrant?, John D. Frey suggests that other words, such as
reliable, dependable, trustworthy, truthful, "words that point more to
content than to incidental matters,'' may better describe the Bible.
When the ELCA confession describes the Bible as "the authoritative
source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life,'' it is using strong
positive language that points "more to content than to incidental
matters.''
Literal vs.
Figurative
When reading Scripture we must also
ask if certain passages are to be interpreted literally or figuratively. Some
references in Scripture are obviously figurative. When Jesus described Herod
as "that fox,'' it is obvious that he was speaking figuratively.
Similarly, we understand Jesus' figurative references to himself as "the
door'' or "the vine.'' Few Christians have trouble believing that Jesus
may have created the stories told in his parables and that they are not
necessarily descriptions of historic events. Many, however, have trouble when
they encounter Biblical scholars who teach that the books of Job and Jonah
may be Old Testament "parables'' rather than accounts of historic
happenings.
To acknowledge that some parts of the Old Testament as well as the New may be
parables and not history is certainly not to deny that Scripture also has
historicity. The Bible does report real events in the lives of real people.
But while recognizing this fact, let us also credit the Biblical authors and
the inspiring spirit of God with creativity sufficient to enable the use of
figurative and symbolic as well as literal means of conveying their message.
Insistence on literal interpretation can become legalism. We deny salvation
by grace alone through faith alone when we add either intellectual or moral
conditions to the unconditional gospel of Christ. We are not saved by either
our theology or our morality. God saves us through mercy and power promised
in Christ. Grace invites, evokes, enables, and creates our trust. As we live
by God's grace, we are continually in need of both intellectual clarification
and moral sanctification.
This statement was originally inspired by material
presented by Christ the King Lutheran
Church of Norcross, Georgia. Minor modifications and enhancements have
been made by Pastor Jira Albers.
|
