In the beginning
I grew up in church. My family went to Sunday school, Sunday morning service, and Sunday evening service every week unless one of us was ill. As a kid, I participated in lots of Christian activities. I memorized a ton of scripture, and I knew every Bible story. As a teenager, I attended youth group regularly, and all four years of high school I spent a good chunk of my Summers as a missionary.
By the time I was in my late teens, I thought I had learned all there was to learn from the Bible. I had it figured out. I started going to church when I was in diapers, and I was sure I had heard every variation of every sermon at least twice. Sitting through a Church service was a drag.
By my early twenties, I just quit going to Church altogether. What was the point? I was a Christian. I was a good person. That seemed like enough. I wanted to go out and make my place in the world and, sure, God was welcome to come along for the ride. My mother asked me why I had stopped going to church. In my hubris I replied, “Why should I go? Did God come out with the Bible part II?”
I focused on my work and my education. In my free time I just wanted to be entertained. I drifted away from God. Sin started to creep in, wrapping its chains tighter and tighter around me. The truly frightening thing is, I didn’t even notice. It happened gradually. I became “comfortably miserable”. I was in pain, but not enough pain to get off my butt and do something about it.
A crisis of faith
I had a Bible in my house. It sat on a shelf in pristine condition. I remember being in my mid/late twenties, feeling convicted, and a thought occurred to me: Despite being a Christian from a young age and being inundated with Biblical teaching, I had never actually read through the entire Bible. I decided I would give that a try.
At this time in my life, my faith was shaky. Questions and doubts festered in my mind. I decided that as I read through the Bible I would jot down in a notebook any questions or concerns I had. I didn’t get far before I had to stop. My notebook was filling up. There were just too many contradictions and inconsistencies in this crazy book. My faith virtually dissolved, and I feared that continued reading would destroy it completely.
The turning point
Then my wife and I went on a life-changing trip to Africa, and the dying embers of my faith started to glow again. A man I met on that trip recommended I read a book called “The Skeptical Believer” by Daniel Taylor, and it encouraged me greatly. God began to work in my heart. Over the span of ten years or so, God slowly, gently, patiently brought me back to Himself, but that is a story for another time.
Today, as I read through the Bible, I find hope, encouragement, and joy! The experience is the polar opposite of what it was in my twenties. So what made the difference? How is it that reading the Bible back then put my faith in crisis, while reading the Bible now strengthens my faith?
Context, context, context!
I expected to read the Bible as if it were written in modern times. I wanted it to be clear-cut, unambiguous, and scientifically accurate. Coming into it with those expectations, it’s no wonder I was disappointed!
The Bible is a collection of ancient documents, originally written in languages I can’t read, to an audience with lifestyles and customs completely foreign to me. It should be obvious (though it certainly wasn’t to me at first), that the Bible is not a book you can just read through like a novel and be done with it.
To truly understand the Bible, you have to understand the contexts (yes, plural) in which it was written. In “The Bible Unfiltered“, Dr. Michael Heiser talks about some of the contexts that are important:
- Historical context
- Cultural context
- Literary context
But, as Dr. Heiser points out, these are not even the most important contexts. From page 13 of “The Bible Unfiltered“:
“So what is the proper context for interpreting the Bible? […] the context of the biblical writers – the context that produced the Bible. Every other context is alien or at least secondary.”
Understanding this completely changed my approach to reading scripture. The more I try to look at the text from the perspective of the writer, the better I am able to understand the message the writer was trying to convey. And that is the whole point!
Do it right
Studying scripture in proper context is hard work. Fortunately, there are more tools available than ever before to assist in the endeavor. The internet provides convenient access to a treasure trove of resources. If you really want to understand those passages of scripture that have you scratching your head, put yourself in the mindset of the writer. Research the culture, customs, and common beliefs that defined them. You’ll be amazed at the results.
So don’t do what I did in my twenties. Don’t approach the Bible as if it were a Science book or a modern-day novel, and don’t throw up your hands in despair when things aren’t clear at first reading. Be diligent and be willing to adjust your approach to studying God’s Word. You will start to learn and grow like never before.
Works Cited
Heiser, Michael S. The Bible Unfiltered: Approaching Scripture on Its Own Terms. Lexham Press, 2017.
