Yup, that's the book for me!
I wanted to revisit the topic that I teased awhile ago about the importance and/or position of the Bible in our lives as Christians as we seek to follow Jesus. While I am far from being a fundamentalist and on some days not even really evangelical by strict definition, I do think that reading and engaging with the Bible is one of the most important things for a follow of Jesus to do. I think this looks different for everyone, but should be a hallmark of what it looks like practically to be a Christian.
To me, no matter how literally you take the Bible or what your view of its perfection is, the Bible is the most important and full way to get to know who God is, how God acts in the world, who we as humans are and how we are to interact with God and each other. I say 'most important' because I think that there are many other things beyond the Bible that do these things as well. I just the that the Bible is the primary and most important one. Again, for some people the Bible will take a stronger or weaker role in comparison to other mediums of learning about God and ourselves, such as nature, experience, science, reason, etc. Yet I still think that for everyone the Bible should be the primary and most important one.
Having said this, I don't read the Scriptures like I would like to. (I almost said should, but even with the view of how important the Bible is I don't think the should should be used. When we do it out of guilt or obligation, it loses a lot of value.) I won't go as far as to say that everyone should read the Bible every day, but for me, to whom the Bible speak to more than other mediums, I think that I need to in order to be fully connecting with and learning from God. I have tried many approaches, some have worked more than others, and am currently exploring a good and sustainable one. (B90X should be done by all at some point. Check out a great blog about it). I think that some combination of the Benedictine practices, hours of prayer, Anglican prayer book and my own creativity will win in the end.
I bring this up, because I wonder what other people's views on this are. In our discussions on things like the role of government, what churches should be engaged in, how we should live as Christians, etc., I think one of the questions is where do we find resources to help us address these questions? My answer would be that it is primarily the Bible, but definitely not only the Bible. The other resources, like experience, science, reason, research, etc., should fall in line with the Bible's narrative story. (I say narrative story because I think proof texting is dumb. If you're going to use the Bible to back you up, you better be able to show how the SCOPE of the story does).
So, I want to hear what people think...
peace,
About Me
- Devin
- Chicago, IL, United States
- I am a Youth Director at LaSalle Street Church and the Operations Coordinator for Breaking Bread. I am married to a wonderful wife, enjoy games and being silly.
5 comments:
I agree, mostly.
I am not a fundamentalist either in the sense that I adhere to the teachings and beliefs of those who claim that label. However, I do believe that the Bible is the foundation for Christian faith and all our views about life, faith, God, etc. must line up with what we find in the Bible (which I think you were saying too).
I agree that we can learn truths about God from many different sources, including nature, experience, science, reason, etc. I disagree that it doesn't matter how literally you take the Bible. My problem with Fundamentalism is not that they take the Bible too literally; it is that they only take certain parts of the Bible literally and ignore other parts (which it turns out we all do; myself included!). If we do not accept the entirety of the Bible as Truth, then we are on shaky ground where we are just as guilty as those who pick and choose and prooftext.
I agree with your final paragraph 100%. Our beliefs must be shaped by the entirety of Scripture, not just a verse here and a verse there. One benefit to B90x actually has been to see in a short time how the Biblical narrative fits together. It's been really cool.
Hey Devin, how's it going man?
I like the post. It's good topic to be thinking of. Actually to start completely honestly, when I got out of bed this morning, before I rushed out the door I found my bible and threw it on my pillow so that when I came home to sleep tonight, I'd make sure I read a bit, it's been a little while since I have read it.
I think I probably wouldn't be considered the most 'fundamentalist' of people when it comes to a reading of scripture, but I don't necessarily think a lot of scripture was meant as prescriptive and directive for our lives as new covenant christians. I've been particularly struggling with passages in the OT recently that rebuke the israelites for not killing the women and children, and telling the soldiers to keep the virgin girls for themselves to basically have their way with.....not exactly sure how that's prescriptive for my life, and actually it really makes me nauseous......because I know that God is love.
I'm very thankfull to have the great commentator of scripture himself, Jesus, to give me a loop hole and say hey....all that OT stuff that can really mess with your head sometimes....what I meant to say was this "love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbour as your self....that pretty much completes/ sums up what I wanted you to get from the law and prophets'......-guessing that view might not stand up to academic vigor but at the moment it keeps me going.... ;)
I think I've been going through a change in my thinking of where to place the bible in terms of my own spiritual life. I've had the privilege over the past few years of receiving spiritual direction from a wonderful Catholic nun who's part of an order who's particular gifting happens to be studying scripture. Through our meetings one of the things she's been able to do is help me come to terms with my 'evangelical guilt'. Even though I often don't feel like I hear from God best through Scripture, if there is one thing that will make me feel like a sucky follower of Christ it will be when I haven't read the bible regularly or don't feel that I'm getting much out of it when I do. It's really helpful sometimes to have guidance from someone outside your own tradition, as she's able to guide me through how much of those feelings may be guilt at not meeting a cultural expectation, rather than a spiritual fault. In fact though the spiritual discipline of regular bible reading is wonderful, I shouldn't feel a sense of guilt and failure when I'm not able to do it regularly enough. I'm not the most regular/scheduled of people with other things in my life so why should this be any different. A lot of it might just be my personality, and that I shouldn't feel bad for not being able to consistently make time to read the bible, which perhaps comes perfectly naturally to someone else, without much effort. Not saying I shouldn't read, and that spiritual disciplines shouldn't be difficult, but that I need to keep quite a bit of perspective.
We are all very different and God is big enough to meet us in different ways, even in my chaotic unplanned life-style.
I also am not completely sure how comfortable I would be to say the bible is the 'Most' important way to get to know God. Very few of the early Christians, and many christians around the world today who don't have access to the bible, seem to be able to get to know God pretty well. And many who have spent hours studying scripture, don't seem to know God much at all. Of course it's GREAT that we have the privilege of the bible, but I think God is perfectly capable of revealing Godself to us as and when God likes. So I might just say it's one of the more important, or perhaps, one of the more useful ways, we get to know God.
Anyway those are just some thoughts. Hope all is well.
This is a quick off the cuff response, I don't read my Bible at all anymore. It's been a long while since I picked it up. I follow along in church on the projector screen, but I don't read and dog ear my own bible. And I don't really feel any motivation to.
Not sure where that leaves me but that's where I'm at.
Hey Devin - cool post.
I'm one of those people, like you, to whom God reveals himself most directly through the Bible. It's the place where I go to see who God is and hear what God says. One way that I've been encouraged to do that is through the practice of Lectio Divina.
Lectio Divina is a listening exercise. It guides a reader through a passage of Scripture by inviting the reader to ask questions as he/she reads.
Read a passage aloud (or ideally have someone else read the passage while you listen). The passage shouldn't be longer than a paragraph. As you hear it, ask yourself: Is there a word or phrase that jumps out at me?
Spend some time in silence, pondering that question.
Hear the passage a second time, and as you listen, ask: Why do I think this word or phrase jump out at me?
Silence.
Read it again, and ask: "What might God be saying to me through this word or phrase?"
Silence.
Read it one more time, and ask: "What might God be calling me to do through this word or phrase?"
I've found that not just reading, but LISTENING to Scripture, can be a life-giving and life-changing experience. It creates the silence and space in the midst of our lives for the voice of God to speak and be heard. It also helps us to dig deep within ourselves and uncover places where God might be speaking a word of comfort, or conviction, or exhortation. God's word is indeed living and active, and I believe that listening to it is one of the fundamental ways that we draw nearer to him.
The meaning of terms change all the time. Definitions are forced upon us for political reasons. I had a coach, Gaye H. No one would have made a joke about his name. It would be a difficult life for a boy now days. Same can be said for "evangelical" and "fundamentalist". Tony Campolo admitted that he had to distance himself as they are no longer constructive to his testimony.
As abused as the terms evangelical and fundamentalist are they represent something quite important to the Christian faith. A rose by any other name. It is important that the concepts be understood and carried forward. The Church has been a virtual well spring of verbal and written understanding. The threat... our traditions and traditional views.
We can not dispose of the great commission. What we call it, how we do it must be up for re-evaluation constantly. But, we must go.
As for fundamentals, what activity of man can be done well, can be done excellently if the fundamentals of the discipline are ignored? I will not belabor the point with sports illustrations. The point is self evident. Show me a Christian who doesn't know the fundamentals of the faith and I'll introduce you to a person who can be led astray and who may lead others in wrong directions. Show me a believer who doesn't know sound doctrine and I'll show you someone who is missing out on the greatest blessing the Lord has to offer in out lives.
There would be no followers of Christ if it were not for that canon. My small group will be doing a survey study of the Gospels this school year. We asked ourselves which books could be taken out of the collection and we would still be followers of Christ. We concluded that almost any one or two of the books could be removed and we would still be considering ourselves "Christians". We all agree that if you took the four Gospels as one book, eliminated them totality, there would be no glue that made us unique in our identity. This is why we believed the Lord preserved His Word. It is through the study and belief in Scripture that we can become The Body of Christ. Without the Bible at best we could only be a band of nice people with no real hope other than what we rationalized would be hopeful sayings. We would all just do our thing in life and then... die.
To believe in the Scriptures as being God's Word is fundamental to the faith. Find me another word and I'll use it. Without that foundational belief I will show you someone who is at best a secular humanist. Those can be very good people. They are not historical followers of Christ and they are not any part of The Body of Christ.
The Bible is the foundation. The Christ we know is the Christ of The Book. Can we see God at work though in the world, in other people? Yes. Can other people teach us truth? Yes. Are there different ways of looking at Scripture, multiple paradigms, differing interpretations? Yes. But, are there heretical views too? Yes. Not every perspective is equally valid. Now re-enters "Tradition." There are other great writings out there, great thoughts of followers both men and women. We just have to know the "basics" to be sure that the traditions/ideas we understand or want to embrace are part and parcel of biblical faith. I suggest not all traditions survive honest, biblical scrutiny.
We learn much of God through observing the world. See Paul and Romans. Timber Bay is built on God talk through nature. But, we would not know of the Holy Spirit, know of Jesus and his resurrection, our forgiven state and eternal life were it not for the Bible.
People, places, traditions, thoughts, objects all seem to me potentially beneficial. None seem critical. Gospels are critical to the Bible. The Bible is critical to our faith. In a very real sense the Bible is our faith.
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