What use the Bible? In some quarters, I am sure that would seem to be an odd question to pose for a guy who is the pastor of a Christian church. Certainly there would not be one evangelical or fundamentalist Christian who would define themselves outside the parameters of the Bible.
For people who have seen the Bible is used as a tool of hate, exclusion, and violence, however, devotion to and use of the Bible seems to run counter what many progressive Christians see as the salvageable pieces of Christian tradition and faith.
Why not say we have just evolved from the antiquated and harmful teaching found within its pages? Why don't we move on?
I think there are good reasons why the Bible remains critical to Christian faith and tradition. Here are my reasons. I am interested in yours.
- Have to go through the Bible to get to Jesus
If Jesus remains the center or core of Christian thought and practice, or if he is the lens by which we read the rest of the Bible, we have to read the Gospels to get at him. This sets the stage for a point below. Starting with Jesus makes it clear that we do not necessarily evolve or progress. We have done abominable things since him and continue to do horrific things, using our technological progress, in his name. We can engage the Gospels to reference them as myths or midrash. We can critique the canonical Gospels with non-canonical Gospels. In the end, however, we have to come to grips with the basic content for Jesus being found in the Gospels.
For progressives, this is critically important. Evangelicals and fundamentalists often show themselves to be Biblically illiterate because they are unwilling to deal with a Jesus who teaches, acts, and advocates in a way that is profoundly radical. He is confrontationally non-violent. He opens his table to the least and the last. He challenges the way empty morality crushes the lives of disintegrating communities. The stories about him and the titles given to him directly challenge Caesar and empire and a collaborating religious establishment.
2. Western culture is rife with the Biblical story. We must know Bible to engage that culture.
Though I would not argue with those who say we are a post-Biblical society, I do believe that the Bible is still being told and re-told in our culture. Movies and books use the signs and symbols from Biblical culture as a way of getting us to assent to a story. We have to recognize when these familiar landmarks are being used as a way of critiquing those cultural stories. It is important that our children and youth, who are conversant in these stories, be able to bring that critique.
Disney always seems to know these cultural motifs and uses them as a way of telling us something that is vaguely familiar. The Exodus story has been told over and over in animated features, particularly in two very similar movies: "Antz" and "A Bug's Life." Those were entertaining and moving stories which told one of the most important stories of the Bible. They really weren't even disguised as anything more than the Exodus story. Do we know the Exodus story well enough to say whether the stories were told faithfully?
The Matrix trilogy used overt Christian names (Trinity, Zion, etc) and imagery (Neo seemingly dies with a lit cross coming forward) with a sense of hip and cool to tell the Gospel of John story, a story of awakening. We might suggest it is more like Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" but why then all of the Christian mythology?
When Neo shows himself to be the "one", the "one" who transcends whatever the non-descript Mr. Smith throws or shoots at him, does Neo show non-violence as the way? On the contrary, he uses his training in mixed martial arts to kick butt. That's not the Gospel. It's not faithful.
We need to know our own story so that we can engage Western culture and critique the way the story is told. If we do not, we run the risk of the story becoming so "popularized" that it loses its radical nature. United States politicians and leaders are famous for hijacking the Christian story and deploying it for the next military operation, often using antiquated versions of "the white man's burden" to "save" the world.
3. Ancient stories sometimes tell deep truths that are required again and again to retain deep wisdom
Note that I said sometimes. I think one of the reasons that Biblical stories can be important is that they have been out in the wider culture long enough to endure critique, receive commentary and edit, and even evolve for a new age. There is a deep wisdom that comes with that. Sometimes it comes with cultural moorings we know require our negative criticism. For example, we should always read the Bible knowing that it comes out of a male center. It is rife with patriarchy. Sometimes there are even hints of critique against that patriarchy within Scripture. But it is a male-driven document. It is a product of ancient culture in that way.
There are deep stories, however, that offer us deep truth for our own times. Sometimes we cannot get "out of" our own culture enough to develop a critique, and ancient stories like the Bible can provide that for us. For example, the prophet Jeremiah provides a strong critique of the patriotism, militarism, and materialism of his day. For such a critique he is imprisoned, thrown down a well, and roundly criticized by the leaders of his own nation. He talks about a God who cries and cries with tears that reflect a love for the poor. There is no balm in Gilead.
These stories also provide us with a backdrop of Jesus that round out his teaching and ministry. We must know Jesus as a Jew to know Jesus. So how do the ancient stories of Exile and Exodus inform Jesus of his faith? They are part of his matrix, the soup in which he finds himself.
Those are my reasons for believing the Bible to be important for our day and why we need to regularly use the Bible. What are yours? Is it authoritative for you? Why? Please add to the conversation.
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