All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
To sustain a journey of faith, an ongoing interaction with scripture is essential. Yet it is hard for us to stay engaged with the Bible. It was written so long ago by a people who understood the world differently than we do. It is full of fantastic stories and strange literary conventions. It is hard to know how to approach it. Should we operate by our modern minds 95% of the time and then shift into a pre-modern mindset when we read scripture or come to church, so that we can somehow affirm a six day creation and believe that Jonah survived in a whale? Is 2 Timothy ruined for us as a spiritual authority if we acknowledge that Paul, though his name is on it, probably didn't write it, but rather it was written by one of his disciples or maybe even someone who just knew of his life and figured that if Paul were writing to Timothy now, this is what he would say? Should we consider this book fraudulent? In what way can we say that the Bible is true?
Think about these questions. I'll be addressing them in the sermon on Sunday. Also think about your own conversation with scripture. Is it satisfying? Is it nurturing your faith? What could make it better?
The author of the verse in 2 Timothy 3:16 had a purpose for using these particular words in describing the authority of the Bible. Whether it was Paul's words or people who were connected in some way to Paul, these words tell me that there might have been some doubt as to the authority of the words being read to them during that time. The author might have wanted to reassure his community of faith that these words are true and the people should live by them.
ReplyDeleteAs for today, our worldview is very different from the worldview of the time 2 Timothy was written. Therefore our interpretation of the words written in the Bible need to be seen in a different way. Our world is so totally different from the time of the author that it would be unthinkable for me to interpret this passage literally.
To me, there is truth in the Bible as a whole, as a collection of books written to describe God's love and compassion for the world. The parables and sayings of Jesus tell me what life as a Christian should be like, but this kind of life is hard to achieve as we all know.
My conversations with scripture, I find, is only meaningful and nurturing when I combine it with conversations I have with other people of faith, reading other passages in the Bible that are related to it, and reading what theologians might say about the passage.