How Should We Read the Bible

How Should We Read the Bible? June 24
by Guest-Host, Pastor Jon Shishko

How Should We Read the Bible?

Today we turn our attention to the question “How Should We Read the Bible?” Before we begin to answer this question we need to stop and consider the spirit of our age. We live in a time of rampant secularism and popular atheism. Outspoken atheists like Richard Dawkins are, to some extent, household names. And here’s how Richard Dawkins reads the Bible. He says, “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Now, before you react to that, let it sink in a little. Could this articulation of the God of the Bible be what other people believe too? Could this conception of God explain something of the hatefulness we see in groups that claim to be Christian? Google “Westboro Baptist Church.” Click the “images” tab. You’ll see real signs from real public events from a real organization that really claims to be Christian. Here’s a sampling of some of their signs, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” “God Hates You” “God Hates Jews” “God Hates Fags” “Pray for More Dead Soldiers.” Oddly enough, these “Christians” that claim the Bible as their only authority seem to share the Richard Dawkins conception of God.

And, sadly, using the Bible as grounds for rationalizing atrocities is not unique to Westboro Baptist Church. It’s something that goes on in many “churches” and cults. Scripture has been used over and over, throughout history, to promote racism, violence, sexual-abuse, verbal-abuse, and physical-abuse.

Add to all this the wildly divergent views professed by groups who claim the Bible is God’s Word. Jews, Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and Baptists – all hold radically different beliefs – all claim the Bible is God’s Word – all use the Bible to support their various beliefs.

Finally, to upset the applecart just a little more, don’t forget to consider the pop-theology of our day. The magazines and articles that crop up year after year in early spring – right around Easter. “Did Jesus Really Exist?” “How Jesus Became God” “The Story Behind the Stories in Bible”…

And that is the Spirit of our Age when it comes to the Question, “How Should We Read the Bible?” Some read it as a hate-filled hate-promoting Bible. Others read it as a pliable Bible, a Bible that magically supports whatever view they & their organization holds. Others read it as an absurd Bible, mostly just myths, fables, and lies. The days of thinking of the Bible as “the good book” or “the Holy Bible” are long gone. Heads swirl with questions like, “Doesn’t the Bible teach violence?” “Doesn’t the Bible promote hate?” Isn’t the Bible filled with errors?

Today, I’m here with my good friend and coworker, Pastor Ben Miller. And the reason we’re here today is because we read the Bible in a radically different way. We read the Bible, Old and New Testament, as really good news – as a love-letter from a loving God who is so loving that he loves the most unlovable. When we read in the Bible that, “The Lord your God…will save, He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will exult over you with loud singing,” Zephaniah 3:17. We see a clear picture of our God. When we read of God’s judgments, of death, of hell, and when we read that God is love and that he so loved the world that he gave his only son, and that he didn’t send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him – we don’t see any contradiction – instead, we see a wonderfully perfect God, our God.

Most importantly, we work to read the Bible the way the Bible Says it should be read. God tells us in His word how to read his word. Jesus Christ speaks about how all the Scriptures are fulfilled in Him and St. Paul says every promise of God’s word finds its yes and amen in Jesus Christ. We read accordingly! We see all scriptures, all 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament as focusing on, leading up to, and being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It’s a book about sinners and their savior, about the King and His Kingdom.

Listen to the whole show here: