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How to Read the Bible

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How to Read the Bible 05_0789734192_Ch03.qxd 9/19/05 5:19 PM Page 25 In this chapter • Three ways to approach the Bible 3 • An overview of seven popular Bible translations How to Read the Bible There are as many different ways to read the Bible as there are people to read it. Whether you and the Bible have barely met or are trying to rebuild an old relationship, a fresh perspective can work wonders. Without pretending to exhaust all the possibilities involved in Bible read- ing, this chapter skims some of the options every reader has when approaching or reapproaching this massive, diverse, and frequently misunderstood book. 05_0789734192_Ch03.qxd 9/19/05 5:19 PM Page 26 26 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE Three Ways of Looking at the Bible Most people read the Bible in at least one of three ways: ■ As holy scripture ■ As history ■ As literature As Holy Scripture In the previous chapter, we discussed various beliefs regarding where Scripture comes from and classified them into three basic categories: ■ Fundamentalism—Holds that God is the author of the Bible. Biblical funda- mentalists believe that the Bible is a holy and divine product and means what it says at face value (except in cases where the metaphorical intent is clear, such as when Jesus tells his parables). ■ Modernism—Holds that the Bible was written by human beings inspired by their relationships with God. Biblical modernists also tend to see the Bible as holy, but believe that context, metaphor, and the limitations of its human authors should be taken into account. ■ Secularism—Holds that the Bible is purely a product of human creativity. Biblical secularists believe that the Bible represents a literary tradition that has a great deal to say about human nature and the history and culture of the ancient Middle East, but they do not believe that God was involved in its origins. Whether you believe that the Bible is the work of God, the work of human beings, or a combination of the two, it can still be a useful devotional aid. And if you believe that the Bible is a holy book, it has an additional virtue: It brings you closer to God. There are many ways to read Holy Scripture, but everyone who draws religious mean- ing from the Bible does so as part of a group, individually, or through some mix of the two approaches. There are several important advantages to group Bible reading: It exposes you to the viewpoints of others and gives you a way of expressing and clarifying your own under- standing of the Bible. Group Bible reading is practiced in almost every church, but it receives particular attention in the Roman Catholic Church and in most mainline Protestant churches. These churches use lectionaries—books that reorganize the Bible into short readings that function well for church use, either during formal services or during small group prayer. The Jewish tradition also uses a lectionary approach; every week, one is given a parsha (“portion”) of the Torah to read and study, preferably in a group setting. 05_0789734192_Ch03.qxd 9/19/05 5:19 PM Page 27 CHAPTER 3 HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 27 The most common place to read the Bible as Holy Scripture in a group setting is in a house of worship, although it is not always necessary to join a religious commu- nity to participate in its Bible study programs. When in doubt, it is always a good idea to call and ask. In Judaism, individual Torah study has always note been encouraged. Within Christianity, however, For most of its history, individual study of the Bible is a relatively new the Bible has been read phenomenon that came about during the fifteenth aloud—heard rather century and the height of the Protestant than examined. Reading the Reformation. Until that time, most people did not Bible aloud or hearing it read own a Bible or read it as they would a book—pri- (as it often is in religious marily because most people were illiterate. (Then services) is a wonderful way to again, at that point in history very few people had connect to this ancient books, either.) approach to Scripture. Individual Bible study can be challenging for those of us who cannot read Hebrew or Greek and do not fully grasp the context of each Bible verse. Fortunately, a good study Bible can solve this problem. In Appendix F, “Choosing a Study Bible,” I’ve listed a few of my personal favorites. Online Bibles (such as those described in Appendix C, “The Top 25 Bible Websites”) can also be useful, because they allow you to search the entire Bible for a word or phrase with only a few keystrokes. LECTIO DIVINA The ancient Christian meditation practice of lectio divina, or “sacred reading,” has recently gained newfound popularity (particularly among Roman Catholics). Although lectio divina is best learned with a community of other practitioners, the four basic steps involved are easy to learn: 1. Lectio (reading)—Slow, contemplative reading of a text. (If you’re having trouble choosing one, try one of the passages in Appendix B, “Great Quotations from the Bible.”) Do not spend much time rationally analyzing the text, and do not try to work through it quickly; instead, let your mind linger on the individual words as if you’re listening to someone speak slowly and calmly. For this example, let’s use Ecclesiastes 1—one of the most depressing chapters in the entire Bible. 2. Meditatio (meditation)—At some point during the process of lectio, one passage should speak to you more than others. Spend time repeating the passage, silently or aloud, letting it sink in. My mind settles on the second half of verse 8: “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.” 05_0789734192_Ch03.qxd 9/19/05 5:19 PM Page 28 28 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 3. Oratio (prayer)—With your mind still focused on meditatio, recite the passage over and over. The words become random syllables, voice music, nothing more. But on some level, the idea behind the words is still rattling around in my mind. If the words begin to mean something again, if they register as if another person is speaking them, I recite them more quickly until they become syllables again; if I completely lose focus, I recite the pas- sage more slowly so that the idea can sink in again. 4. Contemplatio (contemplation)—If you feel yourself drifting into a meditative state, let go of all words and silently settle into the experience. As History Although the Bible was not written to func- tion as a history book in any contemporary Controversy sense of the term, it is the only book of its Even among time to study the Christian movement in people who find depth and the only book to chronicle the his- religious meaning in tory of ancient Israel in any meaningful way. the Bible, there is a Reading the Bible as history can be a com- great deal of disagree- pelling experience, placing you in the mind of ment over whether it is meant to the ancient writers in a way that few ancient provide an accurate history. texts can. Fundamentalists tend to argue Judges, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, the that every event mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, and the Book of Acts are espe- texts happened exactly as described; modernists tend to cially useful for those seeking to study the argue that the Bible was not Bible as history because these books are, in meant to function as a history effect, histories. Judges, Kings, and Chronicles book; and secularists tend to see essentially tell the story of ancient Israel after biblical histories as flawed but the time of Joshua; the Gospel of Luke is the interesting products of their time. most objective and historical of the four Gospels; and the Book of Acts (written by the same author as Luke) tells the story of the early church in a fairly direct way. Few books of the Bible are completely devoid of history, but some are more oriented toward history than others. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, for example, cannot be read as historical narratives, and neither can most of the New Testament epistles. As Literature Whatever anyone might believe about the Bible’s religious value or historicity, few can deny that the Bible is one of the greatest literary anthologies ever produced. The Hebrew Bible is certainly the pride of the ancient Near East; nowhere else can 05_0789734192_Ch03.qxd 9/19/05 5:19 PM Page 29 CHAPTER 3 HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 29 the same level of complex characterization, the same detailed plots, and the same varying literary forms be found. Even the Bible’s harshest critics acknowledge its literary merits. Books particularly well-loved by literary scholars include Exodus, Ruth, Job, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of John, and the Revelation (Apocalypse) of St. John. Lost in Translations I still remember that day in Sunday school class. I was about six years old, listening to a middle-aged woman tell Bible stories to us. I don’t remember what it was that week—Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Samson and Delilah, Mary and Joseph, or perhaps some of the other long-dead people in brightly colored bathrobes who talked to God—but I distinctly note remember what my teacher asked me: “Do you A great resource for understand the Bible, Tommy?” I paused for a comparing Bible trans- minute.
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