It is important that the Bible be read in a right methodology and in a right state of mind in order to obtain the correct understanding of what the author is saying and why this is God's inspired word. It is more important than ever to understand that the Bible cannot be read the way a novel is read, a book of non-fiction is read, a play is read, a screenplay is read, or worse, like one is watching TV or a movie, or listening to the radio, or to a song or a poem. And the Bible, while true for all the ages of humankind, cannot be read in the context of modern secular perspectives. For example, until the early middle ages, most people in their entire lives never once traveled father than 10 miles from their home. That is unthinkable today. So when reading the Bible, one must put into context the importance of any travel, usually on foot in harsh conditions, that people did not have any media at all for gaining news, and they certainly did not have an event based context, as we do in our news and celebrity saturated media. This is one example of how one must literally put oneself into a state of mind that appreciates the real flavor and meaning of words and events in the Bible.
There are many methodologies for reading the Bible, developed by scholars or religious, and of course they are all worthy. However, in these times of great media contention and "relative" truth, I strongly recommend that people use the method that I use in my spiritual direction. When I talk to people about reading the Bible, I recommend to them this method:
1. Read the passage and take it absolutely literally, that what the author reports did take place as stated.
2. Now read the passage a second time, slowly, word by word, pausing with each word to make oneself aware that the author selected each word for a reason. There are no "throwaway" words or insignificant words. Each of them was selected by the author under God's inspiration in order to be as precise and faithful as possible to what the author is trying to convey.
3. In order to refine the phrase, like the finest silver, now take time to think about what the author did not say. The author had a number of possible ways to state their message. And there is a deliberate selection of events to include. For example, obviously Jesus Christ said and did many things in his life that was not reported in the New Testament books. Think about why an event or dialogue does appear, and what things did not. This is easiest to understand by example, so I will show how to do this as I work through the Book of Wisdom with you.
Writing was a hardship in those times, and therefore each word that is included has significance. There is no "coded" or "hidden" meanings, because that is contrary to what the Bible authors were trying to do, which is to convey all essential information in what they viewed to be life and soul threatening times. Trust me, there is plenty of value to discern from what is plainly stated, as that is both the Biblical authors' and God's intention. Sometimes there is mystery because a person cannot comprehend what they are seeing, so they describe it as best as they can. Remember, much of what people saw were visions through which God transmitted information. When Moses wrote the Pentateuch (and yes, he wrote it, because even if scholars determine different hands and scribes of within the book, they are copying and editing the information that Moses directly provided), Moses obtained some of his writing from the direct word of God, some from being able to "look" through visions provided by God of past events (such as Genesis), and some through that feeling of rightness and knowledge when his hand is guided by God through the Holy Spirit.
For example, many debate the meaning of how literal the seven days of creation can truly be. An earth day is the amount of time that it takes the earth to rotate. Why would God have spent an earth day on something prior to the earth's creation? And how does that fit with the fossil record? The answer is simple. Moses was shown by God a cycle of a "day" that matched in length a pulse of activity of the Lord in creation. So Moses observed a sun rise and sun set dividing each pulse, and he interpreted it as the extent of an earthly day. And so it should be taken literally that God took 7 days to create and then to rest, but they are "God sized days" and Moses reported that as best as he could. Look at the first passage of Genesis, using this method:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth:
"In the beginning" is the statement of the creation of "time." The definition of time is a progression of events and a measurement of their progress. Remember that God is beyond time: that time literally does not exist for God, and is in fact God's first invention. There was nothing but God, until God created the ability to have an action, measured by time, a start, middle, and finish, a beginning, a state of being, and an end. So God starts a clock for life's benefit and existance, and then creates the heavens and the earth.
"God created the heavens" is a statement that shows the first step after the creation of the ability to have events and time is to create the heavens. Moses is writing literally what he is seeing through God, and being told, and so the heavens are created, and then the earth. The heavens are the vastness of space and the entire universe. It was not necessary for Moses to report "God created the heavens via a Big Bang which created energy and matter, and the matter is comprised of atoms, which are atomically fueled, in order to create stars, which are comprised of mostly hydrogen, followed by helium, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, and we on earth view the sky from our perspective in the arm of a galaxy, and someday we will take pictures of the Dumbbell Nebula and fly to the moon and then wonder if there is a God." So it is ridiculous when secular critics expect that Moses should write a scientific proof of intelligence for them, because this is a bare bones summary of what happened in order to introduce the people of God to God and God's works.
So in seven words, to the careful reader who takes it literally, but also understands that God is in control, a profound amount of information has been correctly conveyed. God started the clock, which enables there to be life and matter, and then created the universe.
"and the earth" states that God creates the heavens, that is, the universe and space, and then the earth, which is a habitable place. Again the precision and conciseness of Moses in reporting what God has revealed to him gives us a rich picture of exactly what did happen and in the order that it happened. God created the ability for matter and life to exist by starting the clock of "time" in the beginning, and then the space of the universe, and then the earth, a place on which life can reside.
This is an example of how reading the Bible means looking over Moses' shoulder to see what he saw, and to comprehend the full richness of what he is conveying by his choice of words and their order, and BELIEVING.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment