Friday after Ash Wednesday - Lent is Not Rocket Science

From Bishop Knisely's new book published by Forward Movement. You can read the first week's meditations here, and download the ebook for Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, or iTunes at a discounted $1.99 price to follow along as we discuss this book the rest of Lent.

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Don’t Make the Bible a Liar

Lead me in your truth, and teach me. — Psalm 25:4

Most of the perceived conflict between science and religion is rooted in how we understand the role of the Bible in the church. For most of the church’s history, the Bible was understood to be authoritative for Christians and worthy to be studied by all. But it was used as a conversation partner and not as a rule book. 

This is seen very clearly in some of the writings of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Augustine’s understanding of how we are justified by our faith and not by our works came from his deep study of Saint Paul’s writings. But when it came to defending biblical accounts of creation against criticisms made by pagan philosophers, Augustine argued that it was a mistake to insist on the biblical account as literal truth in all instances. To people who insisted that natural laws didn’t apply, Augustine 18 responded: “It is disgrace for a Christian to talk nonsense to a pagan about something the pagan knows about—because it causes them to doubt everything that is found in the books of the Bible.” (He was specifically referencing the movement and relative sizes of the heavenly bodies.) 

Augustine’s point is that we when try to use the Bible’s witness incorrectly, we damage the Bible’s witness to the primary matters to which it testifies: the story of God’s relationship with Israel, the coming of the Messiah, and the death and resurrection of Jesus. The way the books of the Bible were misused in Augustine’s day is happening again in ours. In our day, this misuse is a reaction to the ascendency of the scientific method, specifically Darwin’s work in natural selection as the origin of the diversity of life. There’s a sense in some parts of the church that we can read the Bible the way we read a textbook, and that every single verse of the Bible has an eternal truth to teach. There’s a differing model in other parts of the church that what is most important are the stories contained in the text, and, of course, the meta story that the entire library of books tells as a whole. There’s no one single model on how to read and understand the Bible, and that’s the root cause of much of the conflict within the church today. 

So this Lent, as we begin to think about how the natural world testifies to the hand of God in creation, it’s important for us to take some time to think about how we each understand the Bible. 

How do you understand the Bible? 

Have you thought much about it?

Do you think all the various parts of the Bible are equally true? 

Are there different kinds of truth?

Episcopal clergy testify at their ordination that they believe the Bible is the Word of God and contains all things necessary to salvation. What do you think that means?
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"Lent is Not rocket Science" was published by Forward Movement, a ministry of the Episcopal Church which publishes accessible low cost resources on discipleship written by the laity, clergy, and bishops of the church largely on a pro bono basis.