It can’t be read as a continuous narrative, or its topics consulted
as a reference book. Nor is it like an oracle or horoscope with handy advice
for daily situations. So here’s some reflections on a few basics for people
who are confused by, or new to, the Bible, written from the perspective of someone who values the whole Bible greatly as the primary source for Christian faith and conduct, but is under no illusions about its complexity!
The nature of the
book
The Bible is a compilation of 66 books, from at least 40
different authors and written over at least a 1200 year time span. Learned
groups of believers in the distant past have prayerfully concluded that these
documents, unlike many other contemporary documents, are the authoritative texts through which we can discover the truths we
need to know (not all that we would like to know) about God and how we are to
relate to and live for him in every generation and culture. The final cut was
not made by any one council or committee, though, but evolved slowly over time.
Indeed no-one is sure exactly when the Old Testament books (the Hebrew or
Jewish Bible, which Jesus used) were finally agreed.
However, there is still some disagreement among scholars and
church leaders over which books are “canonical”. There are 15 additional books
gathered into the Apocrypha and which are included in a separate section in some
editions of Protestant Bibles, and are occasionally read from in the Church of
England lectionary. In Roman Catholic versions seven of these books are spread
among the Old Testament books and one other, the Additions to the book of Esther, is dotted through the biblical
book of Esther. All 15 apocryphal books are included in the Bibles used in some
Orthodox churches.
This is confusing for unsuspecting readers but for our
purposes we focus here on the basic 66 common to all Christian traditions. They
are gathered into sections according to their genre, which are not entirely
chronological in either content or date of final compilation. In Bible order,
these are:
·
The Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy)· Historical books (Joshua to Esther)
· Poetry and wisdom books (Job to Song of Songs)
· Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi, sometimes sub-divided into 4 major and 12 minor prophets)
· The Gospels
· Acts
· Paul’s letters (Romans to Philemon)
· Other letters (Hebrews to Jude)
· Revelation
The prophets slot into various points within the historical
books, and some of Paul’s letters slot into parts of Acts. The Psalms appear to
come from a very wide range of times, some relate to specific historical events
but others are more general. Some books, like Jeremiah or Proverbs, are a
hotch-potch of writings in no particular order.
The nature of the
writings
Although Christians believe that the ultimate author of
Scripture is God, the Bible’s own view is that it wasn’t dictated by God to the human authors. Rather, it was breathed out by God (the meaning of 2
Timothy 3:16). That’s a much gentler process, more of a nudge than a shove, which
never over-rides the personality and understanding of the authors but rather
enables them to encapsulate important truths and messages without necessarily
realising themselves the significance of their work.
Therefore literary styles and authorial viewpoints differ
through the Bible, as of course does the cultural background. The former Chief
Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, who ought to know something about the Hebrew Bible (the
Christian Old Testament), offers a perceptive insight which western Christian
readers often overlook in their anxiety to extract abstract principles of
theology and conduct from it.
“We owe virtually all our abstract concepts to the Greeks,”
he writes. “The Hebrew Bible knows nothing of such ideas….When the Hebrew Bible
wants to explain something, it does not articulate a theory. It tells a story.”1 Which, of course, Jesus (also a Jew) did
frequently.
It was St Paul (also a Jew but steeped in the Greek culture
of the non-Jewish world he sought to evangelise) who began to systematise
Christian theology in letters such as Romans and Ephesians, although generally
his letters addressed random topics according to the pastoral needs of the
churches. Since his time our western, Greek-like analytical approach has
systematised biblical theology. That is no bad thing, so long as we recognise
that our concepts are not to be thought of as if they were simple mathematical
formulae or proven facts. They are more like multi-faceted diamonds, and our
task is to discover the sparkle as we contemplate their many nuances that together
defy ultimate definition. For example, we can find a number of elements which
together help explain the reasons for, and effectiveness of, Jesus’ “atoning”
death.
Furthermore, the prophets, like the psalmists and wisdom
writers, used images and literary and poetic devices to make their points vivid
– they were more like impressionist painters than news photographers. Just read
Ezekiel if you doubt it! (There is also the matter of language, too; ancient
Hebrew contains no vowels so the reader has to think very carefully about what
a set of consonants might be in their context: is the word spin, span, spun,
spoon – and which of several possible uses or meanings of each is intended?)
The text was to be pondered and discussed, not taken as a definitive statement.
Modern translations focus on the most likely intention.
A cultural and
corporate history
The historical writers did not set out to produce
comprehensive impartial narratives. They were not modern academic researchers
or investigative journalists. They were preachers, polemicists, propagandists,
even. They selected anecdotes and incidents to convey a message and make a
point regardless of “balance” – they’d never be employed by the BBC today! The
books of Chronicles, for example, which overlap with 2 Samuel and the books of
Kings, focus exclusively on the Davidic dynasty and the southern kingdom of
Judah for a specific reason: to encourage the exiles who returned to Jerusalem
from Babylon in the late sixth and early fifth century BC.
The cultural background of the authors is very evident. They
wrote (and spoke) about current affairs and local customs and couched their
insights within the thought-forms of their own time. So Jesus’ parables about
losing sheep and storing fresh wine would have been very familiar to his
hearers but need some background awareness on the part of modern readers if we
are to grasp their nuances. A good study Bible (with notes on the text) will
provide enough background information to help readers at least begin to grasp
what the Bible writers meant in their own day. It’s a fundamental principle of
biblical interpretation to ask what did it mean originally, before asking what
might it therefore mean today.
It’s also important to remember that almost the whole Bible was
written within the context of communities, and one specific and small community
in particular. The Old Testament is concerned with the community development of
the ancient Israelites. Individuals found their identity and meaning as members
of the community. So, for example, one man’s sin causes devastation for the
whole group (Joshua 7). Our 21st century western habit of focusing
on the individual is foreign to the Bible, and by over-personalising it we can
distort it. The New Testament is still rooted in a similar cultural context. A
major source of division in Christian churches has been over the household
baptisms of Acts (eg 16:31-34); culturally, if the head of the household
converted then the household followed, but it’s a moot point as to whether each
member had what evangelists today would call “personal saving faith”. (Which
raises many other issues!)
A slow unveiling
One of the frustrating things about God is that he takes his
time. Jesus was not sent into the world to reveal God’s character and provide a
lasting remedy for spiritual waywardness as soon as the need became apparent.
He came “when the time had fully come”, centuries after human sinfulness
wreaked havoc (Galatians 4.4).
It’s important therefore to recognise from the outset that
the Bible appears to be inconsistent simply because throughout its millennium-plus
period of writing and compilation people were slowly learning more about God:
his revelation was gradual, not instant. So while Abraham and Moses, for
example, had real experiences of God, they did not have the fuller
understanding that Jesus brought and the apostles discerned.
Commentator Leon Morris wrote, “There is progression in the
Bible. Earlier revelation is filled out by later. We must not expect and we do
not find the full revelation at the earlier time. But progression and
development are not the same as error.”2
We must be careful, therefore, not to treat older beliefs or
instructions as being on the same level as those in the New Testament without
carefully considering their context and comparing them with the later, clearer
revelation. But neither should we dismiss them. Rather, we are to look for
seeds of understanding that lie within them. It’s a bit like the difference
between studying GCSE subjects and doing post-graduate research: the former provides
an important foundation but it’s built on and replaced by the latter.
Job – a case study
The biblical book of Job is a story. There are similar
stories in other cultures, and whether it’s based on fact or not is irrelevant
to the story and to one’s views about biblical inspiration – Jesus’ parables
weren’t reports of incidents but recounted familiar general scenarios to make a
single point. Job was a godly, righteous
man who lost everything through no fault of his own. Not unnaturally, he asked
why God had allowed the calamity, as one does.
Along came three friends, joined later by a fourth, who
proceeded in various ways to trot out the established theology of the day: God
punishes sinners, good people thrive. Therefore Job must have sinned. He
protested his innocence until God stepped in. God rebuked the friends; they
were talking nonsense. Suffering was not a matter of personal deserts. But he
also rebuked Job for assuming that personal integrity is a guarantee of wealth,
health and happiness. The world isn’t like that.
As a result, neither Job nor the reader is given reasons why
people might suffer, but we are given a loftier vision of who God is and the
reassurance that he is worthy of worship regardless of our good or bad fortune.
Moral: don’t takes the friends’ views as “inspired” scripture! The book as a
whole contains a single, simple inspired message.
The story doesn’t end there. We don’t know when Job was
written in its present form although there are suggestions that the story is
ancient. But people did not learn and apply its lesson straight away. Fast
forward to the New Testament. Jesus meets a man who was born blind. It’s Jesus’
disciples, not his enemies, who ask him the really dumb question (in the light
of Job): “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus’
response is unequivocal: “Neither” (John 9:1-3). That’s not how it works.
The penny still hadn’t dropped. God’s revelation through the
story of Job had not entered general consciousness. It still hasn’t. We still
feel a sense of injustice when things go wrong. That could be because we know
the world shouldn’t be like this, that something has gone wrong which is a basic
Christian belief. Iit doesn’t mean God has a downer on us personally.
The search for truth
None of what is said above alters the basic premise that the
Bible is the ultimate authority for all matters of Christian belief and
behaviour. Nor does it detract from the belief that scripture is “God’s Word”,
or that it contains some fundamental principles of faith and action which are
true for all time. All it does is remind us that the Bible is not a systematic
workshop manual; it requires study, searching and interpreting. It also assumes
human responsibility: that we apply biblical principles thoughtfully and
prayerfully in our own contexts.
There are many published and internet aids to help us find some
guidance or insight on what we need to know in different situations. Although
the Reformation principle of each person being able to read and interpret
scripture for themselves (as opposed to being told what to believe or do by the
church) is important, the consensus of learned, prayerful judgement developed
over the centuries is not to be taken lightly.
Today the risk of scripture lies in each of us taking what
we want and saying, that’s what I believe, of developing a pick and mix
approach to the Bible. The challenge of scripture is to submit ourselves to its
judgement and to the understandings of previous generations of Christians who
may also have been gently blown along by the Spirit of God as were the original
authors.
It is also tempting to find in scripture confirmation of
what we already think. “If we only use the Bible as a mirror to see ourselves,
we may wind up seeing more of a reflection of our own self-interests than a
revelation of God’s interests. Given our capacity for self-deception, our
personal appropriation of the Bible can be an abuse of the text to promote our
own agenda.”3
Handle with care! The Bible is a powerful tool for transforming
self-serving people into God-serving people. Its challenges, rightly handled,
are not to be ignored. We’ll learn more of God and his purposes revealed in scripture
by meditating on it slowly, than by treating it as a spiritual fast-food snack.
Think and talk
1. God reveals
himself in many ways: see Psalm 19:1-4; Acts 17:26-28; Romans 1:18-20; Romans
2:14-15; Hebrews 1:1-3.2. God reveals himself gradually: 1 Corinthians 13:11-12; Galatians 3:24; Galatians 4:3-4; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 1:10-11.
3. God reveals himself through the scriptures: 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16.
References
1. Jonathan Sacks, The great partnership, Hodder & Stoughton 2011, p.44.
2. Leon Morris, I believe in revelation, Hodder & Stoughton 1976, p.139.
3. G. Walter Hansen, “Words from God’s heart”, Christianity Today 23 October 1995.
© Derek Williams June 2016. This article forms part of a
potential future publication and should not be reproduced in any form. It may
be circulated electronically in its entirety without any cuts or alterations for small group
use.
My next book coming
in October: The Judas Trap published
in the UK by Instant Apostle. Based on what we know of Judas Iscariot, it
examines why people mess up – and how to avoid joining them.
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