Regardless of which Christian tradition we call our own, the
sacred texts of the Bible are always central to that tradition. While we may affirm different canons of
scripture, all families within the Christian faith have great reverence for the
scriptures and view them as having a vital place of authority in shaping
Christian belief and practice. Yet, we
must realize that the texts of scripture never stand on their own. The Bible
does not interpret itself, but must be interpreted by those who read the text;
those situated in various times and places who seek to grasp what these texts
say about God.
There are many reasons people may read the Bible, e.g.,
historical or literary, but the ultimate and constant reason for reading the
Bible is theological. Most who read the text, or hear the text read, believe it
to have something to say about God and God’s engagement with humanity. Indeed, the Bible exists, both in its parts
and in its whole, not primarily for historical or literary purposes, but
because both the parts and the whole of the Bible offer the historically
situated authors’ views on God and how God relates to humanity. In other words, the authors of the different
books of the Bible present primarily a theological perspective of life from
their own world.
But the very existence of the Christian sacred texts from
any and every tradition indicates that the stories of the Bible are not just
about the events, characters, and times of their own era. These stories extend beyond their own frame
of reference to communicate a belief in God’s good future in which each
generation can find hope in the midst of the challenges of human existence.
So, if the primary purpose for writing the books of the
Bible and for reading these books is theological, then how should we read these
ancient texts that were written by historically situated humans who would not
have envisioned the world in which we live?
Do we take what they say about God at face value, or should we be open
to fresh understandings of God? Answering
these questions fully would take more space than allotted here, but I want to
offer at least a rudimentary approach to reading the scriptures theologically.
One important step to reading the Bible theologically is to
embrace a critical approach to biblical interpretation. In other words, we can extend our critical
approach to the Bible past simply asking questions about the history of the
Bible, to asking questions about what the Bible says. A critical approach to reading scripture is
not only appropriate, it is also necessary when one is seeking to develop
relevant theological thinking.
A critical approach involves several components that
contribute to viable and meaningful interpretations. Reading the Bible critically means not only
giving close attention to the literary nature of the text, and to the genre of
a specific text, but also to the historically conditioned nature of the
biblical texts and the authors who penned them. These authors, and the texts
they produced, reflect a different worldview than ours. They viewed the cosmos differently, history
differently, and the experience of the divine differently. Thus, any faithful readings, and the theology
that develops from those readings, must take into account the assumptions these
authors had that we no longer have. While developing our theology from the
scriptures must demonstrate integrity with the historical meaning of the text,
our readings are not bound by those original meanings as we seek to bring
theological relevancy to our own context.
Yet, as we read and interpret the text of scripture to this
end, we must also recognize our own presuppositions. Each of us reads from our own ideologies that
are often culturally transmitted to us.
We approach the biblical text with these ideologies, which often leads
to our reading our presuppositions into the texts of scripture without
realizing it. Our gender, our race, our
sexual orientation, our socio-economic class, and even the various events we
have experienced and continue to experience all contribute to the assumptions
we have about what the Bible says and means.
Moreover, we often do not recognize such ideologies and presuppositions,
and not doing so can cause us to cling consciously or unconsciously to
misunderstandings and misinterpretations of biblical passages that are not true
to the text or a critical approach to its interpretation.
Indeed, such misinterpretations may be so deeply embedded in
our cultural locations that they may be hard to set aside altogether. They are often like a pair of old spectacles
that have become a part of who we are and through which we see everything. To be sure, we would be uncomfortable and
untrusting of what we read without them.
But, if we are to read the texts faithfully in order to shape a more relevant
and meaningful theology and practice, we must take them off, at least for the
purpose of seeing the text differently.
Of course, we could read the Bible critically in isolation,
but that may only lead us back to our presuppositions. A more fruitful practice of reading would be
to read the text of scripture in a community that may offer challenges to our
individual understandings. A text of
scripture does not have a single meaning limited to authorial intent, and no
one person has greater authority in interpreting a text of scripture. Certainly we can be helped by those trained
to read these ancient texts; those committed to the study of their original
languages, settings, and purpose, but we need not all be biblical scholars to
read, appreciate, and live out the meanings of the biblical texts.
Each of us approaches the texts with different experiences
and thus each of us has different presuppositions. When shared in a community of textual
readers, however, such experiences can enrich one’s faith and lead one to be
more faithful in his or her discipleship.
The richness of the biblical texts cannot be limited to authorial intent
or authoritative interpretation. Rather,
the Bible contains a multiplicity of valid interpretations, and reading in
community can help us see other meanings and other ways of assessing the Bible.
Yet, while we can read the scriptures in the communities we
call our churches, this may only reinforce the same presuppositions. Others from our community wear similar
glasses, for we typically associate with those who look like us, talk like us,
and are from the same social and economic situations. There is nothing inherently wrong with this
practice, and reading in likeminded community is an exercise in biblical and
theological interpretation that can shape our discipleship. But, reading the text with people from other
races, other cultures, other social and economic conditions, and other ways of
thinking about God and humanity can help us recognize our presuppositions and
assist us in seeing the text vastly different.
And such a practice may help us to see God differently by offering the
Spirit a way of leading us to fresh interpretations that shape our theological
thinking.
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