How the Bible Means Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D. Department of Religious Studies John Carroll University

How the Bible Means What is “Revelation”? ä an “objective” view: God makes known the divine reality and will via an explicit message ä exact formulation (doctrine) is content of revelation ä intellectual knowledge of God’s truths is object of revelation ä faith outcome is assent of the mind to these divine truths ä a “subjective” view: God makes self & will known via an interpersonal relationship ä establishing relationships with human beings is vehicle for revelation ä the Divine Self is the content of revelation ä faith outcome is a personal commitment in response to the God who reveals

How the Bible Means Queries: ä 1: How did you come to know your best friend? By hearing things about the person? Or by entering into a relationship with the person? ä 2: Are there “things” that you know about your friend? E.g., can you describe that person to another? Can you list her/his character traits? Can you tell stories that illustrate what kind of person your friend is? ä 3: Will this description, list, or set of stories convey everything your friend is? If someone wants to really understand & know your friend, what would you suggest?

How the Bible Means The Paradox ä the revealing God is beyond human knowing, ä Yet ä God is active within human history as Revealer ä what is one illustration of each of these two statements? ä what do you see as the implications of each of these two statements?

How the Bible Means Is the Bible God’s Revealed Word? ä The “revealed Word of God” is, in its fullest sense, the human person, Jesus, the Christ ä We also find God’s Word in: ä Jesus’ words & deeds ä Jesus’ words & deeds in the proclamation of the apostles (= the kerygma) ä the Bible, a written record of the apostolic proclamation ä So, the Bible is derivatively “God’s word”

How the Bible Means ä Saying “The Bible is God’s Word” means by reading the Bible, we can come to know the God Who Reveals ä Q: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

How the Bible Means Claim 1: reading the Bible, we can know God the Revealer ä Biblical stories illustrate how God interacts with the world, especially human beings ä The stories of God’s activities provide directions for understanding characteristics of God (e.g., God as giving, loving, faithful, merciful) ä Biblical theologians present their interpretations of events and of God’s role in them ä They also present their own ideas of God, which give us further directions for understanding (i.e., knowing-in- relationship)

How the Bible Means ä Claim 2: The Bible is God’s Word in human words ä Q1: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in human words ä This is the official teaching of the RC Church ä God did not write the Bible; God “inspired” human authors to write the Biblical materials ä “inspiration” = guidance, not dictation ä the authors aimed their messages so they would be understood by their own audience (i.e., the one at the time when it the text was written) ä their meaning may not be at all obvious to us now

How the Bible Means

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in human words ä Q2: What are the implications of this statement? ä A1: Human beings of different times and places wrote the Biblical stories, laws, etc.

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in human words ä there were many human authors to the Bible ä each book of the Bible (and often even different passages within the same Biblical book) i s a distinct composition written on its own and for its own unique purpose ä these writings were not produced for the collection we call the Bible (= “the books, the library”)

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in human words ä How then do we read the Bible? ä remember that the human author chose the images and shaped the language of each text ä learn the social, cultural, economic and historical context of each text ä understand the language and use of images in each text ä ask what each author assumed due to cultural factors ä ask what each author might have omitted from the text due to social, cultural, or historical factors

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in human words ä e.g., “Jesus’ words” are the sayings of Jesus the way they are recalled by the Biblical author ä the authors changed the impact of Jesus’ sayings by collecting them and reporting them seriatum, without mentioning their original context ä the authors adapted Jesus’ sayings to new situations ä the authors inferred from Jesus’ teaching and deeds what he would have said or done in a new situation, and wrote their stories showing this

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in human words ä Why not God’s Dictated words? ä Exegetes from II CE onward have noticed, e.g., that the four gospels have contradictory details about the life and deeds of Jesus ä Tatian’s Diatessaron (Harmony of the Four Gospels, ca. 150) rejected as wrong strategy ä Each evangelist offers something unique and significant for understanding the person and message of Jesus

How the Bible Means The Bible is God’s word in Human words ä Contradictions exist in the Biblical text, but God cannot err or be contradictory ä Thus, variations and contradictions must arise elsewhere ä The human authors are the only other source for the Biblical texts ä The assumption of early authorship of the gospels is not valid: ä No gospel was written during Jesus’ lifetime ä The earliest gospel was finished 40 years after Jesus’ death ä evangelists were not eyewitnesses of Jesus

How the Bible Means ä All the gospel material originated in Oral tradition ä Variations in the gospel reports are due, at least in part, to variations in the oral tradition which underlie the texts ä Oral Tradition ä the “rule of three” ä re-contextualization ä habit of “relocating” events ä acquisition of names ä acquisition of details ä mnemonic devices

How the Bible Means depends upon how we read ä Four Common Reading Strategies: ä historicist or literalistic reading ä public reading in churches ä inspirational/spiritual reading ä scholarly or analytical method

How the Bible Means historicist or literalistic reading ä read the Bible text to learn facts about Jesus’ life: “It happened just like it says.” ä take every text as historically factual ä add together the details of history and doctrine from all the various Biblical books ä confidence in knowing what God expects of you ä certainty that the Bible can answer any question

How the Bible Means public reading in churches ä direct proclamation of living word to contemporary audience ä may include some background data in exposition ä show that interpretation of Scripture must be done from within the community of believers ä discover meaning of text for individual-in-community ä insight into contemporary meaning of text

How the Bible Means inspirational/spiritual reading ä meditative or imaginative strategies ä begin with “face value” of text and engage it with the imagination ä discover personal meaning for me (as an individual) today ä find emotional comfort and personal challenge

How the Bible Means scholarly/analytical method ä reminds us that Jesus’ time and culture are foreign to us ä provides background for understanding Jesus in his own social & historical context ä uncovers the fresh and distinctive message of Jesus ä supplements other ways of reading the Bible ä shows that the Bible raises important questions for us as well as providing answers

How the Bible Means depends upon how you read ä Q1: What do you see as the advantages of each of these reading strategies? ä Q2: What is the “cost” of each reading strategy?