How to Read Bible Passages You Disagree With
A Framework To Work Through Issues
As controversial issues such as sexuality grip the church, one might wonder how to square a straight reading of the Bible with contemporary standards. The problem is one that has always been with us, from the Jewish / Greek conflicts in the New Testament, through the Reformation and 19th century debates on slavery, continuing to the present day. The quandaries do not have easy solutions, and I do not want to emphasize any particular answer. Rather, I wish to emphasize the meta considerations involved, and make sure that, no matter what position one takes, one has thought through all perspectives and underlying assumptions.
We must first recognize the advantages of literal interpretations. While tempting to avoid, straight down-the-line readings of difficult passages make it easier to call a space a spade, and allow one to follow from point A to B. We can avoid going too hard down the path of an anything-goes theology, and stay grounded in Christian tradition. Straight readings take us out of ourselves and leave us more receptive to what God is teaching, helping us build our house on rock and not on sand.
There also dangers in the other extreme, with a very limited approach for interpretation. We can make an idol of the Bible and close off further action from God. God can be the same yesterday, today, & tomorrow, but under what hermeneutic and interpretative framework? How is he the same? What is he doing? The story under which God is operating is as important as what is actually said.
We need to trust in the overall Christian story that God is telling. We can start with John 3:16, where God sent his son to prepare us for eternal life. Ancient morality and knowledge in ancient Israel may mot match modern standards, but we must trust God’s overarching plan as morality and knowledge evolve to better reflect his desires. We are agents in bringing in God’s kingdom on earth, and something is lost when God just tells us what to do. Instead, he is molding us as the raw clay of creation to make correct decisions on its own.
However, if we encounter a new potential revelation, in any religion or context, we must ask what is the new thing that is being brought to the table. One might quibble about whether X truly happened or whether Y is a more up-to-date interpretation. However, why is God acting in this way, now and in the past? Why is he telling us this revelation now and not 200 years ago? Perhaps the background is now ready for a the next stage to spread, and we should recognize that God does seem to have a strong prejudice toward organic growth in the stories he tells. We will, however, need an answer for why the revelation was different in the past.
All this is difficult. However, we should not shy away from these tasks, and we should embrace the complexities involved. F Scott Fitzgerald once remarked … “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” We should not remain children forever, seeing the world through one- dimensional “right” and “wrong” frameworks, but must grow to handle complexity.
In sum, we do not have easy answers to difficult passages. The only way forward is to try to discern the story God is telling while avoiding extremes of too literal and too permissive interpretations. We must, if we have a different opinion from a literal understanding, ask why it was interpreted one way in the past, why another way now, and why God allows the difference. We need to be aware of the dangers of incorrect interpretations. However, we can only do the best we can in fellowship with God, trusting in his and our wisdom.
