Humanity has had a long standing fascination with sacred objects. Things that are considered and treated extra special due to their close association with the Divine.
The Bible is such an object that fits solidly into the lineup of sacred objects, particularly for the 3 sister monotheistic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), so much so that it has garnered the title for many, The WORD of God.
It has been a key source of inspiration for both much evil done on our planet and much love and compassion.
To greater and lesser degrees, it has found itself in the crossfire of debate and war on how to interpret and understand it.
The book pictured here has been intriguing for me of late in my journey of searching for what to do with the Bible.
Yes, I know what many people do with the Bible.
I also know what many people SAY I should do with it.
But, I continue wrestling with what should "I" do with it.
I've found Karen Armstrong's Biography on the Bible very enlightening to discover more how the Bible has developed from antiquity and how people other than those in the last few hundred years have treated and used it.
Some of the particular insights from her work are:
- Interpreting Scripture very literally is a relatively recent development. History shows that it was often interpreted and developed in ways that were meaningful to the times, not necessarily true to an author's original intent. Indeed, much of the New Testament is a "wrestling" of Old Testament writings to help in dealing with the events at hand (i.e. how to relate to this self proclaimed Messiah and the subsequent stir that He caused).
- Many documents eventually became included in Scripture not because of noticing inspiration within them, but because of how they were treated by people (i.e. used in sacred ritual settings).
- Sacred writings (i.e. Scriptures) gradually replaced the Temple as the physical location for sensing the Divine.
- Through the millenia, Scripture was not so much a text, but an activity-a spiritual process that introduced people to a sense of God.
- Scripture is not a document on history as we consider history in modern times. Again, it was a process, (that most certainly reveals elements of factual history), that drew on historical events, ancient and current legends, and the ongoing "artwork" of interpreters to make it say something meaningful about current events.
- Charity must be the guiding principle in the exegesis (the art of interpreting and explaining Biblical text) of Scripture. Karen tells the story of a rabbi before the time of Jesus that was asked to recite the entire Torah while standing on one leg. The rabbi proceeded to state something to the effect, "Don't do to others what you would hate to have done to you. The rest is commentary, go and study it". Some parts of Scripture will naturally lead to lessons and inspiration on this point, others will take more digging, some will teach by contrast, and, yes, some will have to be "re-worked" to promote this timeless principle.
So, this morning I turn to a passage of Scripture to practice appling the principle above and I land on the story in Judges 19. Go read it. It may stretch your ability to see Scripture as a commentary on the Golden Rule. But then again, it may enrich it.
Karen Armstrong in a presentation suggested that much of the hard parts of scripture are actually testing grounds for us in learning to apply the Golden Rule. In other words, if we can find ways to make the evil in Scripture teach us something about practicing the Golden Rule, then maybe we can actually find ways to implement the Golden Rule on the street with those that "test" us.
