To some, the Bible is a list of rules and contradictions. To others, like me, it's a book which liberates and sets us free - and introduces us to Jesus!
How can one book be read in such different ways - and which is right? How can we read and interpret the Bible correctly?
The Book of Books
The Bible is a collection of 66 books. 39 make up the Old Testament (which is the same as the Jewish Bible, albeit in a different order) and 27 books make up the New Testament. The Bible contains many kinds of writing, such as historical narrative (e.g. the Gospels), poetry (the Psalms), Jewish law codes (Leviticus), and apocalyptic literature (i.e. symbolic writings such as Revelation). Being aware of the genre you are reading will help you understand and apply the Bible. It's often mentioned that the Bible contains outrageous statements, for example, it says something about dashing children against the rocks. This comes from Psalm 137 - a song of lament for Israel's situation. They had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians and the writer is obviously angry. When we read this as poetry, in its context it's impossible to read this as God sanctioning actually dashing someone's child against a rock!
Not written in English
The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek - which means most of us rely on translations into our own languages. It's important to choose a good, yet readable translation for your main study. It is worth comparing several translations to get closer to the original texts. One of the verses used to say gay and lesbian relationships are wrong comes from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10. The word is ambiguous in the Greek, but you'd never know that using many English translations. Comparing several reveals a difference in opinion, and you can then target your research to get a deeper understanding of the text.
Written in another time and culture
This point seems obvious, but it affects how we read the Bible. The Bible was written to show us the way to God, not to answer every question we may have. We need to be aware of Biblical cultural issues as this will help us understand what we are reading. A good study Bible will help with this.
Letting the Bible explain itself
Sometimes we come across a verse we just don't understand. It helps to look up other Scriptures on the same topic - many Bibles come with a concordance at the back (a bit like an index) which can help. If you are using a study Bible it will likely have cross references which can help you interpret the verse. You can also get a Thompson Chain Reference Bible which links topics and themes together so you can "trace" them through the Bible.
Noting the Church
It is only in recent times that we have our own personal copies of the Bible. For almost all of Jewish and Christian history you had to go the Synagogue or Church to hear Scripture. Biblical interpretation was a community effort, so many of our questions have been looked at in the Christian community already. So it's worth looking into what other Christians have said about a passage before. It's likely that at some point, someone asked the same question over the last 2,000 years! This does not exclude new understandings of Scripture (as we've done with women, slavery, homosexuality etc) but we should be very cautious of anything that conflicts with key doctrines (the authority of Scripture, God, the Trinity, Jesus' death and resurrection, salvation by grace through faith alone, etc). I'd ignore anyone contradicting any of these.
Dealing with "contradictions"
I put contradictions in quote marks because I have yet to see an actual contradiction in the Bible. Remember what a contradiction is. It's two statements that cannot both be true at the same time. If I come in to Church and tell you I met Greg outside, and then tell someone else I met Sarah, am I contradicting myself? No. I am presenting an inconsistency, but not a contradiction. Why? It's possible I met both of them outside. If I said there was no one but Greg outside, then telling someone I met Sarah is obviously a problem.
The Bible is much the same, every "contradiction" I've ever been shown turns out to be an inconsistency - which actually bolsters the credibility of the Bible. If we had 4 identical Gospels, people would rightly argue that the writers were getting their story straight before they wrote. But the fact that they feel free to write something that is an inconsistency lends support to them being honest witnesses.
One last thing with contradictions. Every person who tries to show me a contradiction always uses an English Bible. The problem is that it's a translation! When you go back to Greek you see that it isn't. For example, in 2 of Paul's conversion accounts, we read that his companions heard the heavenly voice in one, and they did not hear it in the other. In English this is a contradiction. In Greek however it isn't. In one, the word means to hear something audibly. The other means to hear, as in comprehend. Put the two together and you have the companions hearing a voice but not being able to understand it. There is no contradiction after all.
Where to begin?
If you are new to the Bible, start with a Gospel, then maybe Romans and Galatians. You can also get Bible reading notes to help you read a little every day, or you can be ambitious and use a reading plan to read the Bible in a year! The best ones mix up an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, and a Psalm or Proverb, which keeps it interesting (especially when you get to "begats"!).
And the key thing!
The Bible was inspired by God, so we should ask for His help in understanding it. Regular reading is important as well, as you read you'll be drawn into a divine conversation. It's amazing how often we bring our questions to the Bible, and end up being "questioned" by it!
Finally...
I've said before, the Bible is like a billboard advertising ice cream. You can spend a lot of time looking at the billboard, dissecting the colours, fonts, meanings and so on. But if you never actually go and get the ice cream, you missed the whole point. The same is true for the Bible. Jesus once said, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the Scriptures point to me!" (John 5:39 NLT) So don't just read the Bible, get to know Jesus for yourself!
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UPDATED NOVEMBER 2017
Dear GC,
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to say that I love your blog. Thank you for posting and updating!