Filed under: 8 - The Bible
Christians believe that the Bible is the most important book ever written – inspired by God, a gift from Him to us. We have made it the best-selling book of all time, by far. But most copies that are sold are not read, just put up on a shelf or on the coffee table in our homes. Why do you suppose that is?
What do we believe about this book, how did we get it, and why should we read it?
Inspired by God
As Methodists, we believe that the Bible is “the inspired word of God”. The word “inspire” comes from the Latin word inspirare which means “to breathe into” (strange, when we study God we keep discovering words about breathing). We know that the 66 books of the Bible were written by 40 different authors over 1600 years. When we believe these authors were inspired by God, we are saying that God breathed His truth into the words. When the prophets spoke and their words were written down, we received God’s words. When the authors of the Gospels wrote the stories they collected from the followers of a Jewish rabbi named Jesus, we received God’s story. And we believe that God inspired those who throughout history have researched and prayed to create the Bible we read today, assembling some works while rejecting others, to present God’s truth to our modern world.
The Story
What is “the story” of the Bible? At face value, it seems to be a collection of many different things: historical narrative, rules to live by, poetry and songs, mystical visions, letters from disciples to followers. Is there one consistent theme that we could capture in just a few words?
If I had to do that, here is what I would say: the Bible is a collection of stories about people who were in relationship with God. All the books center on people in partnership with God, that were given God’s authority to carry out His work in the world.
Why would God want us to have a book like that? Instead of a book that speaks in so many different ways — ways that we have to interpret and study and wrestle with — why doesn’t God just write down the rules? That way, when we need His answers, we could go straight to the index and look them up!
We believe God gave us the Bible that we have because he does not want us to just look up the answers. Remember how we found evidence in Genesis that we were created to be partners with God? God wants humans to be His partners in the work He is doing in the world. Just as God gives us His Holy Spirit for guidance, He gives us this Bible for the same purpose. God wants growth, motion forward, in new directions that, as partners under His guidance, we decide. But in order to receive His guidance and decide wisely, we need the stories of others that have walked with God.
Stories Make Us Think
The narrative style of the Bible reminds me of the way Jesus taught many of his most important lessons. Jesus used stories too, called parables, to engage his listeners and make them think for themselves. Jesus told the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15) instead of shouting, “the best way to receive the Word of God is in your heart!” Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) instead of telling the rich man, “everyone is your neighbor.”
God knows that the best way to draw us humans into relationship is to make us think, and stories do that. Just like a really good movie or book, the parables of Jesus and the stories of the Bible seem at first like a different world with characters that we begin to recognize as the story unfolds. We have to think about them, find the moral, and find ourselves. Then we are fully engaged, thinking through all the consequences of “everyone is your neighbor” that we’d have otherwise missed.
Hearing God’s Word
Christians believe that God speaks to us through the Bible. But we cannot hear His voice and think about His stories unless we read. Reading the Bible is something you should strive to do every day.
Consider your Bible. Do you like it? Do you find it easy to read or is the language difficult? There are dozens of English translations of the Bible available to us today. Is one better than the others? Scholars will argue that some translations are closer to the historical texts (written in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek) than others, but the best translation of the Bible for you is the one that you will read.
Filed under: 8 - The Bible
The Bible
Christians believe that the Bible is the most important book ever written – inspired by God, a gift from Him to us. We have made it the best-selling book of all time, by far. But most copies that are sold are not read, just put up on a shelf or on the coffee table in our homes. Why do you suppose that is?
What do we believe about this book, how did we get it, and why should we read it?
Inspired by God
As Presbyterians, we believe that the Bible is “the inspired word of God”. The word “inspire” comes from the Latin word inspirare which means “to breathe into” (strange, when we study God we keep discovering words about breathing). We know that the 66 books of the Bible were written by 40 different authors over 1600 years. When we believe these authors were inspired by God, we are saying that God breathed His truth into the words. When the prophets spoke and their words were written down, we received God’s words. When the authors of the Gospels wrote the stories they collected from the followers of a Jewish rabbi named Jesus, we received God’s story. And we believe that God inspired those who throughout history have researched and prayed to create the Bible we read today, assembling some works while rejecting others, to present God’s truth to our modern world.
The Story
What is “the story” of the Bible? At face value, it seems to be a collection of many different things: historical narrative, rules to live by, poetry and songs, mystical visions, letters from disciples to followers. Is there one consistent theme that we could capture in just a few words?
The Bible is a collection of stories about people who were in relationship with God. All the books center on people in partnership with God, that were given God’s authority to carry out His work in the world. We beleive the Bible is God’s authoritative Word and that all Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It has been called God’s love letter to His people. It has also been called the Manufacturer’s Handbook.
Why would God want us to have a book like that? Instead of a book that speaks in so many different ways — ways that we have to interpret and study and wrestle with — why doesn’t God just write down the rules, and only the rules? That way, when we need His answers, we could go straight to the index and look them up!
We believe God gave us the Bible that we have because he does not want us to just look up the answers. Remember how we found evidence in Genesis that we were created to be partners with God? God wants humans to be His partners in the work He is doing in the world. Just as God gives us His Holy Spirit for guidance, He gives us this Bible for the same purpose. God wants growth, motion forward, in new directions that, as partners under His guidance, we decide. But in order to receive His guidance and decide wisely, we need the stories of others that have walked with God.
Stories Make Us Think
The narrative style of the Bible reminds me of the way Jesus taught many of his most important lessons. Jesus used stories too, called parables, to engage his listeners and make them think for themselves. Jesus told the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15) instead of shouting, “the best way to receive the Word of God is in your heart!” Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) instead of telling the rich man, “everyone is your neighbor.”
God knows that the best way to draw us humans into relationship is to make us think, and stories do that. Just like a really good movie or book, the parables of Jesus and the stories of the Bible seem at first like a different world with characters that we begin to recognize as the story unfolds. We have to think about them, find the moral, and find ourselves. Then we are fully engaged, thinking through all the consequences of “everyone is your neighbor” that we’d have otherwise missed.
Hearing God’s Word
Christians believe that God speaks to us through the Bible. But we cannot hear His voice and think about His stories unless we read. Reading the Bible is something you should strive to do every day.
Consider your Bible. Do you like it? Do you find it easy to read or is the language difficult? There are dozens of English translations of the Bible available to us today. Is one better than the others? Scholars will argue that some translations are closer to the historical texts (written in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek) than others, but the best translation of the Bible for you is the one that you will read. In class we looked at several Bibles that were designed to be more accessible to young people. If those looked interesting to you, please contact me or get down to the bookstore and check them out for yourself.
If God really does speak to us through the Bible, how can we hear Him? The assignment this week is to experience God’s word through the Bible. All ways begin with prayer. Ask God to focus your mind to hear His guiding voice. Notice the attitude of this prayer: of course God will speak to you; what you need is His help with listening. That is my prayer to God for every confirmand. I know that God is faithful, that He will speak to you. My prayer is that you will make the effort to listen.
