Theological Fragments

There are three basic types of literature in the Bible: narrative, poetry, and discourse, and each type communicates in a different way. Last month we talked about reading Bible stories; this week we’re talking about poetry. Did you know that one out of every three chapters in the Bible is poetry? When you think of poetry in the Bible, you probably think of the Psalms, or maybe the Song of Solomon—but there’s a lot more poetry in the Bible than that. In fact, Hebrew prophets tended to also be poets. You can’t tell as easily once it’s been translated into English, but when the prophets wrote down their prophecies from God they were writing deep, sophisticated poetry. Even the Apostle Paul incorporates some poetry into his writings! (I’m glad we don’t expect that from our pastors now—I can’t imagine writing an entire sermon in verse!) So why do we care that there is so much poetry in the Bible? Because poetry is read differently from other kinds of writing. When you see a passage of s...

The Bible is not one book; it’s an entire library. And in that library, there are many different types of books: history, biography, poetry, music, philosophy, novel, letters—the list goes on. When reading the Bible, it’s very important to understand the type of material you are reading so you can interpret it properly. For our purposes, we’re going to divide the Bible into three types: narrative (stories), poetry, and discourse. This month I want to focus on narrative: how do we read Bible stories? Narrative is the biggest category of Biblical material: it makes up 43% of the Bible. The majority of Biblical stories are found in the Old Testament History books (Genesis through Esther) and the Gospels (Matthew-Acts). In my opinion, the key to properly interpreting Bible stories is: remember that Bible stories are history, not fables. They tell us what really happened, warts and all. If you keep this in mind, it will help you avoid two common pitfalls: 1. Do not assume that you are s...

Last month I wrote about how complicated reading scripture can be: there are language, culture, and literary barriers that can keep us from properly understanding the text. These obstacles can be discouraging—they can make it feel like we’re just not qualified to read and understand the Bible. However, our tradition, the Restoration Movement, is founded on the idea that every Christian can read the Bible for themselves. How can this be if there are so many obstacles before us? How is an average Christian to read the Bible without a seminary degree? Many people read the Bible with a certain approach, which I call “Dragnet” Reading: they’re looking for “just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.” In Dragnet reading, you take a passage, chop it up, and mine it for the “facts” it contains. When you’ve figured out the facts in that passage, then you can say “This is what the passage means!” and move onto the next passage. For example, someone who is Dragnet-reading might read Leviticus 19:28 (...

Reading the Bible is simple, isn’t it? “The Bible says it, I believe it.” It’s a simple as that, isn’t it? Of course, if it is that simple, then why are there so many interpretations of the Bible? And not just small disagreements, but perspectives that are completely opposite of each other? The founders of the Christian Church movement believed that the Bible is accessible to each and every Christian, not just pastors or scholars—and I agree whole-heartedly. But just because the Bible is accessible to everyone does not mean that the Bible is simple. In fact, I believe that many of the theological problems we get into come from the fact that we assume the Bible is simple and easy to read. In reality, there are several obstacles that we have to hurdle in order to understand the Bible: Language: Quick: can you recite Genesis 1:1? If you started with “For God so loved the world…” then you’re… wrong! Well, in a way. That’s an English translation of John 3:16. The actual test of Joh...

Christians should read the Bible. We all know this, right? And yet, if you’re like me, you often struggle to make it a regular habit. Why is that? Why do we have such a hard time reading the Bible? If you’re like me, you start to feel guilty. Maybe I don’t love God enough. Maybe I’m not sincere enough in my faith. Maybe I’m drifting away from God…. Maybe. But maybe not. I find that there are several practical obstacles that get in the way of reading the Bible, and they have nothing to do with how sincere my faith is. Sometimes I read the Bible the wrong way for what I’m trying to accomplish; sometimes I don’t pay attention to the genre of the book I’m reading; sometimes I’ve lost sight of where I am in the overall story of the Bible. There are plenty of practical obstacles that get in my way, but this month I want to focus on the first one: reading the Bible in the wrong way. I find that there are (at least) four ways to read the Bible: Reading : approach the Bible like you wou...

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Have you ever read Ruth and wondered, "Why did Ruth get her own book?" Why was it so important to tell the story of this one woman, of all the women on Earth, all the women in Biblical history? Deborah was the only woman to ever lead Israel, and she didn't get a book. Mary gave birth to the Messiah, and she didn't get a book. Why Ruth? She didn't preach a famous sermon, perform a miracle, win a battle, or save a people. She wasn't even an Israelite. She was a Midianite widow who got married and had a baby. Hardly the stuff of legend. And yet, at some point the Spirit of God inspired someone to write a book about this one, average woman, and the people of God preserved it and retold it for thousands of years. What did she do? In one common view of the Gospel, she did nothing very special--she just happened to be the great grandmother of David. If the Gospel is only about evangelism, if the only point of being a believer is making more believers while you ...