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I find in the story of Jacob struggling with the angel an appropriate image of our struggle to know God through Scripture. Jacob was wounded in his fight against the angel, as we are all in our struggle to know God. But Jacob persisted and ended with a blessing. If we can persist in our struggle to know God through the scriptures, we will not find certainty, but we may well discover the blessing.
In my fight against the scriptures, I usually ask three questions. First, what did the biblical author mean by saying what he / she was saying to a particular group of people at a given time and place? Because we are so far away from this historical, social and cultural context, we can never be certain of our conclusions about the intention of the author. Who can enter into the mind of a historical person and assume that we know exactly what they meant? It's part of the fight.
The second question that I bring to the text after I came to a conclusion about what I think the writer was saying is: did the writer tell people about this? exact moment? useful? If I apply the instructions that the author gives, or if I believe what the author presumes or says about God and the relationship of God to the world, will it inspire me? to be a more loving, gracious, generous and grateful person? The writer helps me to become more loving as Christ and inspires me to have mercy, to pursue justice and to walk in humility, so I can believe that what the The author says it comes from God. If it is not the case, I can not. Biblical writers were not beyond projecting their own interests, prejudices, and flaws on God. They were imperfect human beings, conditioned by their culture and context, just like us.
There are many biblical texts that are highly illuminating, inspiring, and transformative. But there are biblical texts that are not enlightening, that do not inspire and that deform life more than transformation. Biblical writers might reflect the best and even the worst of the human condition. To discern what is of God and what is not of God is the struggle in which we enter into the biblical text. It reflects our own fight of faith.
My third question flows logically from the two previous ones. So, in the light of what (I think) the author wanted, and in light of the transforming or non-transforming nature of the text, I ask: What could I learn from God and the will of God for humanity? this text? What could God tell me through this text? It is best to ask this question in community with others. God often makes the will of God known through the comments and observations of other members of our community with whom we study and discuss the text.
When I was studying in a theological school engaged in biblical inerrancy, one of the great ironies of my seminar education was that I was trained, as well as no matter who, to apply historical, social and linguistic resources to discover the meaning of a biblical author. However, when I applied this methodology (and this is the great irony), if I came to a conclusion that did not fit the theological system and doctrinal beliefs that I had learned to defend, so I was conditioned to automatically reject that meaning. My teachers would say, "Try again, it can not be what the biblical writer was saying." Why? Because it went against the doctrinal grid that had to be applied to each interpretation.
"If Jesus really is our guide then we should expect to fully fight Scripture in the way the gospels demonstrate that Jesus did."
Most Baptist Christians learned to approach the scriptures in a similar way. Many of us have been brainwashed into the belief systems as children or converted into them later in life, where we have been convinced that doctrines such as virgin birth, l? substitute atonement, the divinity of Jesus, etc. We probably received some proof and said, "That's what the Bible says." So whenever we went to read and interpret the scriptures, we were automatically limited in what the text could mean. by what we were already taught. the Bible says. So we never really struggled with the text.
Biblical inerrantists trained in a particular theological system assume that they already know what the text can mean before they even study it. This approach to the Bible is very attractive because it eliminates doubt, ambiguity and mystery and offers people certainty, security and simplicity. This eliminates the need to struggle with the text. What he really offers, however, are false assurances. They settle for safety at the expense of the truth.
If Jesus really is our guide then we should expect to fight completely with Scripture in the way the Gospels demonstrate that Jesus did. Rather than assuming that what he taught by the Jewish religious leaders of his day was true, he drew on his own direct, personal, intuitive and sensible experience of God, which he put to good use in his fight against the scriptures. Sometimes Jesus expanded the meaning of the scriptures, as when he said, "You have heard that it was said to the elders, 'Thou shalt not kill'; and "whoever kills shall be liable to judgment," but I tell you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment "(Matthew 521-22). Jesus suggested that the "old" writing does not go far enough in explaining the will of God. He competed with the bow.
Sometimes Jesus rejected writing and replaced it with a more complete understanding of God's will. Such as the time when Jesus rejected the scripture that allowed a man to divorce his wife if he found something "indecent" in it. Jesus rejected the notion that it came from God, even though the text says it comes from God. He argued that Moses allowed this grant because of the harshness of human hearts, but it was never the intention of God from the beginning (see Mark 10: 1-9).
In another case, Jesus rejected the biblical law of retaliation, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," urging his followers not to resist violently with injustice. In his place, Jesus offered to an enslaved and oppressed people creative means for courageously, at great personal risk, to protest against injustice (see Matthew 5: 38-41).
Jesus offers us a model of how we could struggle with our sacred texts and bring our own personal, intuitive and sensible experience of God to bear on our interpretation and the application of the scriptures.
Those who are vindictive and biased will read and apply the scriptures in a vindictive and biased manner. People who are transformed by love will read and apply the scriptures in a gracious and inclusive manner. When we enter into this struggle with honesty and sincerity, we open our hearts so that our prejudices, hate and sin are exposed. If we refuse to enter into this struggle and settle for second-hand faith, we will simply use the scriptures in a simplistic way to affirm our prejudices, hate and sin.
Everything is in our hearts If our hearts are open, honest, humble and true, it will not bother us to enter the struggles, contradictions, ambiguities and mysteries of the text. In fact, we will welcome them. For we will hear God speak to us through them, and in our struggle with them we will discover the blessing of God's transforming grace and love.
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