“The Challenge of Biblical Interpretation”

Thursday August 25, 2011

Psalm 103

2 Timothy 3: 16-17

Over the past few weeks, we have been reflecting on ways that we might seek to respond, with hope, to some of the issues that the church is facing in this present age.  Three weeks ago, we pondered the invitation to always be ready to give reasons for our hope.  Two weeks ago, we pondered the challenge of religious fundamentalism, and how the rise of fundamentalism invites us to better embrace the call to listen as a part of our call to love.  Last week, we reflected on the commonly articulated phrase, “I’m spiritual but not religious”, and its perceived dichotomy between ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion’ -- and how that perceived dichotomy challenges us, as a people of faith, to infuse our religious life with spiritual virtues, and our spiritual lives with insights from our religious participation.

This week, I would like to invite us to consider one of the most complex issues that faces the church in every age – that is, the challenge of biblical interpretation.  How do we interpret these ancient texts?  And by what criteria might we seek to judge whether our interpretations of Scripture are correct?

We all have some general idea of what the Bible is – that is, a collection of 66 books, written by different authors in different languages over the course of close to a thousand years. The books that make up this collection are diverse -- books of theologically shaped history, volumes of wisdom literature, collections of songs and prophecies, letters to individuals and groups of people, texts recounting strange mystical visions.  Although compiled by the church, it is a book that, in a very powerful way, seems to lead us to believe that we have heard the voice of God.

Although the Bible is not, by any estimation, an easy text to approach, the task of understanding this wondrous book is complicated by the challenges of interpretation.  The common assumption that we can simply ‘read’ the Bible in some objective manner is filled with intriguing complexities.  The reality is that even those who claim to read the Bible ‘literally’ never do so without certain interpretive assumptions.

Rather, we approach every text with certain assumptions about what it is, and what authority that we will attribute to it.  We do not read the newspaper in the same way that we read a novel, a comic book, an online blog, or a history book – and this is even more true when we attribute some level of ideological or spiritual authority to the text that we are reading.  Moreover, a Bible sitting on a table may seem like a rather ‘objective’ text to read – but the reality is that it will be read differently by a Christian, by a Muslim, by an atheist, by a millionaire and by an oppressed person – even though they may read the very same words off of the very same page. 

So how are we to interpret Scripture in ways that are truly faithful, and how do we assess whether our interpretations are in accordance with what God would have us derive from these ancient texts?

The story of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness is a story with which we are all familiar, yet it is a story with a number of fascinating insights into the nature of faith, of temptation – and of biblical interpretation.

Of particular interest to us, today, is the fact that a significant part of the conversation between Jesus and the devil character was based on differing – and competing -- interpretations of biblical passages.

In the first temptation, when he is invited to use his power to attend to his physical needs, Jesus states, “it is written, ‘one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’”.

In the second temptation, however, the devil character also begins to use appeals to Scripture.  Taking Christ to the pinnacle of the Temple, the devil character states, “if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus’ response to this second temptation, as with the first, was with a passage from Scripture. “Again it is written,” he said, “do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

And, in the third temptation, when he was invited to bow his knee to the power of evil for the seemingly greater good of worldly power, he again quotes a passage from Scripture, “It is written, ‘worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 

Regardless of how literally or metaphorically we might understand this story and the concept of a personified force of evil that the devil character represents, what is interesting for us to notice is that the Gospel text is clearly signalling that appeals to Scripture have the potential to be both truly faithful – and truly diabolical.  Just because we claim – or just because someone else claims -- that “the Bible says” does not necessarily mean that the argument is of God.

Which should cause all of us some pause for concern.  After all, whether we realize it or not, there are a vast number of modern cultural and even geopolitical issues that are based on different interpretations of “what the Bible says”.  The understanding of the role of women in the church; the debate between the insights of science and the claims of Scripture; the question of the inclusion of gay and lesbian people in society and in the church; the challenge of whether God’s grace is large enough to include people of different faiths; the complex debates about abortion and about scientific processes such as stem-cell research; even the question of whether passages from the Hebrew Scriptures should be interpreted as ancient divinely mandated ‘property deeds’ to the state of Israel, of the West Bank, and of Palestine – all of these issues, and so many others, have been profoundly influenced by interpretations of the Bible.   It might be legitimately suggested that every single major issue that the Church is seeking to address, in our era, hinges not on ‘what’ the Bible says, but on ‘how’ it should be interpreted and applied.

As people of faith, we are therefore wise to know what the texts state – and what interpretive assumptions that we are bringing to the text.  

In order to do so, it is profoundly important, of course, that – as a first step -- we get to know what the Bible actually says.  One of the great challenges that is inextricably linked with the challenge of biblical interpretation, in our modern culture, is the issue of a declining state of biblical literacy both in the church and in our modern culture.  Out of a fear of seeming ‘too Christian’ or ‘too religious’, there has been a rapidly declining level of attention paid to the Bible. This is a lamentable situation for many reasons, not least of which is that a significant part of our cultural tradition is dependent upon a certain level of biblical literacy.  Regardless of one’s spiritual commitments, after all, it is impossible to understand any great artist – from Shakespeare to Maya Angelou, from John Milton to Bob Marley, from Bach to U2 – without an awareness of the biblical allusions that are woven throughout their work.  And, regardless of whether people realize it or not, our culture is steeped in biblical allusions.  From common references to David and Goliath sports matches, to stories of Good Samaritans, to the simple fact that we number the passage of years from the approximate date of Christ’s birth, 2011 years ago, the fact is that the biblical story permeates our understanding of reality.  Sadly, however, the desperate lack of biblical literacy, in our modern culture, is simultaneously making us spiritually and culturally illiterate.

On this, even the militant atheist Richard Dawkins would agree.  Although there are many problems with much of the caricatured nonsense and silly arguments that he presents in his book The God Delusion,  it is interesting to note that even Dawkins laments the lack of biblical literacy in our culture.  “I must admit,” he wrote, “that even I am a little taken aback at the biblical ignorance displayed by people educated in more recent decades than I was” and that “an atheistic world-view provides no justification for cutting the Bible, and other sacred books, out of our education.”

But it is not only for the sake of cultural, literary and poetic appreciation that an awareness of the biblical tradition is necessary. It is also important to know the Bible in order to be aware when the texts are being abused.  As the devil character in the famous story of Jesus’ temptation clearly demonstrates, just because someone claims “the Bible says” does not mean that they are using the texts in faithful or appropriate ways.  And the devil, in this story, was not the last character to use appeals to biblical passages to justify horrific acts.  Abusive religious cults, extremists of every sort, and even otherwise decent people can misuse the texts for destructive purposes.

So how, then, are we to discern when biblical passages are being faithfully interpreted? 

Perhaps a starting point for the answer to this question is found in today’s reading from 2 Timothy.  This passage, which is the most frequently quoted text about the inspiration of Scripture, is not always read in its entirety.

Many tend to overlook the concluding phrase in the passage.  The first part of the sentence – that is that “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness” – is, of course, the most frequently quoted passage by those who are seeking to attribute a level of authority to the pages of Scripture.

But it is vitally important that we not overlook the last part of this sentence from 2 Timothy. 

Listen again to the verse in its entirety – “all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

So that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.  In other words, the Scriptures of our faith are intended to help us to do good in the world, to be proficient, equipped for every good work.

And, in this, there may be an excellent starting point for our assessment of the true validity of any interpretation of the Bible.

That is, if the interpretation of a passage motivates us to a greater goodness, if it increases our compassion, if it expands our love for God and others, then we are probably on the right track. 

If, on the other hand, our interpretation leads to self-righteousness, to hatred, to exclusion, and to injustice – even if we think that we are being faithful – then our interpretation is likely wrong. 

The Bible is intended to be a tool to inspire goodness, not a weapon to be used against others.

Such an approach does not, of course, answer every possible question about how we should interpret the Bible.  But it might be a good way to begin – that is, does a particular interpretation of Scripture challenge us to open our hearts and minds? Does it equip us for goodness? 

If it does, then it is doing what it is intended to do – to help us to resist evil, to prepare us to do good, and to be ancient words which point beyond themselves to the One who is the Living Word of the Almighty God – that Word that became flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.