Risk
Knowing the
Bible
by J. ANN CRAIG
The grass withers, the flower
fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8
These beautiful and hopeful words in Isaiah were written at least five centuries before Christ. They inspire us to treasure the Bible, read it and seek the word of God. The eternalness of God’s word is always there for us, calling us into relationship with God and with each other.
We are like the withering grass and the fading flower -- we long for God’s word to sweep through our lives bringing order and love during the brief time we are on earth. In those longings, we find ourselves in relationship not only to God but to the words of the Bible, which tell us about God.
If we take the Bible seriously, we will study it to learn how God was part of each step in the formation of Scripture.
Let’s look at Isaiah 40:8 as an example of how Scripture was written. Scholars generally agree that this passage belongs to a later author than the first 39 chapters of Isaiah. When it was written, only the first five books of the Bible -- known as the Torah or Pentateuch -- were held sacred. Although the prophet considered his writing to be God speaking through him, his writing did not immediately become part of the Torah. Centuries later, the prophets’ writings gained acceptance as sacred Scripture.
United Methodist Women’s two-year spiritual-growth study of the Bible looks at how the Bible was formed and interpreted. This is not just an academic exercise. As Christians, the Bible is our source for meaning, guidance and the word of God. What do we gain from looking at the events and people that played a part in shaping the Bible as we know it today? Do those learnings deepen the meaning of Scripture or cheapen it?
Changing beliefs about the Bible can be threatening. History is full of examples of people being threatened when new information about the Bible or a new translation was introduced. Recently, a conversation was overheard in a Christian bookstore. A woman walked into the store and told the clerk she wanted to buy a Bible. When the clerk asked her what translation she wanted, she said, "Oh! I don’t want a translation. I want the King James Bible!"
The clerk guided her to a King James Version of the Bible, she purchased it and went on her way.
Our understandings of the Bible, which are entwined with our ideas about God, raise deep questions:
God’s inspiration
While writing this article, I was picturing all the people who will read it in search of something important and inspirational to help them on their journey. I prayed that God would help me in saying what needs to be said. I called on Jesus to be with me as I worked, and I imagined Jesus leaning over my shoulder, gazing into the computer.
In the midst of this prayer, I believe I received a word of advice in the form of a question. With more than a bit of humor, I heard the question:
"Are you asking me to write this for you word for word?"
Perhaps that was how the writers of our Scriptures prayed: "Please help me write this to meet the needs of your people." Needs varied in each community, so we have many types of Scripture and often several versions of the same story, some repeated and elaborated over generations. For example, the story of escape from slavery by Moses and the Hebrews is retold and reinterpreted throughout the Bible. The story of Jesus was written by four separate authors in one generation.
The need to communicate something sacred was not the only thing that moved the biblical writers. They were also moved by shifts in social structures and crises that required preserving the stories. For generations the stories of escape from slavery were told as vibrant stories of ancestors journeying with God. As the population shifted from a migrant population to a settled culture, it became important to write down the sacred stories with elaborations to describe a more urban, ritual and priestly-centered worship.
When the kingdoms of Judah and Israel fell to the Babylonians, priests from both kingdoms were sent into exile in Babylon. The people were once again enslaved, but the leaders had been allowed to bring the sacred scrolls. In exile, they began to incorporate the two kingdoms’ versions of the Exodus story resulting in Moses going up both Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb. Just as God created a complex world full of difficult decisions, God is part of a complex set of stories and books that form the Bible.
Another crisis emerged during the Macabbean revolt, a century before Christ. Anyone found with Jewish Scriptures was killed and the scrolls burned. So people hid the scrolls and gave their lives to protect the Scriptures -- Scriptures we have today because of their sacrifice.
And yet another crisis emerged for early Christians when Jesus did not return as soon as expected. As those who had known him personally began to die, other followers began to write his story. Decades had passed so only a select number of stories and sayings were included. Persecution continued. Anyone found holding Jewish or Christian Scriptures were punished by death. To make matters worse, Christians with varying beliefs began to write gospels and epistles. All these writings had to be evaluated to decide which ones had authority.
Access to Scripture
When we learn about the emergence and survival of Scripture amidst crisis, it makes sense that the Bible is often most meaningful to us in times of crisis in our lives. We read the stories of redemption out of death and suffering, and we look at the challenges people have faced with God at their side. Transformation is possible as we hear of those who gave up everything to follow Jesus or those who stood face to face with him knowing their sins were forgiven. We know all this possible for us, and we read on.
We read and follow in the footsteps of early Christians who were bold enough to listen for God’s word in Scripture and apply it to life. Without such interpretation, the Bible is reduced to a static idol.
Reading the Bible today in the United States is not without danger and risk. History shows us the dangers of interpreting Scripture to reinforce power and domination. The Crusades, the Inquisition, witch burnings, slavery and "Manifest Destiny" in the Americas, all claimed support in Scripture. Today, white supremacist groups claim scriptural authority.
Domination has been enforced by limiting the reading of the Bible. Black slaves in some states were prohibited by law from reading the Bible. Many Latin American Roman Catholics only began to read the Bible after Vatican II in the mid 1960s. They read that Jesus came to free the captive and bring justice to the oppressed.
Today, women have gained access to studying the Bible in numbers unprecedented since the time of Christ. The leadership of women like Mary Magdalene, Priscilla, Junia the apostle and others are being rediscovered. When such dicoveries challenge the male bias in the writing, translation and interpretion of Scripture, the reaction is strong. Who are women to reinterpret Scripture?
The risks involved in reading and interpreting the Bible are real. History begs us to avoid the mistakes of the past and seek the rewards of God’s love. As we seek meaning and comfort in Scripture, Christians all over the world are doing the same. God has given us a vision through Miriam and Moses, through the prophets, and through Jesus that there is a promised land.
Scripture tells us there is a better way:
Love one another. (I Peter 1:22)
The kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)
You have been born anew...through the living and enduring word of God. (I Peter 1:23)
And the Word became flesh and lived among us...full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
God calls us to live by the rules of faith and love. This is radically good news. This is the news of the Bible.
J. Ann Craig is executive secretary for spiritual and theological development for the Women's Division.