Untitled
close
Podcast Episode

How Do You Read the Bible?

Have you ever read the Bible and felt like you're not "getting it"? In this episode, Tim and Jon take a look at the (often unhelpful) paradigms through which we interact with Scripture. They explore how seeing the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus not only gives the Bible space to do what it was created to do, but frees us to be transformed by the story it’s telling.

Episode 1
1hr 5m
Sep 13, 2021
Play Episode
Show Notes
Episodes

QUOTE

“Do not murder” is formulated as a moral guideline in the Ten Commandments. Jesus himself quotes it but then also says there’s a lot more to it. He starts to give these case studies, examples about how anger and dishonoring people publicly, making fun of them, devaluing them, using belittling language—that these things themselves are akin to murder. Now, [was there] a rule anywhere of “Don’t ever make fun of somebody or belittle them?” This seems to be what Jesus is getting at. A rulebook tells you what to do. Wisdom literature is about forming certain kinds of people who need thin rulebooks because the spirit and core convictions that are expressed in different rules are written into their character.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • A paradigm is not something you actively think about, but a framework for understanding reality. The paradigm through which BibleProject approaches Scripture is that the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.
  • It’s all too easy to treat the Bible like a reference book, a resource for deriving theological truths, moral principles, or encouraging sentiments. While the Bible does provide those things, if we primarily interact with it as a reference book, we will miss the bigger story it’s telling.
  • Reference books only impart information. Wisdom literature like the Bible is designed to form certain kinds of people through convictions that become a part of their character.

Examining Our Paradigms

In part one (0:00-15:00), Tim and Jon kick off the first episode in our series exploring the paradigm through which we approach Scripture: the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.

A paradigm is not necessarily something you think about, but a framework for understanding reality. We use this set of expectations or ideas to make sense of our experiences, usually taking it for granted because we apply paradigms automatically. It can be difficult to objectively examine the paradigms we have operated within for a long time. The best way to do so is to increase our awareness of paradigms that differ from ours.

We all bring our own paradigms with us when we read and study the Bible. It’s important that we examine our paradigms and figure out which ones help us understand God’s Word and which ones do not.

Paradigm Shifts

In part two (15:00-27:00), Tim and Jon begin to evaluate various common (but unhelpful) paradigms through which we view the Bible.

Jon shares that he grew up with the impression that twenty minutes of daily Bible reading was crucial for followers of Jesus. He expected that God would speak to him in that amount of time, which left him feeling demoralized if his morning devotional didn’t provide a sense that God had shared something new with him or if he didn’t understand what he had read.

Jon had a paradigm shift when he realized that as long as he spent time reading the Bible, God would work through it to transform him—whether he understood everything he was reading or not. God was not a frustrated teacher waiting impatiently for him to “get it.”

BibleProject’s paradigm for understanding Scripture is our best attempt to adopt the paradigm, set of expectations and view of biblical literature that is in tune with what the Bible was created to accomplish.

The Bible Is Not a Theology Dictionary

In part three (27:00-39:00), the team explores the first of three unhelpful paradigms for studying the Bible.

All three paradigms share what Tim calls “a reference book mentality” in relating to the Bible. In other words, these paradigms treat the Bible like Wikipedia or a dictionary—a source that is only helpful when we have a question. We flip through reference books to find the information we need, rather than reading them cover to cover. While the Bible does address human needs and shape our conceptions of reality, if we read it like a reference book, we miss out on the story it’s telling.

The first of the reference book paradigms for the Bible says, “The Bible is a theology dictionary.” This paradigm treats the Bible like an expert resource on theological considerations: how to structure a church, how to deal with the problem of evil, how to understand Jesus’ humanity and deity, etc.

We utilize the Bible for this purpose when we practice the discipline of systematic theology, an area of study that seeks to express the beliefs that define the Christian faith and to compose faithful answers to issues the biblical authors don’t address. When this becomes the sole way we see and engage the Bible, we run the risk of missing other purposes intended by the biblical authors that don’t fit into a systematic category. The best systematic theologians first seek to understand passages of Scripture in their original context and then derive theological principles from that understanding.

The Bible Is Not a Moral Handbook

In part four (39:00-52:00), Tim and Jon discuss the second reference book paradigm, “The Bible is a moral handbook or rulebook.”

It’s not uncommon for people of influence to appeal to the Bible as the basis for their moral beliefs. That trains others who follow Jesus (and those who don’t) to see it primarily as a rulebook too.

Of course, deriving moral principles from the Bible is necessary—otherwise we would all arrive at our own moral preferences without any authority but our own. The Bible itself begins by raising the question, “Who gets to define what is good, humans or God?” But instead of only answering this and other moral questions with a set of rules, the Bible invites people into a dynamic process of aligning their ethics and character with God. For example, Jesus affirms the rule against murder and also teaches his disciples that there is a greater depth to it, that anger and hatred within a person’s heart are akin to murder (Matt. 5:21-22).

A rulebook tells people what to do and leaves it at that. Wisdom literature like the Bible is designed to form certain kinds of people who need fewer rules because the convictions expressed by those rules have become a part of their character.

The Bible Is Not a Devotional Grab Bag

In part five (52:00-end), Tim and Jon address the final reference book paradigm, “The Bible is a devotional grab bag.”

At best, this paradigm professes a (true) belief that the Bible exists to connect us to the presence of the living God. But it also focuses attention only on the “feel-good” sections of Scripture that leave us with a strong emotional sensation. In the process, the devotional grab bag paradigm ends up doing what the other reference book paradigms do—sidestepping the full story of the Bible.

All three of these reference book paradigms are aimed at uncovering something true: the Bible provides us with a framework, a paradigm, of what is good and beautiful. However, they miss that the Bible does so within the cultural framework of its authors.

While studying the Bible, we must consider how to faithfully appropriate the vision of the biblical story into our own cultural frameworks. As we allow ourselves to be formed by the unified story that leads to Jesus, we’ll find theological truths, moral principles, and real connection with God.

Referenced Resources

  • Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
  • A Greek-English Lexicon, Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, edited by Henry Stuart Jones

Show Music

  • “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
  • “Evil Needle” by Sound Escapes

Show produced by Cooper Peltz, Dan Gummel, and Zach McKinley. Show notes by Lindsey Ponder.

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

14 Episodes

Episode 14
Applying the Paradigm
How do we apply the biblical paradigm to our own Bible reading? It starts with reading the Bible in movements—the thematic patterns in which the biblical authors organized their ideas long before chapters and verse numbers were printed. In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa introduce us to biblical movements and walk through how to identify and trace biblical themes on our own.
58m • Dec 20, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 13
Is the Bible Trustworthy?
How do we teach the Bible to our children? How can a book written by humans be divinely authoritative? Is the Bible historically accurate? In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa wrap up the Paradigm series by responding to your questions!
1hr 9m • Dec 13, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 12
How (Not) To Read the Bible
What do we do with the passages in the Bible that are really difficult? Violence, slavery, the treatment of women—what the Bible has to say about these topics has, at times, been misinterpreted and misused. Join Tim, Jon, Carissa, and special guest Dan Kimball as they discuss his book, *How (Not) to Read the Bible*, and explore how any topic in the Bible looks different when we see it as part of a unified story.
57m • Dec 6, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 11
The Last Pillar: Communal Literature
Are there ways to read the Bible other than a private quiet time? For most of Church history, followers of Jesus read the Bible out loud in groups and passed along its message verbally. In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa talk about what it means for the Bible to be communal literature and how knowing that might just change the way we experience it today.
1hr 3m • Nov 29, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 10
What the Bible’s Authors Took for Granted
Have you ever figured out halfway through a conversation that you and another person were on totally different pages? Reading the Bible can feel like this at times. We’re all products of our cultures, families, and environments, and it affects how we understand others. In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa prepare us for a cross-cultural conversation with the Bible by discussing the cultural values of the biblical authors.
1hr 11m • Nov 22, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 9
The Bible Wasn’t Written in English
What makes the biblical languages so important? Because the Bible was written in another time and culture, we need to honor its ancient historical context and original languages as we read and study it. In this week’s podcast episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa explore why an awareness of the Bible’s culture—and our own—can help us be better interpreters of the Bible.
59m • Nov 15, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 8
Wisdom for Life’s Complexity
How can we know we are making the “right” choice in situations the Bible doesn’t address? In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa talk about the Bible as wisdom literature designed to reveal God’s wisdom to humanity—even for complex circumstances it doesn’t explicitly address.
1hr 2m • Nov 8, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 7
Inspiration, Quiet Time, and Slaying Your Giants
How were the books of the Bible selected? What should we do if we have a hard time reading the Bible? How does the Bible apply to daily life? In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa respond to your questions from the Paradigm series so far. Thanks to our audience for all your incredible questions!
1hr 19m • Nov 1, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 6
Literature for a Lifetime
What’s the ideal way to study the Bible? Is it 20 minutes of reading every morning or larger blocks of time throughout the week? In this episode, join Tim, Jon, and Carissa as they discuss what it means for the Bible to be ancient Jewish meditation literature. The biblical authors intended for it to be understood over the course of a lifetime of rereading, not in one sitting.
56m • Oct 18, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 5
Who Is the Bible About?
Is the story of the Bible about humans or God? Because the Bible is about the Messiah—the God who became human—it’s about both God and humans. In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa discuss how the story of the Bible and all of its main themes come to their fulfiillment in Jesus, making it a redemption story for all of us.
56m • Oct 11, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 4
How the New Testament Came To Be
At first glance, the New Testament can seem wildly different from the Old Testament—but is it? Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures and the climax of the story that began thousands of years before his birth. In this episode, join Tim, Jon, and Carissa as they explore the unity of the New Testament and the intricate yet consistent storyline of the Bible.
53m • Oct 4, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 3
The Bible Had Editors?
How can a collection of ancient manuscripts written by numerous people over thousands of years tell one unified story? In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Carissa dive into how the Bible was written and how such a diverse collection of authors, literary styles, and themes can form one divinely inspired, unified story.
59m • Sep 27, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 2
Who Wrote the Bible?
How does God work in the world and communicate with humanity? In this episode, Tim and Jon explore God’s relationship with his creation and the relationship between the Bible’s divine and human origins. They also discuss how God uses human words to communicate his divine word.
53m • Sep 20, 2021
Untitled
close
Episode 1
How Do You Read the Bible?
Have you ever read the Bible and felt like you're not "getting it"? In this episode, Tim and Jon take a look at the (often unhelpful) paradigms through which we interact with Scripture. They explore how seeing the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus not only gives the Bible space to do what it was created to do, but frees us to be transformed by the story it’s telling.
1hr 5m • Sep 13, 2021
Untitled
close
For advanced bible reading tools:
Login  or  Join
Which language would you like?