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Podcast Episode

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.

Episode 12
57m
Dec 6, 2021
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Show Notes
Episodes

QUOTE

The Church, in general, has been really great at pulling Bible verses out, memorizing them, putting them on coffee cups and different things like that. But often, using Bible verses like that can lead to a lot of confusion about where a verse is from, where it is in the storyline, and we end up unintentionally misusing the Bible. But what’s happening now is a lot of people who are anti-Bible are guilty of the same thing. They are pulling Bible verses out of the grand story and then pointing them back at Christians. And if Christians aren’t ready to respond, if they don’t know the Scriptures, they’re getting very confused.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Cherry-picking Bible verses is a problem no matter where you’re coming from. When Christians take singular Bible verses out of context, we miss their place in the storyline of the Bible and, therefore, misunderstand their significance and meaning. However, many people who seek to undermine the authority of the Bible do the same thing: pick out verses to make a point and ignore their context in the story of the Bible.
  • If a line in a story or a portion of a passage strikes us as odd, we have to ask, “Where does it fit into the whole story? What does the rest of the story say about this?”
  • Just because portions of the Bible make allowances for human corruption doesn’t mean God invented that corruption. God always works with humans where they’re at, but he pushes them in a redemptive direction toward the ideal for which he created them.

The Bible’s Most Difficult Passages

In part one (00:00-15:20), Tim, Jon, and Carissa interview pastor and professor Dan Kimball about his book, How (Not) to Read the Bible, in which he addresses multiple hot-button questions asked by Christians and those exploring the Christian faith. Dan employs tools for reading and understanding the Bible (especially its more “difficult” passages) that pair closely with the paradigm we’ve been exploring throughout this series.

In the Paradigm series, we’ve been working on exposing our own assumptions about the Bible and tuning into the assumptions of the biblical authors so that we might understand the Bible on its own terms.

Dan explains that the impetus for How (Not) to Read the Bible was years of conversations with people who were leaving the Christian faith because of what they had read in the Bible about women, violence, slavery, sexuality, etc. He believes part of what causes this trend is a tendency within Western churches to teach from the Bible without teaching people what the Bible is and how to read it effectively. Dan remains convinced that if we truly understand the Bible, it is the most convincing argument for becoming a disciple of Jesus—not the other way around.

The Bible Was Written for Us, Not to Us

In part two (15:20-26:40), Tim, Jon, Carissa, and Dan discuss a concept from How (Not) to Read the Bible: the tendency to memorize and lionize singular verses of the Bible. Dan suggests that this practice is, in a way, misusing the Bible.

When Christians take singular Bible verses out of context, we miss their place in the storyline of the Bible and, therefore, misunderstand their significance and meaning. However, many people who seek to undermine the authority of the Bible do the very same thing: cherry-pick verses to make a point, ignoring their context in the story of the Bible. What’s worse is these problems tend to compound each other. If followers of Jesus aren’t familiar with their Bibles as a unified whole (in other words, if they only know singular verses), then when arguments against the Bible arise, we won’t know how to respond, and we may end up confused ourselves.

When it comes to interpreting ancient laws as modern readers in a totally different context, we must remember the Bible was written for us but not to us. The Levitical laws, for instance, carried specific instructions that would make Israel distinct among the ancient peoples who lived nearby, but to modern readers, they sound bizarre.

Dan shares four key ideas for how not to read the Bible.

  • The Bible is a library, not a book.
  • The Bible was written for us, not to us.
  • Never read a Bible verse.
  • The Bible is a unified story that points to Jesus.

What Does the Bible Say About Women?

In part three (26:40-44:00), Tim, Jon, Carissa, and Dan talk about the third chapter in How (Not) to Read the Bible, “Boys’ Club Christianity: Is the Bible Anti-Women and Does it Promote Misogyny?”

This topic is frequently debated among followers of Jesus, and Dan believes it is debated by doing what he already cautioned against: appealing to a single passage by lifting it out of its context within the Bible and within the ancient culture of the biblical authors.

The Bible contains a number of stories in which women are demeaned and mistreated, and some of Paul’s epistles contain instructions for women to be silent in church (1 Corinthians 14:34-35, 1 Timothy 2:11-15). Dan argues that to take those passages and derive from them the principle that women are always meant to be silent and never lead within the Church is reading the Bible incorrectly and forgetting that it’s a unified whole.

So how does Dan answer or interpret these passages? Is there a way forward through these questions that honors the entirety of the biblical text? Dan suggests we read these passages like we read anything else in the Bible—as a unified story. If a line in a story strikes us as odd, we have to ask, “Where does it fit into the whole story? What does the rest of the story say about this?”

Throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, God raises up women to lead and prophesy and teach, and those passages must be considered alongside Paul’s instructions. What do these seemingly contradictory passages communicate to us within the whole story of the Bible? Dan argues that just as God didn’t invent slavery, he also didn’t invent misogyny. He believes God writes to his people where they are, to help correct them, but he creates humans with the intelligence and wisdom to deconstruct their own oppressive ideas and treat each other as the equals they were created to be. God works with humans, pushing them in a redemptive direction toward the ideal for which he created them.

Trusting God’s Character

In part four (44:00-57:14), the team wraps up the conversation by discussing the tension readers of the Bible sometimes feel about science and the Bible, Christianity’s relationship to other religions, and divine violence in the Old Testament.

When it comes to the Bible and science, Dan reminds us it’s helpful to remember early writers and readers of the Bible asked totally different questions about the cosmos than we would today, so the Bible’s not really designed to answer scientific questions. This gives us a lot of freedom to both embrace biblical creation and take into consideration the testimonies of scientific data.

While it’s true that the God of the Bible is exclusive in the way he reveals himself and commands that he be worshiped, when you read the Bible as a unified story, it’s clear that God has always been on a mission for all people. And all people have the freedom to respond to him or not.

Divine violence is a difficult topic, to say the least. Dan suggests that it can be helpful to notice that God’s violent acts are never petty, random, or without reason. The authors of the Bible had a deep reverence for God as the author of life and, therefore, as the one who can give it and take it away. However, God takes life only as a last resort. This is why it is imperative that we know the entire story of the Bible. The biblical story as a whole paints God as a loving, merciful, and patient God. So when we read stories of him carrying out judgment violently, we can trust his character even in these moments that are difficult for us to wrap our minds around.

Referenced Resources

  • How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery, and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture, Dan Kimball
  • Gregory Koukl
  • John H. Walton
  • Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
  • A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Karen Armstrong
  • Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.

Show Music

  • “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
  • “Cycles” by SwuM

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

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Scripture References
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Psalms 137:9

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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