Using My Bible More Effectively: Stories and Poems
The Bible is a collection of stories and poems that grew out of the interaction between God and humanity. The Bible is the story of the relationships between God and people, and of the relationships among God’s people. (Even all those "thou shalt nots" of the books of Moses were given to help the Hebrews live out their relationship with God as God’s covenant people.)
This makes the Bible different from a "technical manual" such as we would use to work on a car or computer, and different from a "set of instructions" like a recipe. The Bible’s stories and poems help us see into the character of God, and help us see who we are in light of who God is.
The ancient world had a very different view of history and authorship than we do. We look for technical journalistic precision in reporting events, and a clear "paper trail" connecting exact quotes to their original speakers or writers. The scriptures come out of a very different world. Instead of merely reporting events and quotations, the scriptures seek to interpret those events and sayings to help us in our lives with God. The value of the scriptures lies in their ability through ancient voices to help us hear the voice of God’s Spirit today.
Therefore, interpreting the scriptures involves going beyond history and culture to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21). Historical and cultural facts help enlighten the listening process, but historical and cultural knowledge is not the goal of Bible reading. The purpose of the scriptures is transforming our lives into lives that reflect the character of God as revealed in Jesus (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 3:14-17).
Next post: questions I use in reading the scriptures for spiritual formation.
