It is hard for me to estimate how many times I have read the Bible, certainly some portions I have read many, many times - but as for some of those parts that don't show up in the Lectionary or in your typical Bible Studies - even those I have encountered at least a few times because I have intentionally read through the entire Bible (yes, that means every verse) at least a couple of times in the past. So what can I say after all that Bible reading?
The Bible is a collection of ancient writings that produce a wide range of emotion in me. One moment I can be smiling with a deep sense of joy and wonder, then the next moment I can be getting downright angry or frustrated. These ancient writings have the ability to stir up within me a wide diversity of reactions - sort of like people have the ability to do. This shouldn't be too surprising since these books were written by all kinds of people, some of whom I probably wouldn't have enjoyed hanging out with. What is surprising is how these writings from centuries ago continue to reveal new nuggets of truth and beauty, even after a multitude of readings.
I don't like how the Bible has been treated by some Christians - as a document dictated word for word by God to ancient scribes, thus leaving no room for interpretation. Everything is black and white to these people. While the words may be literally black and white on the page, the people who wrote these words were many shaded and complex - so were their writings. While I do understand the desire to have guidelines for our lives set out simply and clearly, the Bible does not give us that simplicity. The only command Jesus gave his followers requires interpretation: How exactly should we love others? What does that look like? What is the most loving thing to do in any circumstance? Interpretation is the hard and sometimes dangerous work of Bible reading.
There is another type of reading that requires interpretation, music reading. I have grown up with the ambiguity that exists within musical interpretation. The composer can have written down notes of certain time values and pitch, but there is still a lot of interpretation required (which notes get emphasized over the others, which notes should be detached from the others, which ones connected, and so forth). In music one always has to consider the bigger picture: "How does this musical bit fit within the work as a whole?" Depending on how one interprets the notes on a page, the musical performance can be dramatically different from other readings. Yet even in this case, each dramatically different musical reading can reveal something of value in the composition.
In a similar fashion, the way I understood certain passages in the Bible when I was a young man, compared with how I understand them now can reveal a difference in interpretation. Yet there was almost always something of value discovered at each stage in this process. Perhaps how I understood a particular passage in my younger years was what I needed to be challenged by or comforted with in those days. Now at a different stage in my life I'm hearing new nuances in the scriptures that come not just from a broader understanding of the Biblical content, but also a larger, more experienced understanding of life.
Last fall we began using the Disciple Bible Study program at Christ Lutheran Church, an intensive course that not only meets for 2 and a half hours weekly, but also requires the participants to read a substantial portion of the Bible throughout the week. The first year of this program is an overview of the Bible and when the participants have finished the 34 week study they will have read about 70% of the entire Bible. When working through this course over the past months I discovered that I was continually being surprised and challenged by what I was reading. The margins of the Bible I am currently using are now filled with comments and questions, much like the Bible I used in my University and Seminary days. (For those who are interested, I am currently using the Lutheran Study Bible - the New Revised Standard Version published by Augsburg Fortress. The Bible I used in my student days was The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha - Revised Standard Version published by Oxford University Press - both are pictured above.) When I compare those comments and questions I have written in the margins I see that some are similar, but most are different. During the Disciple Bible Study this past year seldom did I find myself saying "I know this part well enough already", rather I was amazed by how I was still finding insights and layers of meaning I don't remember noticing before.
As well this past year found me saying at times "Why is this part in here?" and grappling with parts of the Bible that come across as out of touch with the world I know - rules and rituals that seem completely irrelevant, violence and hatred that seems inexcusable, advice and observations that seems out of touch with my experience and the world I live in. These are the parts that make me frustrated and even angry. These are the parts that are often used to justify bigotry and arrogance. For example while I think I understand the reason the Apostle Paul tolerated the system of slavery in his writings, that no longer fits with my understanding of the bigger picture - of God's intentions for our world. When I think of Jesus' command, slavery does not equate with loving others and sometimes I wish Paul had connected those dots.
In the end I can say that reading the Bible has never become boring for me, even after all these years. I certainly don't claim to understand everything I read in that collection of books, but I will claim that I often find something worth pondering. I look forward to further reading in the coming years.
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