Three Elements Necessary To Reading The Bible.

How does someone go about the task of inducing from a myriad of methods and

criticisms what is most important? Green (2007) rightly affirms that those who would engage

the Scriptures faithfully will be required to employ various tools and different times (141).

Put differently, particular texts often require particular methods (cf. Green 2005, 140-141).

Given the numerous tools at our disposal as we faithfully engage Scripture what are the

overarching values that form the shape of the toolbox? I will offer three values for

consideration: (1) the necessity of the Spirit enlivenment; (2) inspired imagination and

creativity (cf. Thompson 2004, 73-79) and, (3) recognition of assumptions.

1. The Necessity of Spirit Enlivenment.

The Spirit enlivenment I speak of does not necessarily refer to an act of salvation by the

Holy Spirit. By enlivenment I mean to put forward the idea that the Spirit enlivens both

reader and text; or what Thompson (2004) would describe as “convergence” (71-76). To

engage the Scriptures is to connect with a means through which the Spirit chooses to work

and speak to the reader/hearer. Faithful reading Scripture may be “a craft that pleads for the

lifelong apprenticeship” but it is also a skill that can be developed without the assistance of

the Spirit (contra Green 2007, 104). An individual can, with hard work, fill his or her mind

with methods to aid in critiquing the Bible from various angles. The difficult but not

impossible task is becoming aware of the Spirit’s voice within the text. This voice speaks

“beyond the limitations” of its location (Green 2007, 114) and into the location of the reader

because the Spirit gives life (cf. 2 Cor. 3:6). The Spirit’s enlivenment provides the

reader/hearer with inspiration to imagine the biblical world juxtaposed against his or her own.

Consequently, through the Spirit we hear what was in the text so that we are better able to

apply it to what is requiring a divine enlivenment of human imagination and creativity.

2. Inspired Imagination and Creativity.

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 As the Spirit speaks through the text the reader is drawn into the “imaginary world”

(Thompson 2004, 68) created by the biblical writer through the “assistance” of the Holy

Spirit (Thompson 2004, 59). Reading the word “imaginary” can be quite challenging to

someone’s idea of inerrancy or infallibility. Thompson’s use of the word should not be

equated with “fantasy.” Instead I believe it implies the notion of distance. That is, the

contemporary reader is so far removed from the biblical world it seems imaginary. As a result

of this distance, the reader must creatively fill in gaps between that world and this one (a

point we will discuss later). The biblical writers were also dependent on inspired imagination

as they wrote.

As the biblical writers wrote they were being apprised of God’s character and intent.

The contemporary reader derives great benefit from the original authors interpretation of

impressions received by God through the Spirit. The benefit is not static, however. As the

reader experiences the world of the writer he or she is intensely aware of the world in which

they live and their differences. This collision of worlds demands of the reader a dependency

on the Spirit and the employment of interpretive techniques to makes sense of both worlds. In

short, the ability to imagine the biblical world and the creativity to apply meaning to this one

necessitates an inspired imagination. There is though a danger in bringing together these two

worlds.

3. Recognition of Assumptions.

The Scriptures were written in the context of a multitude of cultures. The reader reads

within a multitude of cultures. Both contexts have a base set of assumptions by which lives

are lived - the writer and the reader are not exempted from the influence of their location (cf.

Green 2007, 114). The danger of these assumptions, especially as it pertains to the

contemporary reader, is they are the stuff that fills the gaps inherit in Scripture (cf. Thompson

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2004, 71-72). On the other hand, the assumptions also assist the reader in attempting to bring

the culture of the Scriptures into his or her current setting. The reader though must be

cognizant that the assumptions that exist in their thinking and doing. The reader must also

recognize that he or she may never be fully aware of the assumptions made by the writer.

Because we are aware of where we are but unaware of the where the biblical writer is, we

should become more fully aware of our need for the Spirit’s inspiration and the constraints of

method and tradition.

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 References

Green, J. (2007). Seized by truth: Reading the Bible as scripture. Nashville, TN: Abingdon

Press.

Thompson, R. (2004). “Inspired Imagination: John Wesley‟s Concept of Biblical Inspiration

and Literary-Critical Studies.” In Reading the Bible in Wesleyan Ways: Some

Constructive Proposals. Edited by Barry L. Callen and Richard P. Thompson. Pages

57-79. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City.