The Art of Reading and Interpreting Scripture Faithfully
One of the many books that I want to have is ‘The Art of Reading Scripture’ by Richard B. Hays and Ellen F. Davis. The book is too costly and it is not published in India. But I’m glad to have an MP3 lecture by Hays on the book and here’s a summary (or dictation:-)) of the main points in the MP3 with a few personal inputs. To read and interpret the Bible faithfully is important because: i. It is not possible to read Scripture without interpreting it. Consciously or unconsciously, we are always interpreting the Bible as we read. It is important that we learn to do it and do it well because our interpretation tends to be influenced by our social and cultural baggage, educational background, denomination we belong to, etc. ii. The nature of the Scripture itself: that it is both human and divine. The error is more towards treating the Bible as a book fallen from the sky, unpolluted by human hands, thoughts or language. He made a list of inadequate approaches in reading/interpreting Scripture. All of these have some grain of truth but it becomes inappropriate when a point/some points are taken in isolation.
1.Reading the Bible as an advice column. The Bible of course has lots of sound advices to live our lives. Hays talked of his experience of being directed to ‘self-help’ section in a book store when he asked for the ‘religion section’.
2.Reading Scripture as a roadmap to heaven or how to be saved. Life is a journey to heaven (like the Pilgrim’s Progress), and the Bible is a guide map to get you there. Or the Bible provides the way to escape (saved from) this evil world which is like a sinking ship going down or a garbage heap waiting to be burnt.
3.Reading the Bible as a script full of predictions of the end time events. Left Behind series comes to mind: that one day, Israelites will return to their homeland, Antichrist (a political leader named Nicolae in LB)defeated, temple worship restarted and Yahweh will rule from Zion.
4.Reading the Bible as a purely historical source of facts. This approach is helpful as counter-balance to the first three points. However, this approach leaves no room for faith based approach which is so vital for any believer of the Bible. A believer is not an outsider, but a participant in the Bible story. The supernatural/divine elements if rationalised and naturalised for the modern mind will miss what the Bible has to say. This approach is prevalent in universities (e.g., one engaged in archeology who is always in Assyria or somewhere in the holy land).
5. Reading the Bible as having a massive cover up or a great conspiracy to conceal the truth about early Christianity and the truth about Jesus. The Dan Brown books come to mind: that the Vatican is trying to cover up some affairs Jesus had and his family line which continues to this day.
6. Reading the Bible in the popular post-modern way of thinking: that everything is relative and all meaning is constructed by the reader and the texts do not have any determinant meanings in their own rights. Suspicion of authority and objective interpretation is oppresive.
7. Reading the Bible as a book fallen straight from heaven, dictated by God word for word. This was the approach of the 16th century fundamentalists to counter liberal exegeses. The idea is that each and every verse is free from historical/theological error and can stand on its own like an individual proverb. It refuses to admit that the inspired word of God has been expressed in human language by human authors with limited capabilities and resources. It fails to pay attention to the process extending over long periods bearing marks of diverse historical situations. It confuses religious teachings which uses a lot of symbolic metaphors with hard scientific data. It ignores and denies the problems presented by the biblical texts in its original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek forms. It invites people to commit a kind of intellectual suicide.
Ways of interpreting the Bible effectively
The Bible tells a story within which we live. The God of Israel, the Creator of the Universe (since man has rebelled and disobeyed God and disordered the created order) has acted to save the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The full extend of that rescue is something we haven't seen yet. While we wait, the Church (the community Christ has established to be his witness) is called to re-enact the pattern of the loving obedience of Jesus Christ; to be a sign to the world of God's redeeming purposes.
1. It is about God. The Bible is not primarily about me: 'What is it going to do for me?' 'What is relevant in this passage for me?' It is about God and his universe.
2. It is a coherent dramatic narrative. The Bible moves from the creation of the universe to the fall, selection of Israel, Exile, Restoration, Jesus Christ- his Life, Teachings, Death and Resurrection, Community of believers, Redemption of the world in the New Creation.....
3. The Old Testament and the New Testament must be read together. It must be read from back to front and front to back. See exercise below.
4. A text must be interpreted both in relation to its immediate historical world and finally to the shape of the cannon Hos. 11:1 and Mt. 2:15 Isa. 7:14 and Mt. 1 :23 Gen. 13:16 and Gal. 3:16
5. Texts in Scripture have multiple senses. This is hard because we want it to be like solving a simple equation. But the texts have layers and layers of meanings which also requires imaginative perception. The Jews knew it, pre-enlightenment christians knew it, and we need to recover it. For example, the good Samaritan story teaches that my neighbor is anyone who is in need. It also has profound things to say about racial/ethnic/class discrimination. The Samaritan is here proclaimed as a hero.
6. The four cannonical gospels of the NT narrate the truth about Jesus. All of them are essential to understand who Jesus is.
7. The reader has to be a participant in the Church. Many may say, I'm a spiritual person. I can encounter God in a lot of ways and I don't need to go to church. No. The Church provides the community in which we read the Bible. Like a polyphonic music score against a monophonic tone inorder to trully appreciate music.
8. The Bible has to be performed to be understood. The saints provide models to read Scripture faithfully. Saints are those who are recognised in the Christian traditions, or our role models in the faith-fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, or friends-who read and embody the Scripture well.
9. Reading the Bible is often done fruithfully in the company of outsiders: particularly with the Jewish community who claim the same Scripture (OT). E.g. the new perspective on Paul.
10. We can never attain a final closure being inside the story. Living in the in-between, we are called to humility realising that what we say isn't the last word.
Exercise: Here's a very interesting exercise from Acts 15:1-21. This portion contains references to Amos 9:11,12, Isa.45:21 and Lev. 17,18 (plus christian tradition). Some Jews were upset by mission to the gentiles and they wanted the gentile converts to be circumcised. How did the Council of Jerusalem come to a conclusion that the gentile converts need to only abstain from eating blood, certain foods, avoid idolatry and fornication? Refer to the references. Quite bizzare that this passage of accepting gentiles as they are is used for homosexual rights. That's for another day though.
Note: lay people need not be frightened ( as in a century ago) by advocates of higher criticisms by giving the impression that a great deal of prelimanry learning is essential before one can understand the Bible properly. Prayer (pleading for light), meditation (hard thought) and temptation resisted(to be passive, refuse to confess, and obey the truth one knows) will lead to the spiritual understanding that theology exists to safegaurd.
1.Reading the Bible as an advice column. The Bible of course has lots of sound advices to live our lives. Hays talked of his experience of being directed to ‘self-help’ section in a book store when he asked for the ‘religion section’.
2.Reading Scripture as a roadmap to heaven or how to be saved. Life is a journey to heaven (like the Pilgrim’s Progress), and the Bible is a guide map to get you there. Or the Bible provides the way to escape (saved from) this evil world which is like a sinking ship going down or a garbage heap waiting to be burnt.
3.Reading the Bible as a script full of predictions of the end time events. Left Behind series comes to mind: that one day, Israelites will return to their homeland, Antichrist (a political leader named Nicolae in LB)defeated, temple worship restarted and Yahweh will rule from Zion.
4.Reading the Bible as a purely historical source of facts. This approach is helpful as counter-balance to the first three points. However, this approach leaves no room for faith based approach which is so vital for any believer of the Bible. A believer is not an outsider, but a participant in the Bible story. The supernatural/divine elements if rationalised and naturalised for the modern mind will miss what the Bible has to say. This approach is prevalent in universities (e.g., one engaged in archeology who is always in Assyria or somewhere in the holy land).
5. Reading the Bible as having a massive cover up or a great conspiracy to conceal the truth about early Christianity and the truth about Jesus. The Dan Brown books come to mind: that the Vatican is trying to cover up some affairs Jesus had and his family line which continues to this day.
6. Reading the Bible in the popular post-modern way of thinking: that everything is relative and all meaning is constructed by the reader and the texts do not have any determinant meanings in their own rights. Suspicion of authority and objective interpretation is oppresive.
7. Reading the Bible as a book fallen straight from heaven, dictated by God word for word. This was the approach of the 16th century fundamentalists to counter liberal exegeses. The idea is that each and every verse is free from historical/theological error and can stand on its own like an individual proverb. It refuses to admit that the inspired word of God has been expressed in human language by human authors with limited capabilities and resources. It fails to pay attention to the process extending over long periods bearing marks of diverse historical situations. It confuses religious teachings which uses a lot of symbolic metaphors with hard scientific data. It ignores and denies the problems presented by the biblical texts in its original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek forms. It invites people to commit a kind of intellectual suicide.
Ways of interpreting the Bible effectively
The Bible tells a story within which we live. The God of Israel, the Creator of the Universe (since man has rebelled and disobeyed God and disordered the created order) has acted to save the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The full extend of that rescue is something we haven't seen yet. While we wait, the Church (the community Christ has established to be his witness) is called to re-enact the pattern of the loving obedience of Jesus Christ; to be a sign to the world of God's redeeming purposes.
1. It is about God. The Bible is not primarily about me: 'What is it going to do for me?' 'What is relevant in this passage for me?' It is about God and his universe.
2. It is a coherent dramatic narrative. The Bible moves from the creation of the universe to the fall, selection of Israel, Exile, Restoration, Jesus Christ- his Life, Teachings, Death and Resurrection, Community of believers, Redemption of the world in the New Creation.....
3. The Old Testament and the New Testament must be read together. It must be read from back to front and front to back. See exercise below.
4. A text must be interpreted both in relation to its immediate historical world and finally to the shape of the cannon Hos. 11:1 and Mt. 2:15 Isa. 7:14 and Mt. 1 :23 Gen. 13:16 and Gal. 3:16
5. Texts in Scripture have multiple senses. This is hard because we want it to be like solving a simple equation. But the texts have layers and layers of meanings which also requires imaginative perception. The Jews knew it, pre-enlightenment christians knew it, and we need to recover it. For example, the good Samaritan story teaches that my neighbor is anyone who is in need. It also has profound things to say about racial/ethnic/class discrimination. The Samaritan is here proclaimed as a hero.
6. The four cannonical gospels of the NT narrate the truth about Jesus. All of them are essential to understand who Jesus is.
7. The reader has to be a participant in the Church. Many may say, I'm a spiritual person. I can encounter God in a lot of ways and I don't need to go to church. No. The Church provides the community in which we read the Bible. Like a polyphonic music score against a monophonic tone inorder to trully appreciate music.
8. The Bible has to be performed to be understood. The saints provide models to read Scripture faithfully. Saints are those who are recognised in the Christian traditions, or our role models in the faith-fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, or friends-who read and embody the Scripture well.
9. Reading the Bible is often done fruithfully in the company of outsiders: particularly with the Jewish community who claim the same Scripture (OT). E.g. the new perspective on Paul.
10. We can never attain a final closure being inside the story. Living in the in-between, we are called to humility realising that what we say isn't the last word.
Exercise: Here's a very interesting exercise from Acts 15:1-21. This portion contains references to Amos 9:11,12, Isa.45:21 and Lev. 17,18 (plus christian tradition). Some Jews were upset by mission to the gentiles and they wanted the gentile converts to be circumcised. How did the Council of Jerusalem come to a conclusion that the gentile converts need to only abstain from eating blood, certain foods, avoid idolatry and fornication? Refer to the references. Quite bizzare that this passage of accepting gentiles as they are is used for homosexual rights. That's for another day though.
Note: lay people need not be frightened ( as in a century ago) by advocates of higher criticisms by giving the impression that a great deal of prelimanry learning is essential before one can understand the Bible properly. Prayer (pleading for light), meditation (hard thought) and temptation resisted(to be passive, refuse to confess, and obey the truth one knows) will lead to the spiritual understanding that theology exists to safegaurd.
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