In “A New Kind of Christianity,” Brian McLaren urges Christians/ congregations to wrestle with 10 questions so that the Christian faith might be more fruitfully expressed in ways that reach a postmodern culture.
#2 – The Authority Question: How Should The Bible Be Understood?
McLaren points out that contemporary views of the Bible have led to three messes. First, there is a scientific mess. We treat Scripture “as a divinely dictated science textbook providing us true information in all areas of life, including when and how the earth was created, what the shape of the earth is, what revolves around what in space, and so on.” Yet this often pits the Bible against science. Second, there is an ethical mess. We treat Scripture as “an ethical rule book.” Yet the Bible does not directly address our most vexing ethical issues like abortion, climate change, genetic engineering, etc. Third, there is a peace mess. Too many Christians use the Bible “as a club or sword to dominate or wound.” McLaren spends significant time exploring how Scripture was used to justify slavery in America, as an example of the peace mess (this section alone almost makes the book worth the price).
What led to these messes? McLaren argues that they came from the fact that we tend to view the Bible as a “Legal Constitution.” Just as lawyers in a courtroom quote articles, sections, paragraphs, and subparagraphs to win their case, “we do the same with testaments, books, chapters, and verses.”
McLaren suggests that a better view of the Bible is this: “Community Library.” This library “preserves, presents, and inspires an ongoing vigorous conversation with and about God, a living and vital civil argument into which we are all invited and through which God is revealed.” It represents a community gathering to discuss their various views of God and God’s work. Rather than providing concrete answers, this library gives us questions, stories, and conversations.
As is sometimes the case, McLaren’s diagnosis of the problem is more helpful than his prescription of the cure. I resonate with McLaren’s warnings about approaching the Bible as constitution. Numerous books published in the last 20-30 years have explored the ways in which our Modern assumptions about the Bible as a law book, blue print, or constitution have negatively impacted our interpretation of Scripture–especially within my own movement of Churches of Christ. The Restoration Movement’s “command-example-necessary inference” hermeneutic grew out of such a view and suffers many weaknesses.
What is less helpful is McLaren’s “Community Library” metaphor. He doesn’t provide enough guidance as to exactly how one would interpret Scripture under this new paradigm. A better contemporary solution to the Bible as Constitution problems comes from Scot McKnight in his book “The Blue Parakeet.” (I’ve reviewed his book at length on this website.) McKnight provides a much clearer (though equally challenging) alternative to the Bible as Constitution and even takes an issue (gender roles) and shows how a different paradigm leads to a different interpretation.
This chapter in McLaren does lead to a critical conclusion: It is naive to believe a group can merely open the Bible, read it, and do what it says. What that group believes the Bible to be radically affects what they read and how they read it.
How about you? How do you view the Bible? How does our view of the Bible impact what we see/don’t see in the Bible and what we do/don’t do with what we see/don’t see?
In class I use a few pages from a book to talk about exactly this question. That author talked about how we tend to read the Bible like a legal document or a textbook. He proposes we read the Bible more like a love letter between teenage lovers trying to figure each other out or maybe listen to the Bible like a patient would listen to an oncologist. I like these metaphors. I have an easier time getting my mind around them than what little I understand about this “Community Library” idea. That book I use is “A New Kind of Christian” by Brian McLaren.
I just have to say, I enjoy reading your article. Maybe you could let me know how I can bookmark it ? I feel I should let you know I found your page through Bing.
Doing some net browsing and discovered your website looks somewhat screwed up in my K-meleon browser. But fortunately hardly anybody uses it anymore however you may want to look into it.
Comments are closed.