Trying to figure out what the Bible says and means presents a thorny problem to any reader. The most recent parts of it were written about 2000 years ago, halfway around the world, in a language nobody speaks anymore. The only comparison I can make in our own culture is the struggle that seems to always be going on about how to interpret the US constitution. Intelligent people have come to opposite conclusions about what the founding fathers meant in a document written a little over 200 years ago in English.
As an outsider looking in on the workings of the Southern Baptist Convention, it seems like some issues are arising from different ways of explicating the Bible. I don’t expect absolute uniformity because that doesn’t seem to fit what I’ve always learned Baptists are about. However, I do get confused because people seem to have developed some pretty comprehensive theories of what the Bible means for us today. I think I’m missing a step between believing the Bible and constructing a comprehensive philosophical system with the Bible as the building blocks. The step I think I’m missing is how professional Christians are explicating the Bible to arrive at their chosen system of belief.
I don’t think I’m alone among laypeople in being perplexed. Most Sundays I go to church and listen intently to the minister’s presentation that seems like algebra. I can see the first number and I see another number on the other side of the = sign, but I’m not sure what the missing part of the equation is. To compound my difficulty, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in the middle part of the equation to arrive at the minister’s answer. At times I suspect that we are simply following an established explication, i.e. we’ve already decided what the printed words mean and we are serving the equivalent of intellectual leftovers. Perhaps as a layperson, I’m not supposed to get this. If so, why read my Bible? I’d really like to understand the process. I’ve sketched out a few thoughts on a process for dealing with the Bible that makes sense to me that I’ll be posting over the next few days. I’d appreciate any thoughts you might have.
November 7, 2006 at 6:31 am
I stayed confused, too. My humble thought is that if a pastor or teacher cannot speak in a manner that is understandable by the youngest or least mature believer present, he should not be teaching. Yes there are difficult things to understand in the Bible, but it is important to try to keep the explantions as simple as possible. When I, as a missionary on the field, need a comprehensive dictionary and thesaurus just to read postings from pastors,I do not appreciate it. That lets me know that if this is the manner many pastors are using in the pulpits no wonder the average person in the pew is confused. I am not stupid, dense, slow-witted or uneducated. I just believe that if you want something understood then you must use the simplest explanation first and then build on it. I do not explicate
anything, but I try with my whole heart to explain in the simplest way possible any question that is put before me. Thank you for trying to point out the confusion we regular people experience from those trying to tell us what the Bible says.
Note: I actually do not mind having to look up some words, but now I find myself with my dictionary and thesaurus beside my computer at all times. Uck!
November 20, 2006 at 10:16 am
Okay, you need more readers. I have so enjoyed your posts and know others will, too. Get out there posting because your stuff is very good. If you post it they will come. Sorry. My humor is completely out of control today.