Why I (Still) Read the Bible

I have been reading the Bible for some 70 years. I know that because my faithful Christian parents gave me my first Bible when I had barely learned to read. Not surprisingly, that long ago, it was what is commonly known as the King James, or sometimes Authorized Version. It is only called this because it is the first English translation to be approved by a king, James II of Britain in 1611, when the king of England was considered the head of the Church of England.  I still have my copy. 

In the interim, I have bought and read through all or part of at least half a dozen other translations, ranging from the revised standard version, bought when I was in Bible College, through the New English Bible, the new international version, the new revised standard version, which I like because of it's more gender inclusive language, the message and the first nations version, which I appreciate for its fresh new simplicity.

Not trying to boast here, but by my count, I think I have read the Bible through at one time or another 15 times or more. I am sure there are many believers who have read it a lot more than that. Half a dozen years ago, one of our church members let it be known he had read through the Bible 40 times!

So why do I (still) read the Bible? I remember when I was about 12, I thought I could read through the Bible and discover all the rules for the right way to live. I think some people still look at the Bible that way. The Jews, of course, actually commonly call their Bible, more or less equivalent to our Christian Old Testament, the Law. Of course, they also have what they refer to as Wisdom Literature and the Prophets.

I freely admit that when I was younger, reading the Bible was sometimes part of an assignment. It was certainly something that one had to put effort into doing. It really wasn’t a joy. I often wondered at the familiar saying from the palms, even put to music, to the effect that "my heart pants for you or God "or for "your commandments." I really could not identify with those sentiments.

However, as I grew older and continued to learn more about the Bible and better ways to interpret and understand it, especially being enriched by learning more about the context within which it was written, I actually began to read it more. It reminded me of when I was in first year English in university. In high school and earlier years, at least in my experience, we basically read literature at more or less face value. However, in first year university, I began to read and learn about the authors, and the times in which they lived. That made their writing a whole lot more interesting. It's the same with the Bible.

Recently, I read something about false teachings, which made me wonder, do we as Christians in North America, at least in my Mennonite branch of the church, encounter much false teaching? After thinking about it for sometime, I can came to the conclusion that the main false teaching that the church has been dealing with for the last 150 years or so, is the conservative, fundamentalist, literal approach to reading and understanding the Bible. Too many young people, brought up on this diet, gave up the faith when they encountered other schools of thought and evolutionary teaching as they moved into high school, college and university. They just could not see how you could have the Bible and science, as many have dichotomized it falsely. Others stumble at stories, especially from the earliest parts of the Bible, and even the miracle stories which are sprinkled through the Old Testament but especially common in the New Testament, because they don't seem to fit with the rules of the modern gods of rationalism and science. I won't go further into this discussion except to say that, in my opinion, there are errors committed on both sides of this debate, which have not benefitted either side.

To a greater extent than many realize, the Bible is a collection of stories, right from chapter 1 of Genesis. These stories contain truths, but not in the way many today look for truth from a scientific perspective. You really have to look at the stories in the context of the world in which they appeared as well as how they fit into the whole larger story of the Bible. Beginning to review the Bible this way opens up whole new interesting realms of beginning to understand what it is all about.

Another way I have come to look at the Bible is that the whole thing can be seen as God's letter to us humans. If we believe what the Bible says about God being love and about what evidence is in our lives that we love God in return, one could even perhaps refer to it as a love letter. Have you ever received a love letter, perhaps if and when you were in a period of courtship? Or from a dearly beloved relative or mentor. Did you only read this letter once and then put it aside and forget it? I doubt it. There are some you may have read a number of times and can still remember portions of. And when you  received said letter, would you have picked and chosen and read just selections from it, and never looked at the rest of? No, you would probably have started at the beginning and read the whole thing.

I think it is the same with the Bible. If we believe it is God's story of his acts in the world, his dreams for the world, his love letter to us, we would read it and we would read the whole thing. I am amazed at how many people who called themselves Christians have actually never read through the whole Bible once, let alone more than once. How do you expect to learn, understand and appreciate all that can be found there if that is how you deal with it?

Interestingly, I have found in the last decade or two that the more I read the Bible, the more I wanted to read it. Those phrases from the psalms that I mentioned earlier actually began to be words I could somewhat resonate with.

There have been many intelligent people over the centuries who have worked hard at trying to disprove the Bible. None of their attempts have stood the test of time. In fact, many, in attempting to do what I just described, have come to the conclusion that they either have to accept the whole thing, or regarded all as trash. 

Given what I have just written, if it at all changes your interest in these ancient writings, I can encourage you to earnestly consider reading it through entirely, perhaps for the first time, perhaps again. It is really a key way to learn to know Jesus and Creator God better.

- Lorne Brandt 2023 10 9