Word of God and Human Words—A Key to Reading the Bible

by Edgar V. McKnight

The Bible belongs to the whole world as does no other book. Written originally in Hebrew and Greek more than eighteen centuries ago, it is now available, in whole or in part, in more than a thousand languages. It has been a best-seller since best-sellers were first recognized. Its contents are widely known. Biblical phrases enrich current speech: “the skin of our teeth,” “the sweat of our brow,” “a thorn in the flesh,” and “the salt of the earth.” Speakers use a rich treasure of biblical stories as a part of the common heritage.

Christians affirm that the Bible is the supreme authority for faith and practice and search its pages for God’s message. They agree on a large number of teachings gained from earnest Bible study. Frequently, however, sincere Christians, even those in the same denomination and congregation, interpret this same book differently.

In the distant past, honest people differed over the shape of the earth, and some used the Bible to show that the earth was flat! Just a century ago, certain Christians used the Bible to prove that slaves should be given their freedom, while others declared that the Bible clearly teaches that it is God’s will for individuals to own other human beings as property. Today, the same Bible is used to demonstrate that capital punishment is wrong and also that it is within God’s plan for people to be put to death for certain crimes. The Bible is used for liberation—of the poor, of women, and of other minorities—but it is also used consciously and deliberately in ways that keep some groups and individuals in submission. Christians may well despair at times of understanding the teachings of the Bible.

Is it really possible to understand the Bible, to discern the voice of God from a study of the Scriptures? Yes! The Bible can be understood, and this volume is designed to serve as a guide to opening the Bible and learning from its riches. The history of the reading of the Bible helps to explain and to mediate, if not to do away with, the conflict in interpretation. In the earliest period of reading and interpretation of the Bible, the Bible was read as an oracle of God. Historical and literary factors were subordinated to the religious message. Assumptions about what Scripture meant and how it was to be read supported an oracular view of the Bible and a credulous approach to it. The Bible was seen as cryptic or mysterious, meaning more than what it says. The Bible was seen as a great book of instruction with immediate relevance for readers by the discernment of what it says and means. The Bible was considered perfect and perfectly harmonious. Apparent disagreements were, therefore, to be clarified by properly determining what it says and means. The Bible, then, is divinely inspired.

With the development of critical tools and approaches to the natural world and to history and literature came a critical approach to the Bible. Instead of simply coming to the Bible to discern a divine word, people approached the Bible as data to be examined by various criteria. Instead of beginning with assumptions about ultimate divine purposes and results, interpreters asked questions about human historical authors and their purposes in writing for readers in particular locations. Historical-critical approaches were developed to answer historical questions, and literary-critical approaches were developed to answer literary questions. In some measure, instead of reducing the Bible to oracle, the Bible was reduced to history or to literature. A challenge in our day is to read the Bible as word of God while acknowledging that the Bible is also the words of humans in particular historical and social locations influenced by human languages and literary conventions.

From Reading the Bible Today: A 21st-Century Appreciation of Scripture, by Edgar V. McKnight, pp. 1-2