A Fresh Perspective - July 18, 08
Two interesting conversations take place in John's Gospel with two very different individuals. Jesus talks to Nicodemus, a Pharisee of prominence, about the need to be born again (could be translated "from above") and he talks to a woman of Samaria about drinking living water. Neither one, initially, understand what Jesus means. The reason that they do not grasp Jesus' meaning is that both are thinking on a single level—the literal level. Jesus is speaking in symbols and metaphors which they interpret literally.
This continues to be a major problem. Think of all the evil that has been done in the name of Christianity by taking the Bible literally. A literal reading of the Bible has been used to suppress civil rights, equal rights, and creation rights. It has been used to support slavery and hold women in subjection as an inferior gender. It has been used to exclude and condemn people, sowing seeds of hate and intolerance. It has been used to foster fear, guilt, shame, and prejudice, more so, than any other book. People who revere the Bible (perhaps even worship it) dishonor it by their literal reading and application.
God's revelation in the Bible has come through human minds, hearts, and hands. God works through fallible human beings—that means an imperfect, imprecise, error- prone revelation. Any nonbiased reader of the Bible is aware of these human limitations. Very few readers, however, approach it in an unbiased way. Most of us begin with certain presuppositions and beliefs that we make the Bible conform to. If we begin with the notion that the Bible is without error then we have to explain away all the contradictions and discrepancies that appear in its pages. Some people simply ignore the problems, or pretend they don't exist, or piously say, "Well, we can't make sense of it now, but one day we will" while holding to an illogical, indefensible position.
The Bible is a sacred collection of human documents, each of which must be understood within the limitations of time, place, language, culture, belief, and worldview that gave birth to these writings.
Jesus' own approach to the Bible in the Gospels suggests that Jesus did not regard every passage of Scripture as having equal authority for the life of faith. Jesus offered fresh interpretations of the Sabbath, marriage, and the priority of compassion, forgiveness, and justice for the poor and disenfranchised over sacrificial ritual and law, favoring certain Scriptures over others.
The Spirit of God and of Christ is the Spirit of love. The Spirit of love stands over the Bible and must guide our reading, interpretation, and application of the Bible. In this way the Bible becomes a sacred book that engenders love for God and for all people, a book that inspires goodness and grace. Otherwise, this holy book can be turned into an instrument of evil.
In the account of Jesus' temptation in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew the Devil quoted Scripture. Jesus did too. But Jesus was governed by the Spirit of Love. And so it goes if the Bible is to be employed for good and not evil.