Bad and good ways to read the scriptures
In the article “Transforming Your Reading of the Bible,” Dane Ortlund points to 6 incorrect ways to read the Bible and the result of each:
- The approach of the gold mine? Read the Bible as a vast.
- Cavernous.
- Dark mine.
- Where it sometimes falls on an inspiring stone.
- Result: confusing reading.
The heroic approach? Read the Bible as a temple of moral fame that gives one example after another of spiritual giants to imitate. Result: desperate reading.
The rules approach? Read the Bible for commandments to obey to subtly reinforce a sense of personal superiority. Result: Pharisee reading.
The Artifact Focus: Reading the Bible as an ancient document about events in the Middle East a few hundred years ago that are not relevant to my life today. Result: boring reading.
The approach in the instruction manual is to read the Bible as a map that tells me where to work, who to marry, and what shampoo to use. Result: anxious reading.
The doctrinal approach? Read the Bible as a theological depot to fire ammunition for my next theological debate at Starbucks. Result: cold reading.
While there is some truth about each of the above approaches, they alone are insufficient. However, the most common approach today is probably the self-help approach. JI. Pack?Read the Bible correctly?warns us:
The truth is that many of us have lost the ability to read the Bible. [?] When you take another book, treat it as a unit. You look for the main plot or line of the argument and follow it to the end. [ ?] But when it comes to the scriptures, our behavior is different. First, we are not used to treating them as a book, a unity at all, but simply as a set of separate proverbs and stories. before looking at the texts, that their content (or at least the one that concerns us) is a moral warning or a comfort to those in difficulty.
Then we read them (when we read them) in small doses, only a few worms at a time. Haven’t we walked through an entire book, let alone the two Testaments as a whole?The result is that we will never be able to read the Bible. but, in fact, is our use superstitious enough?
Packer shows us that the consequence of not understanding the Bible as a whole is a superstitious reading, therefore part of the way to read the Bible correctly is to read it as a unit that denotes Christ. Ortlund comments:
In a theological debate with the religious doctors of his day, Jesus told those who said they had Moses as their patriarch: “If you believed in Moses, would you believe me because he wrote about me?(John 5:46). Is this how you read the Old Testament?
Does biblical theology shape our reading of the Bible by aligning it with the reading of Jesus himself?That is, reading the Word of God as good news historically founded about God’s grace for the Son of God for God’s people, for the glory of God.
[?] The Bible is God’s autobiographical account of his personal rescue mission to restore a world lost by his Son. Each verse contributes to this message. The Bible is not a motivating speech, it is good news.
Therefore, we must destroy the idol of the ego in order to contemplate God’s glory in the scriptures. Isn’t David Wells the self-help Bible? He talks about it, he says:
[?] What’s the right attitude? He’s telling you you’re here to listen to God, not to listen to you. You are there to be treated, challenged, and, yes, even rebuked by God, through the truth of His Word.
[?] Therefore, God is not there for our use when we need him; we’re here on Earth to use us. This does not benefit us as if it were a product; we are here for your service.
And have you ever noticed that those in the scriptures who served you the most, suffered more faithfully, were the most troubled, and were killed?Wanting to know God is a risky business, so forget about reading the scriptures to feel better about yourself. , as we learned in The Chronicles of Narnia, is not a domesticated lion. However, that’s good.
In short, we should not read the Bible superstitiously, as a box of blessings and promises other than the general context. Yes, God makes many promises to us, and we must pay attention to them; But if we do not put God as God, we can try to use Him on our behalf, rather than putting ourselves as humble servants.
To correct and illustrate this understanding, watch the two videos below: In the first, Tim Keller answers who the Bible is talking about, and in the second, an 11-year-old makes a presentation about Christ in each book of the Bible. .
By Tim Keller © Presbyterian Church of the Redeemer Video poryoutube. com/GraphicChristology Original here.
Does this mean that we cannot be inspired by the heroes of the faith?Doesn’t the Bible apply to my life?
We hope that you do not have these doubts, because that is not what we said, to understand the Bible well we must read it through a Christocentric lens, understand that everything is above all for the Glory of God in Jesus Christ. Always within that, we must know that we are called to become like Christ. Thus, Proverbs becomes more than a set of rules to have a good life, where Christ is just one more piece. The Proverbs become an inspired guide for Christ’s disciples to live wisely. Are the comforts proposed in the scriptures comforts of Christ all promises?If, in Christ, for him, for him and for him are all things.