What About the Bible? Some Basic Information
By Revs. Deb Coggin and Jennifer Glass
An important part of church is that we often read and study what is known as the Bible. The Bible is an interesting book. Not just because of its contents, but also because of people’s reactions, thoughts, feelings and understanding of it. In Metropolitan Community Churches, we believe that “That the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, showing forth God to every person through the law and the prophets, and finally, completely and ultimately on earth in the being of Jesus Christ.”
When we as pastors present information on “Bible Basics,” we often share some of the following ideas about this book. The Bible (Greek= ta biblia or the books) is a collection of books written thousand of years ago based on the perspective and experiences of people from a wide variety of backgrounds - culturally, sociologically, politically and economically.
As Christians, we believe that the Bible is a body of texts that were inspired by God (God-breathed) for the benefit of God’s people and transmitted to humanity for the purpose of creating a written document of God’s divine action in and among God’s created order.
When looking at what we mean by the Holy Scripture, it is important to remember that the worth or value that we as humans place on any one particular thing is usually a reflection of our own personal investment in what that thing can do or has done for us. The same is true for the Bible.
The fact that we acknowledge the scriptures as holy serves not only to set this book apart as unlike any other written document known to humanity, but it also increases the tendency for us to overlook the fact that the Bible, as we know it is a product of human hands.
The bottom line is that the inspired word of God was transmitted to human beings and through the lenses of humanity and human nature, this revealed word was interpreted for human understanding and appropriation.
Whether or not the Bible is the revealed Word of God is not the central issue here. As Christians, we profess this to be true. The human filters through which this revealed word has been made known to humanity, however, is the core of our study and discussion.
Understanding that the Bible is a product of human hands, then we must ask ourselves the question, how was scripture formed?
Because we understand the Bible to be a collection or library of many writings, we must be able to clearly ascertain how these writings came to be. Scholars are generally in agreement that the texts of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament originally began as stories that were shared and passed down simply by word of mouth. Thousands of years ago, the peoples who inhabited this earth as nomads spent very little time paying attention to, and even less time developing an appreciation for the written language.
Oral transmissions, or the art of storytelling then, became the means through which these various peoples remembered the legacy of their past, their history. Those who would be called the master story tellers would repeatedly tell the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, their families and experiences.
It would be during the time of Israel’s greatest moments in history, during the reigns of Kings David and Solomon, that the desire would come, not only to maintain a written log of their current experiences, but also write down the past history as well.
In terms of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, there was clearly a two step process- first spoken, and second written. As these books were written down, they also became accepted as the religious norm or standard. The books were canonized as central tenets to and for the Jewish faith. The word canon comes from a Greek word that simply means measuring rod. When used to mean that the biblical books are a measure or standard for faith and life. The canon of Scripture, our Holy Bible was developed by the people of God in response to the need of the church.
Got any questions? About the Bible? About other matters of faith? Please feel free to email Pastors Deb and Jen at pastor@visionofhopemcc.org.
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