Wk 4: Let’s (Re)Consider How We Use Scripture

The Skeptic Framework > Scripture

For some of us, the stories in scripture are one of our earliest touchpoints with religion. If you were raised as a Christian or a Jew (or maybe even a Muslim), chances are good you heard the story of Noah's Ark before you could say "two by two.''

From there, our experiences diverged. Not just in terms of later stories, but also in terms of whether we were taught to take the stories literally or metaphorically.

Nearly all faiths incorporate spiritual texts in their belief systems. It’s a convenient way to keep track of a faith’s central tenets.

But what I encourage you to consider this week is how we use scripture, plus the relative importance of scripture to your personal spiritual development.

This May Be a Breath of Fresh Air for You

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a member of Community of Christ (CoC). One of the uniquities of this denomination is that we periodically canonize divine guidance in a book called the Doctrine and Covenants. (Note that this is a partially, yet substantially, different version of the book of the same name used by the LDS church.)

In 2007, CoC canonized some recent guidance about scripture (D&C 163:7). Unless you’re a member of CoC, I’m guessing this will be new to you. I’d like to share it here:

7 a. Scripture is an indispensable witness to the Eternal Source of light and truth, which cannot be fully contained in any finite vessel or language. Scripture has been written and shaped by human authors through experiences of revelation and ongoing inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the midst of time and culture.

b. Scripture is not to be worshiped or idolized. Only God, the Eternal One of whom scripture testifies, is worthy of worship. God’s nature, as revealed in Jesus Christ and affirmed by the Holy Spirit, provides the ultimate standard by which any portion of scripture should be interpreted and applied.

c. It is not pleasing to God when any passage of scripture is used to diminish or oppress races, genders, or classes of human beings. Much physical and emotional violence has been done to some of God’s beloved children through the misuse of scripture. The church is called to confess and repent of such attitudes and practices.

d. Scripture, prophetic guidance, knowledge, and discernment in the faith community must walk hand in hand to reveal the true will of God. Follow this pathway, which is the way of the Living Christ, and you will discover more than sufficient light for the journey ahead.

Just let that sit with you awhile…

I’m going to let that guidance speak for itself. But now you know my perspective. For the rest of this article, I’m going to share some of my personal experience with scripture. Each experience ends in a prompt to help you consider your own experiences.

Reading Cover-to-Cover

It took me six tries, over the course of many years, before I made it through the Old Testament (aka Hebrew Scriptures).

• I kept starting at the beginning (the book of Genesis).

• I’d read a little every night. Like a chapter or two.

• Every time, I'd fall asleep in the desert (somewhere in the second book: Exodus).

I couldn't get through the language (even modern translations). It wasn't until I tried a paraphrased version (The Message) that I made it all the way through. At the age of 50.

PROMPT #13: Describe your experience with reading (or trying to read) scripture. Reflect on how your cultural/religious background has shaped your understanding of scripture or your desire to read it.

Sunday School ≠ Bible Study

My religious training growing up was more out-of-the-ordinary than even my upbringing in a Restoration faith (CoC) might suggest.

• In preschool through third grade, we studied Bible stories (like you’d find in any mainline Protestant church).

• In fourth through sixth grade, we studied the stories in the Book of Mormon. (My dad was the teacher.)

• In seventh through twelfth grade, I can’t remember what we studied. It wasn’t scripture, per se, I’m sure of that. I remember spending at least as much time on socializing as we did on our Sunday School text.

• During college (in my hometown), I was put into the adult class. They were studying a book on small group theory. Huh?

• I would guess my adult Sunday School years have been spent studying discipleship about 95% of the time, with 5% spent studying actual scripture.

I had an epiphany in my late 20s about the value of scripture. My friend Doris (whom I met in my dad’s Sunday School class) made some comment about how a particular Book of Mormon verse had an impact on her life.

“Wait. What? This is supposed to mean something for our lives?” was the gist of my incredulous response. Until that point, scripture was mostly just a bunch of stories and do-not rules. The idea that we should be able to apply any scripture to our daily living opened a whole new world.

PROMPT #14: Write a short story where your younger self encounters a pivotal moment in religious education. How does this experience guide them toward a deeper understanding of spirituality?

My Scripture Library

The Spirit has led me to read a number of scriptures over the years. The last two I just want to read for my own information.

• New Testament of the Bible (NRSV version).

• Old Testament aka Hebrew scriptures (MSG version).

• Book of Mormon (RLDS 1966 Revised version).

• Doctrine and Covenants (Community of Christ version, 2016 edition).

• The Holy Qu’ran (Mohd. M. Pickthall translation).

• Bhagavad-gita As It Is (Krishna edition). I started this a couple of times, but got bogged down in all the explanatory footnotes. Maybe I’ll try another version without footnotes, just to get the story.

• I have a Kindle version of the Tao but haven’t started it yet.

Reading many scriptures is a good way to gain understanding of other faiths and to discover the commonalities.

PROMPT #15: Envision a future where you continue to explore scriptures outside your childhood faith. What texts or traditions are you curious about, and how might they deepen your spiritual development?

Defending the Faith

I sat in the middle school principal’s office being grilled.

• Our family was moving from Pittsburgh PA to Greenville SC.

• We were considering a private Baptist-affiliated school for our sons.

• The principal asked me what church we attended.

• Upon hearing my answer, she immediately launched into a tirade against the Book of Mormon.

• “Have you actually read it?” I asked politely.

• “Well, no. But I have a copy,” she volunteered. As if that made a difference.

• I suggested she might want to read it before she judged it.

A week later, I received a letter denying admission to my children. Like I’d send them there after that interview.

PROMPT #16: Think about a time when you confronted judgment or misunderstanding. What actions did you take to educate others, and what were the outcomes?

The Literal vs Metaphorical Continuum

Professor H drew a long horizontal line on the whiteboard.

• On the left end, he wrote “Literal”

• On the right end, he wrote “Metaphorical”

• He put an “X” in the middle

His point was this:

Some people read scripture literally. The Earth was literally created in six days (Genesis 1). A donkey literally spoke (Numbers 22:22-35).

Others read everything metaphorically. Nothing that can’t be proven historically can be taken as historical fact.

For most U.S. Bible readers (58% in 2022), “X” marks the spot of their belief—somewhere in the middle.

• This has always been true for me, except for a very minor blip toward literalism in college.

• This has been mostly true for Christians over the centuries, at least up until the late 1800s.

A friend of mine says “the Bible is true, and some of it actually happened.”

PROMPT #17: Share a personal experience that made you reconsider how you interpret scripture. What lessons did you learn from this moment that influenced your approach?

Here’s What I Learned as a Boy Scout Volunteer

The Scouting program is built on this philosophy: the best way to really learn something is to teach it to someone else.

This has certainly been true in my experience with scripture study.

• Didn’t learn much in church beyond stories.

• Read scriptures cover-to-cover on my own, but mostly just to find out what’s in there.

Plus, I participated in actual small-group Bible studies a few times here and there (outside of my church family). What I learned was how deficient my scriptural upbringing had been.

I didn’t really start to learn scripture until I began to teach it.

• I taught Sunday School classes my kids attended, starting with pre-school.

• Once I was ordained (in 1999), I began preparing sermons several times a year.

• I wrote a manuscript about Christian discipleship in 2009. In the process, I (finally) learned chapter and verse of my favorite scriptures.

The more I write or teach, the more I learn.

PROMPT #18: Envision how you might like to teach scripture in the future. How would you change your approach from what you have experienced in the past, as a student or as a teacher?

What’s Next?

If this is your first week reading my Phoenix Your Faith series, you might want to go back and pick up the earlier material:

Start Here: A Guide to Phoenix Your Faith

As always, I invite you to journal your answers to the daily prompts. To help you remember, I’ll be posting the prompts in Notes.

I’d love to see what you’ve written. If you prefer, feel free to DM me or post in the chat thread.

If you know someone who can benefit from this post, please share.

Happy journaling!