Approaching the Bible

[That'sWhatItSays]

(08-30-2012 08:45 AM)Papa Bear Wrote:  As a Fundy, so much of my understanding of the Bible was shaped by the fact that IFB preachers, teachers, and even devotional writers keep returning to their favorite passages (or verses, often out of context) while ignoring themes they weren't interested in. When I started attending a church that used a lectionary, I was surprised by passages that in the Baptist churches I had heard seldom, if at all.

This aspect of the IFB (and any branch of Christianity in general) is the source of my screen name. We hear message after message after message that cover about 30-40% of the Bible, to the utter neglect of the other portions. I thought a false balance was an abomination to the Lord? We could probably list hundreds of verses which we never heard once in our churches, even though they are just as important as all of the verses we did hear.

[Papa Bear]

(08-30-2012 10:12 AM)Bob M Wrote:  PB How many messages as a fundy did you hear from Acts 1:8? But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Matthew 28:19-20? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.9 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Now, think back, how many did you hear from John 13:34? “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Probably none.

I experienced the same thing. Once I escaped and started trying to read the Bible without fundy glasses on, not looking for "Things I should be doing or people whose examples I should be following" passages, but looking for God at work and seriously trying to hear God speak, I think I have finally started hearing. And several people here have helped me on that journey. I am not there yet. I still read Proverbs 11:30 as soul winning.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and the one who is wise saves lives.

Actually, I heard all three of those passages preached on frequently. Acts 1:8? One supporting reference, if not the main one, in every sermon on "witnessing" or evangelism. We tended to skip the second chapter of Acts unless doing a series on Acts, in which case it was unavoidable. The chapter would be read quickly, and then we'd have a sermon against the Charismatics, emphasizing that "God doesn't do those things today." Anything in the Acts of the Apostles about the believers holding goods in common, and distributing to each as he had need was followed by a sermon against socialism, then rushing almost gleefully to the story of Ananias and Saphira and preaching for stewardship or against hypocrisy (or against secrecy, which was sometimes held to be the same thing.)

Matthew 28:19-20? Every time they were raising money for missions.

John 13:34? They'd read this, pile on either misplaced guilt or self-congratulation, then preach against the Liberals for being too warm and fuzzy, and not caring enough about THE TRUTH.

Passages I was thinking of that they skipped? They'd occasionally (but not often) read some mention of God being pleased with someone who gave to the poor, but leave out anything about God being angry at those who did not give to the poor, or who took advantage of the poor or mistreated them. Since becoming Anglican, I've noticed that God brings that up A LOT in both the OT and NT. I heard one teacher say that if a missionary was "doing the work of the Peace Corps" he wasn't doing God's work. I think they were missing an important part of the Good News.

They would quote verses from Job when it suited them, ignoring whose speech the verse was drawn from. They liked reading the happy Psalms, (as long as there wasn't too much loud music or dancing) but generally avoided the sad or angry Psalms, except to pluck out an isolated verse as a prooftext. They loved some of the Proverbs and ignored others. I remember Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon each being preached exactly once. (very gingerly) They loved using the prophets to build elaborate prophecy charts, while carefully leaving out those awkward bits about nakedness or dung or prostitutes or virgin bosoms and the emission of horses.

[Ricardo]

How to approach the bible... Still working on it.

When I left my Fundy church, I first threw out the bible. Took me ten years to reopen it. (After reading Spong's "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism.")

The next stage was to tear the bible apart. (I continue to go in and out of this stage.) We do not have the originals. So any claim of inerrancy of the originals is moot. Plus the process of choosing the canon cannot be called inerrant. and the actual words of which manuscripts are being chosen by committee, and so far the NT has gone through at least 27 revisions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Testamentum_Graece

It is clear to me now that God speaks to us through Scripture. He also speaks to us through other Christians, through non-believers, through asses, burning bushes, and even through inanimate objects, such as the grandeur of the Universe. (I continue to harp on Rom1:19-20.)

There is a good chance that when I open the bible at random, "God" leads me to a passage full of begats. In this year's annual reading of the bible, I just got out of Leviticus, A book from which only two verses are used these days. (Correction: only one and a half verses... the "...and should be put to death..." is ignored.)

There is story after story in the OT which no longer serves its purpose to reveal to us a loving and understanding God, and instead is self-serving Jewish Mythology. There are things Jesus himself does that don't make sense. (If taken literally, or inerrantly.)

How does Jesus show God's love by dissing the people who did not pay attention to him and bringing up Sodom. Or cursing the fig tree. That is not very Christ-like...

I try to get a new version or translation every few years. (This year I'm using the New World version (Jehovah's Witness.) I know, I know: they manipulate certain passages for their own purposes. BUT, it reminds me that so does every version. I was fascinated to use one year the Skeptic's bible: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

And yet, I keep on re-reading. And yet, I feel God continues to reveal new Truths to me through this constant reading and meditating and praying.

Mind you: It is not the bible that saves, it is not the bible that holds "The Truth." It is in the interaction of me, my brain, my heart, the text, the interaction with you, my brothers and sisters. Oh that's right, I need to throw in a bit of Christianese: "The Lord leads us in mysterious ways."

NONE of the sources above is inerrant. My opinions change on a daily basis. The only thing that is constant is our yearning to know God better each day.

So what do we do with the bibles?

We keep on reading!