Five Questions of the Bible

January 4th, 2011 / 10 Comments

Most present-day Christians treasure the Bible. I know I do. But differences of opinion exist among Christians about how best to understand and engage Scripture.

For most of history, the typical Christian was unable to read the Bible. Many were not taught to read. Even more had no access to a Bible. Not until long after the printing press was invented were typical Christians able to own a Bible of their own. Many heard only heard the Bible read aloud in a language they did not know (e.g., Latin).

In the United States and many other countries today, however, Bibles are common. I must own a couple dozen, and I’ve probably been offered a hundred or more free Bibles over my lifetime. I’ve had the privilege of studying the Bible with the help of various translations, commentaries, reading the original languages, and the benefit of the best theological education.

As I think about how I treasure the Bible, I find myself returning often to five basic questions. The answers I’ve given these questions have varied over my life. 

These questions form the heart of The Bible Tells Me So conference I’m directing in early February. I thought I’d pose the questions in this blog to help those who plan to attend the conference think about how they might answer them. And I’d like to get responses from those who cannot attend The Bible Tells Me So conference but want to offer here answers or insights they find helpful.

1. What does it mean to say the Bible is inspired?

Every Christian I know believes God inspired the writing of the Bible. Part of the reason Christians believe this is that the Bible says in a few verses that God inspired biblical authors. The most common passage expressing this is 2 Timothy 3:15-17.

What it actually means to say God inspired the writing of the Bible, however, is a question with various answers. Some either implicitly or explicitly say God dictated all of the words so that what was written is precisely and totally what God wanted. This dictation theory suggests that the writers acted like machines or robots with none of their own thoughts and creativity contributing to the writing process.

Most in the Wesleyan theological tradition have rejected this dictation theory of inspiration. It doesn’t seem to line up with what the biblical authors actually say about their role. And it doesn’t fit with the way in which we see God inspiring people today. With H. Orton Wiley, these Christians talk about dynamical, cooperative, or symbiotic inspiration, whereby human authors contribute with the God in the writing of the Bible.

Many scholars today argue that the more important question is not “How was the Bible inspired by God,” but “How is God inspiring us to read the Bible today?” This shifts the focus from past tense to present tense. I’ve written some about this in previous blogs.

2. On what questions is the Bible a trustworthy guide?

Christians believe the Bible provides truths. The Bible can be trusted as a helpful guide in helping us answer at least some questions.

I have yet to meet someone who, when pressed, says the Bible answers all our questions. When my daughters ask math homework questions, for instance, I don’t open my Bible to find the answers. The Bible can’t give me all the answers to the Kennedy assassination. Nor can I rely on it to predict the 2011 Super Bowl champion.

So what kind of guidance does the Bible give? In the Wesleyan tradition, scholars have said Scripture at least gives us truths God uses to lead us to salvation. There is debate, however, about whether the Bible is trustworthy on all matters of science, history, and culture.

For instance, to what extent do Genesis creation narratives tell us scientific truth? When the Bible talks about the four corners of the earth, should we believe that round planets have four corners? Or should we interpret these and other biblical passages as metaphorical or theological and not scientific?

3. Is the Bible without error?

While Christians in the distant past thought occasionally about this question, the question of biblical inerrancy has been often debated in the last century. The worry has been that admitting to even one biblical error or inconsistency leads to lack of trust on the Bible as a whole. And if God inspired the Bible, an error-free God must have delivered an error-free product.

Answering this question is trickier than one might first imagine. I’ve written a few blogs on the subject, and the responses illustrate that this issue remains hot!  See this and this.

The major question is “What constitutes a biblical error?” Answering this question requires interpretation and looking at contexts. Some people list as errors what I think are simply uncharitable and even nonsensical readings of the Bible. Here’s one recently published list (you have to read the small print) of alleged errors in the Bible. The vast majority of those listed are unconvincing, however, because they fail to account for the biblical contexts or treat as literal what seems to be intended as metaphorical.

But other lists of inconsistencies and biblical errors have led biblical scholars to reject what I call “absolute inerrancy,” which is the view that the Bible is without any errors whatsoever. The vast majority of Wesleyan biblical scholars do not accept absolute inerrancy.

If we reject absolute inerrancy, however, we face questions about how we decide which passages have inconsistencies or errors and which do not. Some worry this discerning exercise leads to insurmountable problems and becomes subjective. Others argue that the discerning process is necessary because they cannot honestly affirm absolute inerrancy given the biblical text itself.

4. How should we interpret the Bible?

Amid debates about inerrancy, what many think is a much more important question sometimes gets overlooked: How do we go about interpreting the Bible?

Ironically, two people who argue the Bible is absolutely inerrant can come to vastly different interpretations about what a particular biblical passage means. At the end of the day, isn’t figuring out what the Bible means the most important issue when trying to learn about God and how we ought to live life?

Part of the interpretation problem revolves around who gets to decide which interpretation is best. On the one hand, I want to say the Holy Spirit can teach truth to anyone who prays and reads the Bible. But what happens when those who pray and read the Bible come to interpretations that the majority believes violates the plain meaning of Scripture? And what happens when a minority interpretation lead to destructive behavior the individual claims that God endorses? The “individual interpretation” approach has real limits.

On the other hand, I want to say that we should listen to and trust those who have studied and been educated in the intricacies of Scripture. This means trusting the scholars. But I also know that scholars often disagree with one another. And I worry that “waiting for scholarly consensus” on how to interpret a passage can sometimes suck the fervor from the desire to seek a word from the Lord through reading the Bible. Besides, sometimes experts are wrong. The “expert’s interpretation” approach also has limits.

In short, who do we trust to interpret the Bible rightly? Do we rely on individual interpretation? Scholarly interpretation? Interpretations from our pastor or famous Christian leaders? Our community’s or theological tradition’s interpretation? The Pope’s interpretation?

5. Does postmodernism influence the Bible?

The final question Christians face is the question of cultural and ideological influence on the Bible. We often call such current influence “postmodernism.” This word has many meanings. But at its heart is the intuition that changes have occurred that affect the way we view reality.

For some, this question is the most threatening of the five I’ve listed. Such people can’t imagine how any change in worldview should influence how we understand the Bible.

But a glance at history reveals that cultural and ideological influence has always affected the way Christians approach Scripture. For instance, there is no doubt that the translation and interpretation of the Bible has changed over the centuries. The Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible is different from King James Version. And those two are different from the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, and newer translations like the Common English Bible. 

Those who translated these versions of the Bible were influenced by their culture and worldviews as they chose words to use when translating the Bible from ancient manuscripts. And because more old biblical manuscripts have been discovered over the centuries, more ancient manuscripts were available for contemporary translators than were available for older versions of the Bible.

Of course, postmodern culture and ideology also likely influences how we interpret the Bible today. Most of this influence is probably unconscious. But I think with a little reflection, we realize that most people interpret some parts of the Bible differently today than most people interpreted the Bible in the past. For instance, I have no doubt that postmodern people read references to slavery differently than Christians five hundred years ago. And people today often think about biblical references to women differently than even 100 years ago. The times change, and these changes influence how we read and interpret the Bible.

Prayerful Conclusion

These five questions are deep. They are complex. And I think they are extremely important for educated Christian leaders to ponder. They will be the fodder for several discussions at The Bible Tells Me So conference.

We will conclude the conference by offering answers to these questions. The answers won’t come from me, however. They will come from the conference consensus. Those who attend will answer them, and these attendees include pastors, biblical scholars, lay leaders, theologians, students, and others.

I come to The Bible Tells Me So conference in an attitude of hopeful prayer. My hope is our loving and mighty God. My prayer is that God will lead those who attend, those who watch the conference live online, and those who only hear of what occurs to listen closely to what the Spirit wants to teach us all. My hopeful prayer is in the God who seeks to convince everyone of the truth of salvation.

Would you join me in hopeful prayer for The Bible Tells Me So conference?

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Comments

David Ackerman

Tom,

These are intriguing and important questions, but also difficult.  One idea I am wrestling with is worldview.  As someone who has lived in various cultures, I am sensitive to various nuances that culture imposes, especially upon biblical interpretation.  A person’s worldview will significantly affect how one answers the posed questions.  The influences upon perspective are both subtle, even imperceptible, as well as right before our eyes.  One of the keys for me, as I have taught and written about in different settings, is that we recognize our starting point as interpreters (what influences us) and then be willing in humility and reverence to adjust our course in light of our growing understanding of the message and purpose of the Bible.  Our worldview influences our interpretation of the Bible, but then we need to let the Bible influence our worldview, which then impacts our thoughts, beliefs, ethics, relationships, etc.  There is a border line, perhaps a bit nebulous, which determines “acceptable interpretation” and which may be need to be adjusted according to one’s convictions.  This is where the community of faith comes in, which is the specific topic I will deal with at the conference.


David Felter

Hello Tom. Great questions. I can envision robust discussions focusing on each one. Your selection of these five, suggest a charitable acknowledgment of what many believe are the pressing issues surrounding biblical debates. I am praying for the NNU conference and look forward to seeing you at M11.

Gratefully,


Curtis

Very good offering Tom. I have found that it is even difficult to have some of my students even contemplate the possibility of a biblical error. Sometimes I fear that if they consider this question too soon they will simply give in to skepticism. But if I don’t breach the question, someone else less concerned about their welfare will. Wish I could make it to the conference. I trust it will be great.


Russ Booton

Tom:

Much of this seems to be directed toward the incipient fundamentalism that I suppose is still part of the Church of the Nazarene.  I understand that.  You may, however, wish to address concerns from the other side of things.  Is the Bible theologically reliable? Is it morally reliable? What about salvation? Is the God who destroyed Sodom, demanded Isaac’s sacrifice, sought to kill Moses, commanded the genocide of the Canaanites, etc. (I could go on all day on this), really the Christian God?  What about all the Levitical laws? Are James’ and Paul’s view on justification really compatible when they seem to directly contradict each other?  What about Paul’s views on the relations between the sexes?  Among the people with whom I worship, the voices of the Old Testament and the Epistles have been largely silenced.  No one among us is asking about scientific truth in the Bible, and many would find the concept laughable. There is more of a concern whether the Bible should be used at all, beyond the Gospels (and even with those, there is some concern).  I imagine United Methodists among Wesleyans struggle with some or all of this as well.  I hope your conference will do more than just counter or respond to fundamentalism.


Terry Mattson

Tom,

Thank you for always choosing to engage the Church and meaningfully.

As a pastor and follower, the question that emerges in me, as urgent, is what is place of scripture in forming, in my life-in our life, the Story of God?  It is in the worshiping/missional life of the Church that Christ is formed.  All of the inspired Presence of God in humanity becomes mine/ours as we enter into the worship and mission of the Church.  Hence it is the ‘acts of God’, the living drama of the unfolding, emerging and inspired story that becomes mine/ours and the worlds as we worship, Biblically.  The inspiration of God inside the worshiping/serving community becomes a re-telling/re-living and renewed inspiration among us. 

In short, as I have moved beyond fundamental questions, the existential and experiential reverence I have in the Word (written/Living) has increased and this is the question I am living into.


John R King, Jr

The Bible raises many questions for both Christians and non-Christians.  I think it is most important that Christians not fear the questions.  Some fundamentalists do not deal with many questions about the Bible by viewing their own understanding of the nature of the Bible and their own way of interpreting the Bible as inherent qualities of the Bible itself.

Because of the wide diversity of the types of literature in the Bible, the wide range of dates over which the Bible was written, the different languages in which the Bible was written, and the different theological perspectives contained within the Bible, it is difficult to make broad generalizations about the Bible.

Conclusions about the Bible should be based upon knowledge and study of many different fields:  history, linguistics, archeology, literature types, methods of intepretation, specific knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, ancient worldviews, cultures and other factors too numerous to mention.  This basic fact makes it very difficult for the average person to grasp the wonder, wisdom, and value of the Bible. 

The average person must rely on those who study the scripture as true scholars and persons of God.  It is important for people to select those who guide them carefully.  Unfortunately, I was raised in a tradition that was so narrow-minded that I did not have a very good appreciation of the Bible nor a very good understanding of its nature.

From my own ecumenical, Christian perspective, the Bible is the final and permanent starting point for our identity as Christians.  It seems that on every other issue surrounding the Bible, one can find different conclustions reached by honest, Christian scholars.  My warning to any average person interesting in understanding the Bible is:  Do not restrict your study of the Bible to one perspective or one particular Christian tradition.  Learn from many sources and make up your own mind.  Unless you want to accept an understanding of the Bible solely based upon personal or institutional authority, one is left with no other alternative.  The Christian understanding of the Bible has fractured into many different points of view since the reformation and seems to be an inevitable result of the reformation dispite all attempts to prevent or deny it.  I think part of our maturity as Christians is to come to terms with the diversity of Christian thought concerning the Bible while at the same time having enough respect and personal understanding of the Bible to enable each of us to benefit from the witness and testimony of the Bible.


John W. Dally

Tom:
You have pointed out some very real issues when it comes to establishing the Bible in our faith traditions. Looking at each one individually has lead to volumes of commentary and study. I would like to back up and look at the issue of the Bible as a whole.
To begin with, inspiration is used to give the Bible authority.  As I argued in a previous blog, inspiration in my view is from within the writer/reader.  The fact that the authors of the Bible are accepted as inspired gives some authority to what they wrote. However, it is there reader that draws inspiration from the text. Can an inspired writer make mistakes?  Of course. His or her knowledge of the world is limited. Can an inspired writer contradict other writers? Of course. The object of the writing is not historical accuracy but how the inspired writer understands God’s involvement in accounts.
As a guide, the Bible is our benchmark, our measuring rod (the meaning of canon) to see if we have departed from those the Church considers reliable sources of the teachings and witness of Jesus Christ.  Paul applauded the Bereans for comparing his teachings to scripture to judge if his teachings were true ( Acts 17:11). The role of scripture is also as a guide to daily living. 2 Timothy 17:17 says “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (Italics mine). In this statement Scripture is a guide to living. (BTW, 2 Timothy is Deutro-Pauline.  It reflects a later development of the church. That could bear on the value of the passage.)
Viewing the Bible as a benchmark and a guide to living makes inerrancy mute. What difference does it make if it took God 6 days to create or 13.4 billion years?  What difference does it make if David called for a census or the Devil led him to call for a census?  The difference does not impact the message of salvation or how we should live?
In interpreting the Bible I like the view of Canonical Criticism of Brevard Childs. What was the message the canonizers wanted to pass on to the generations of believers to come? Therefore, interpretation of Scriptures comes down to the underling theological truth that informs each passage. Interpretation should be about finding what theological position is at the root of the decisions or accounts documented in scripture. (While I do not covet my neighbor’s ox or donkey I may covet his car or house.)  While the object of coveting will change, the principle will last and can be applied to each generation, including postmodernism. This makes the scriptures a living set of documents that can be applied to any situation in any time. It also requires informed exegetes who can work through the filters of history, social-political issues, world views, use of words, and the filter of human transmission. (From what I have seen in our churches today, I can see why the Catholic Church kept the Bible away from the common person.)  However, this requires good scholarship.
A side note.  I am feeling that we are giving more value to the 66 documents that make up the Bible then we do the living, dynamic Spirit of God who has written the law on our hearts. The early church did not have the NT canon and most were from the slave class and illiterate. Yet through the Holy Spirit they stood against persecution, retained the Gospel message and turned the greatest empire upside down.  For this reason I support the Wesleyan quadrilateral, Scripture yes, but also tradition, reason and experience.


Todd Holden

Tom

I am really looking forward to coming to this conference! I am running through a good number of books getting my mind ready for the conference. I am even looking at some that will be coming out after the conference. Will there be a reading list with the conference materials? Perhaps you could share some of your own opinions here on books that would greatly aid in delving into this deeper! Looking forward to your answer!


Thomas Jay Oord

Todd,

Here’s a list of books that will be available at the conference. This might help you in your quest!

Reading the Bible in Wesleyan Ways (Beacon Hill), edited by Callen and Thompson

All Things Necessary to Our Salvation (PLNU Press), by Lodahl

Various commentaries in the New Beacon Hill Press Commentary series (This series has a dozen or so books, and most of the authors will be present at our conference.)

Postmodern and Wesleyan (Beacon Hill), edited by Akkerman, Oord, and Peterson

Discovering Christian Holiness (Beacon Hill), by Leclerc

Keeping the Church in its Place (T and T Clark), by Thompson

Reading Scripture as Wesleyans (Abingdon), by Green

How We Got Our Bible (Beacon Hill), by Earle and Edlin

Discovering the Old Testament (Beacon Hill), by Branson, et. al.

Discovering the New Testament (Beacon Hill), by Varughese, et. al.

The Story of God (Beacon Hill), by Lodahl

Discovering Discipleship (Beacon Hill), by Blevins and Maddix

Responsible Grace (Abingdon), by Maddox

Wesley Study Bible (Abingdon)
Common English Bible (Abingdon)

The Blue Parakeet (Zondervan), by McKnight


Todd Holden

Thank you so much.


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