DON'T READ THE BIBLE (YET):
- brittbryan1001
- Sep 3, 2023
- 13 min read
Updated: Sep 16, 2023
Five ideas we need to understand before we can understand the Bible.
Let's be honest: everybody lies.
And there is no one we lie to more than ourselves.
Several years ago, I heard about a survey that showed 65 percent of Americans believe they are above average in intelligence.* (Admittedly, I am not great with math and statistics, but something there does not seem to add up…)
What that survey really shows is that our capacity for self-deception is alarming.
I'm not suggesting that I am any different. I've just been thinking about that survey lately because I believe a similar theory applies to our views of the Bible, based on two other surveys that, in my view, conflict with one another. (Also, I promise no more stats after this!)
According to a 2022 survey* by Pew Research, 63 percent of US adults identify as Christian.
But a 2021 survey* by Barna shows that only 16 percent of US adults read the Bible regularly (meaning most days a week).
So, the majority of US adults say they are Christians, but only 16 percent read the Bible regularly.
Of course, to be clear, I do not believe you have to read the Bible to love God or follow Jesus. It’s not a requirement. (Just like how spending time with your spouse or being faithful to them isn’t a requirement…but it sure does improve the relationship.)
I’m not here to judge how much anyone reads the Bible. Frankly, that’s not my business or my point.
My point is that it sure seems like people read the Bible a lot, because they quote it a whole lot. And yet, study after study will show how infrequently the vast majority of us actually engage with the Bible.
In other words, we deceive ourselves.
Speaking of deception, just look at how many politicians use the Bible to support their political positions. Look at social media and you’ll find a plethora of biblical experts broadcasting strong opinions about “what the Bible says.”
But can you truly know what the Bible says if you don’t read it?
See, usually when people use, “The Bible says!” in this way, I find that they often don’t know what the Bible means. They can quote the passage of scripture, sure. (Seems that we like to quote the Bible, even if we don’t read it.)
But merely knowing what the words say is just barely skimming the surface of a deep ocean of meaning and history that lies beneath. And we would discover this, if only we cared to look deeper.
But it’s just so much easier to shout, “The Bible says!” and run away than to sit in the muck and deal with the truth. Which is that the Bible is far more complicated than many of us want to admit. It’s complicated to read, and it’s got a complicated past. And trying to understand all of that is an enormous, intimidating undertaking.
I am convinced that people do not read the Bible because they don’t want to deal with those questions and issues that will arise when they do. They simply don’t know what to do with all that, and don’t know where to begin.
I get that. I know what that feels like. And that's why I am writing this blog.
So, if this is true for you, if you have ever looked at your closed Bible and desperately wanted to open it, but didn’t know how or where to begin, then I hope you will find this blog to be a helpful starting point.
My goal for this blog is to suggest five ideas I believe we need to understand before we can begin to read the Bible. We need to set the table before we sit down to eat.
Some of these concepts might seem counterintuitive. (Because they are.) And I am certain there are more and better approaches out there.
But the suggestions I will outline in this blog are based on my own personal experience. And coming to terms with these ideas has led to a more meaningful and impactful relationship with the Bible and has strengthened my faith.
Let’s get started.
1. CONTEXT
The Bible is unique; in that it requires so much more of the reader than any other book. With any other book, you can pick it up and just start reading and you will understand what the author is trying to do.
Not so with the Bible. With the Bible, a base understanding of some cultural and historical context is required before you can begin, or you will be lost on page one.
Just as a builder must lay a flat, solid foundation before they can begin to build a house, we must lay our foundation before we can build a relationship with the Bible.
To do that, we need to ask and answer questions like:
Who wrote it and when?
Who was it written to and why?
What was going on during that specific time and place?
I won’t get into the answers to those questions now because it’s simply too much. But I will recommend a few books that really helped me to understand the historical and cultural context in which the Bible came together:
For a super simple, easy to understand explanation of biblical context, check out Rob Bell’s book, What Is the Bible?
I don’t think I will ever write a blog about the Bible without citing and suggesting Peter Enns and anything he has ever written. But on this topic, I highly recommend his book, How the Bible Actually Works.
For a more comprehensive, academic exposition of historical and cultural context, read anything by John Walton. (What was a game-changer for me was The Lost World of Genesis One.)
Understanding the Jewish roots of Christianity is also crucial to understanding many themes in the Bible. Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler and The Gifts of the Jews by Thomas Cahill were invaluable for me.
If you aren’t a big reader, check out the podcast The Bible Project. They have an enormous library, and you can search for any topic, and they will have great commentary on it. Peter Enns has a podcast called The Bible for Normal People that I find helpful as well.
While it’s important to have some base understanding of the historical and cultural context of what was going on in the world at the time the Bible came together, that does not mean that the Bible is a history book.
So, what kind of book is it? If the biblical authors did not intend to give us a history book, what did they intend to do?
2. INTENT
There are some Christians who want to make a nice, neat timeline of human history from the book of Genesis (where the earth was created in seven literal days and Adam and Eve were the actual first humans to ever live), through the life of Jesus, leading right up to today.
To be clear, I am not belittling that position, but I do believe its motivation coincides with a desire to have an inerrant Bible, which I think presents problems.
Attempting to make the Bible fit into a historically accurate, inerrant, infallible worldview is just wrought with complications and issues. Because while some events in the Bible are historically verifiable (albeit debatable), absolutely nothing in the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis is.
Everything in Genesis, from chapters one through eleven, is called “protohistory.” Meaning, we simply don’t know.
I just don’t think there is any point in trying to prove exact dates or whether or not an event in the Bible literally happened because first, that is trying to make the Bible be something it’s not; and second, that is NOT what the biblical authors intended to do.
The biblical authors did not intend to provide us with a historical truth, but rather, a deeper truth. They were not interested in giving us a history book or hard facts and exact dates. They were interested in telling a story, their story, of their people and their God.
Each book of the Bible contributes to the overall storyline (which I will get to in my final point). But each book is also its own story, in its own style. And like any story, it’s important to know the literary genre in which it was written to fully understand what the author was trying to communicate.
Which leads me to my next point.
3. GENRE
We all understand that knowing the literary style of a book will instruct you on how to read and interpret it. Aesop’s Fables are a great example of this.
We learn as children that there is a deeper meaning/truth/lesson with those stories. The Tortoise and the Hare is not about a competition between two animals, for example. Rather, it teaches lessons like slow and steady wins the race, don’t be arrogant, don’t give up.
When it comes to the Bible, though, there is a strong push to read the whole thing LITERALLY.
But there is a difference between reading the Bible literally and literarily. When I learned that, it was a huge breakthrough moment for me.
So, what are the literary genres of the Bible? The main ones are narrative, poetry, and prose.
When we read poetry, we know it’s going to be metaphorical, allegorical, or symbolic – not literal (think the Psalms or Proverbs, sometimes the Prophets).
If it’s narrative, then its objective is more to relay information in an ordered series of events. There are characters, a plotline, and a setting. More than 40 percent of the Bible is written in narrative (think Genesis and Exodus). The gospels are biographical narrative, as they tell the story of Jesus.
Then there is prose, which is just how we naturally talk. So, conversations and letters and speeches are all prose (think the letters of the apostles).
Learn more about literary styles in the Bible --> https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/literary-styles-bible/
But the books of the Bible are further divided into other genres that also help us to understand how we should think about what we are reading. Categories like the law, wisdom literature, prophecy, and apocalyptic literature.
It’s less important to memorize all the exact, distinct genres, and more important to prime yourself to pay attention to the fact that there ARE genres. Meaning that there is more going on than just ancient people putting random words down onto scrolls.
The style and genre of the biblical stories matters because the authors told them in specific ways for specific reasons. Knowing the literary genre we are reading is crucial to understanding the author’s intention and will determine how we read and interpret it.
And while the stories we read might not be literally true, they tell us something about the fragility of human behavior and patterns of our sinful nature. They show us that no matter what we do, God will continue to pursue a relationship with us…What could be truer than that?
So, after we understand the context, intent, and various genres of the Bible, we are ready to start reading it. Except, I suggest you do NOT start at the beginning.
4. STRUCTURE
When you start reading in Genesis (which seems like the obvious place to start, right? At the beginning…), chances are you may not get very far. Because Genesis is actually the most difficult book in the entire Bible to read and understand!
It’s a convoluted mess, with inconsistencies and horrific violence beginning on like, page two. If, after reading Genesis, you don’t come away with about eleventymillion questions, then I’m convinced we are not reading the same Bible.
So, here’s my counterintuitive suggestion: don’t start at the beginning. At least not your first time through.
Because it is VERY easy to get hung up on the first few pages of the Bible -- or to simply slam the book shut in equal parts confusion and disgust -- if you have no foundation for understanding what the Bible is trying to do.
The Bible is the most epic story of all time - aside from Star Wars.
You know how you really need to watch Star Wars: Episodes IV, V and VI in order for Episodes I, II, and III to make sense or to appreciate them? I find that is also true with the Bible.
So, a better place to start, I think, is with the gospels. Read the New Testament first, so you can get a good grasp on Jesus and his mission. And then go read the Old Testament. (By the way, the New Testament refers back to the Old Testament over 300 times! So, I am NOT telling you not to read the OT. I am just saying, don't start there. And anyone who tells you to just focus only on the NT and ignore the OT is giving you bad advice.)
I also recommend that you read some commentaries alongside the Bible as you go.
Doing it this way, in this order, will help you to better recognize, appreciate, and navigate the Bible. And it will help you understand and identify the overall storyline better. The big picture.
So, what is the overall storyline?
5. STORYLINE
We need to know the storyline because it sets the table for our expectations. And what we expect from the Bible will determine how we read and interpret the whole thing.
According to the Hebrew Bible, God created the world and everything in it, beginning with the Garden of Eden. And God created humans to have dominion over everything, to reign alongside Him as royal priests.
But, instead of co-reigning, humanity decided to take matters into their own hands and define good and evil for themselves. The result was that humans were exiled from the Garden and Heaven and Earth were separated.
This leads to lots of chaos and violence; a story that repeats like a broken record. Until we get to Abraham and Sarah and God promises to start afresh with them. From their descendants will be a nation (Israel) that has a chance to get it right this time. But do they get it right?
Nope. Another abysmal failure. And this theme just keeps recycling throughout the Jewish scriptures (what Christians call the Old Testament).
Yet, God, faithful to his covenant, tries to redeem and restore His people; but the results are always the same. No matter how promising the leader - and there are some promising ones who start off so well! - they all crash and burn.
Interspersed between these stories of Israel’s leaders, various prophets attempt to warn the people of God. The prophets tell the Israelites that they are making choices that will result in dire consequences (which come to fruition). The prophets call out the injustices they see among God’s people, and they diagnose the underlying issue: their hearts have hardened.
But the prophets also say that one day, God will send a new leader who will finally get it right, once and for all. This leader will be both the suffering servant from Isaiah and the royal priest from the line of David, and he will transform Israel’s hearts so that they can finally begin to do the right thing.
But no such leader arrives, and the Old Testament ends. Which brings us to the New Testament.
Enter: Jesus.
Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of these promises made by Israel’s prophets. Jesus says that he is God in human form, and he came to set the record straight about how to really define good and evil and to demonstrate what true power looks like. Power that comes from serving others and loving our enemies.
THAT is why the political and religious leaders of the day found him so threatening.
See, the Roman Empire was in power, but they allowed Jewish leaders to govern on local levels. And the most respected leader was the High Priest, who oversaw the temple (the place where you could meet God). And there were strict rules about who was allowed to enter the temple, and how and when. But the High Priest was the only one allowed inside the innermost part of the temple (the most holy place).
And here comes Jesus, acting in a way vastly different than those priests. He says he is the Royal Priest, and he is the new temple, which is now available to everyone.
And he gets killed for it. He did not get killed for claiming to be God, or the son of God, or for healing people. He got killed because his message was a direct and not-so-subtle affront to the powers of the day.
Jesus “ruled” in a way no human had ever done, or ever could do. He ruled in the way we were meant to rule. The way God intended for us to have dominion over everything.
[By the way, and this is key, when we hear the word dominion, we think imperial power. As if God gave us dominion to "lord over" everything. But the way the word dominion is used in Hebrew, we should understand it more as having stewardship. When you steward something, you care for it. That is how we were meant to rule.]
Instead, we chose to wield worldly power. And that is our great failure. A failure first described in the Garden of Eden, but that repeated throughout Israel’s history. And we continue to fail in this way today. We continue to prefer worldly power to the example Jesus gave us.
So, Jesus took the consequences of our own failure onto himself through his death on the cross. But it turns out, that kind of sacrificial love is a power that is no match for evil. And with his resurrection, death is defeated, and we are offered a chance at new and eternal life.
The biblical story ends with a promise that one day, when Jesus returns, all wrongs will be made right. Heaven and Earth will be reunited once again, like it was in the Garden, and we will finally co-reign with God, as was always intended.
Creation, Exile, Redemption, and New Creation. That’s the overarching storyline of the Bible.
And it’s also about the temple, and how in Jesus, anyone can meet with God anywhere.
And it’s about the Kingdom of God, and how His Kingdom is very different than the one of this world.
These themes take our earthly understanding of power and flip it on its head. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. Everyone has a seat at the table; none are excluded. We are meant to serve others, not to be served. Power is displayed in gentle humility and love.
In God’s Upside-Down Kingdom, love is the highest law.
Imagine how different the state of Christianity would be today if when we said, “The Bible says!” – the message we quoted was that?
The Christian Bible is easily the best-selling book of all time. And yet, as we’ve established, so few people actually read it - because it’s not easy to read.
So, if you have ever been intimidated by the Bible, if you’ve been so confused when you tried to read it that you just closed it altogether, then you are in good company.
But ironically, I think we would read the Bible more if we actually had good company doing it. But we try to read it on our own and eventually, we just give up.
And the thing is, approaching scripture in this way, individually, is ironically, anti-biblical. We weren’t meant to do it alone. We are meant to do it in community.
So, if I can make one final suggestion for how to read the Bible, and it’s probably the most important suggestion, it’s this: find a community of people to do it with.
I hope the suggestions I’ve outlined in this blog will help to alleviate some of the intimidation we experience when we approach the Bible. I believe that coming to terms with these ideas can lead to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the Bible. That’s what happened for me.
It kinda reminds me of that movie, Pleasantville. How everything was in black-and-white, until the main character started learning the truth. And then slowly, everything in his world turned to color. That is what it’s been like to rediscover the Bible for me.
I also believe that knowing the truth of the Bible’s very human history is crucial to having an honest, authentic experience with it. So, in my next blog, I’ll tell the history of how the Bible came to be as we know it today.
Questions for Next Steps:
If you feel intimidated by the Bible, what's one thing you can do this week to prepare yourself for how to begin reading it?
What's one resource mentioned in this blog you'd like to look into?
Of the five ideas - context, intent, genre, structure, and storyline - which do you find most interesting? Which do you feel you already know enough about?
NOTES:
*2018 national survey in the Public Library of Science - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200103
*2022 Pew Research survey on "the future of religion in the US" - https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/how-u-s-religious-composition-has-changed-in-recent-decades/
*“Regularly” means most days of the week according to the 2021 "state of the Bible" study https://www.barna.com/research/sotb-2021/
Books I mentioned in this blog:
What is the Bible? by Rob Bell
How the Bible Actually Works by Peter Enns
The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton
Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler
The Gifts of the Jews by Thomas Cahill
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