Understanding Difficult Passages of the Bible (Part 1)
When it comes to understanding the Bible, many find it challenging. The problem is compounded when a person has been part of a church for a while and is expected (at least in their own mind) to know or understand more. Some of common and representative statements I have heard many times over the years include: I read this but it just didn’t seem to make sense or I don’t understand our bible study passage today or perhaps the most common, I wish I understood more of the Bible.
A major part of the problem is reading the Bible calls for a different approach than we have learned in school, and which has been reinforced as the way to read throughout our culture. Simply put we are taught to read for information. We read to capture some bit or bits of information and then move on to get the next bit of information. In a very real way, we are taught to read to conquer the information and make it a part of us, often for future use.
This approach has a place and can be of value. Two quick examples come to mind. When I see my doctor, I expect him or her to be well informed by the latest studies and articles in the appropriate health journals. Likewise, when taking a course, I expect the teacher, professor, leader to be knowledgeable (i.e., informed) regarding the subject matter. The list could go on but I’m sure you get the point. Simply put, it also has limitations.
When it comes to reading the Bible, the objective is not so much to be informed but to be transformed. Reading for transformation is significantly different from reading for information. It requires a different approach. Transformational reading is more concerned with what we receive from a passage than what we get from it. It requires listening, reflection, mulling over, pondering and thinking. Transformational reading takes time and is typically thought provoking. It touches our hearts and spirits at a deeper and different level than the intellectual process of gaining information.
Perhaps you have heard the catchy acronym that the word Bible stands for Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. As you might already guess, I find this to be grossly oversimplified and not really helpful. In large part because the underlying assumption is the Bible contains information we need to know. The Bible indeed does contain lots we need to know, but at a far deeper and more profound level than intellectual comprehension. When all is said and done the purpose of the Bible is not to educate us but to change us, not to inform us but to transform us.
Next week I will look at how this works with difficult and challenging passages.
Grace and Peace, John