In
our A-Z this month we are going to look at the sacred writings of the
Christian Faith known as the Scriptures or the Holy Bible. We now generally
read the scriptures from the format of a book, scrolls are not so common now!
But having it all together like any book can make us forget that the
Scriptures are actually a collection of writings, from different times and in
different styles. The Bible is not so much one book as a library of different
writings. There is some history, lots of poetry, some myth, some folk tales,
proverbs, hymns, and quite a few letters. So when we read the Bible we need to
remember what sort of literature we are reading, we cannot treat it all in
exactly the same way.
It
was the early Church which collected the various writings and decided on what
should be in the Bible. The list of books regarded as Scripture is called the
Canon of Scripture. Most choices were obvious, some were not.
The
scriptures are divided into three parts. First, there is the Old Testament
(the Jewish Bible, written below as OT), also known as the Hebrew Scriptures.
Mostly these were written in the Hebrew language. We share these writings with
people of the Jewish faith. Second, there is the Apocrypha, which is a latter
collection of Jewish books written in Greek. The Church of England does not
treat the Apocrypha as important as the other parts of the Bible. Finally,
there is the New Testament (written below as NT). These are the uniquely
Christian scriptures and they were written, in Greek, during the first and
second centuries.
The Old Testament.
For Christians the OT has two main uses. It does contain some wonderful
religious and moral teaching, good for its own sake. And it was the bible of
Jesus and the early Church and so we must know something of it to understand
what they said.
It
is an incredible complex collection of writings covering centuries of history
and reflection. But there are two things which can help us to understand it.
First, we can try to have an overview of the history, like in the table above.
Second, there are also some important themes or ideas which run through the
OT. So as we read we can ask ourselves, is this passage related to the themes
of Covenant, Law, Temple, Prophets, or something else.
Covenant
is the word used to describe the special relationship between God and his
people. The Jewish people believed that God, the creator of everything had
chosen the Hebrews to be his people above all others. They traced his special
relationship with God all the way back to Abraham.
It
was because of the covenant that God acted to rescue the Hebrew people from
Egypt. This brings us to the second main theme, that of Jewish Law or
Torah. After God had brought out the Hebrews from Egypt, God gave them the Law
through Moses. This was to be the way the Hebrew people responded to God’s
unique and loving relationship to them, their part of the covenant. God had
rescued them and would give them the promised land, in return the Hebrews
would obey his law. The most famous part of the law is the Ten Commandments.
Some
people thought that God would continue to bless and favour his people, because
of the covenant, regardless of obeying the law. This view became associated
with the Temple at Jerusalem. The Temple was the most holy place in the
world, the unique dwelling place of God on earth, and where the sacrifices
prescribed by the Law were made. Many thought that it would always be safe and
God would always protect it.
A
different view to the Temple view was that of the Prophets and their
tradition. The prophets, like Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah etc, called the Jewish
people back to faithfulness to God. They said that the people should only
worship the one God, Yahweh, and they should offer justice and mercy to all.
Many of the prophets warned the people that if they were not faithful,
if they did not keep the Law, then God would abandon his covenant with them.
New Testament.
Just
as the Bible itself can be divided into three sections so the New Testament
can be divided into three types of literature:
The
Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
Although these writings come at the start of the NT they were not the first to
be written (the letters of Paul were first), but they are the most important
as they give us stories of Jesus’ life and some of his teaching. They each
show a similar picture of Jesus but with different emphases. Mark, Matthew and
Luke are closely related – in some places the same, word for word
- and are known as the synoptic gospels. Many scholars believe that
Mark’s gospel was the first to be written down and that Matthew and Luke had
a copy of it when they wrote their own gospels. John stands apart from the
other gospels in style and some content. The Acts of the Apostles is the story
of the early church as told by Luke and it is a continuation of his gospel.
For Luke, the Ascension of is the pivot around which the life of Jesus and the
life of the early church are hinged.
The
Letters. The letters contain
the earliest writings in the New Testament. They give is a glimpse of the life
of the early church, and show it had its fair share of controversy like the
church today. Mostly the letters,
or epistles, were written by Saint Paul. They are important because they give
us the direct teaching of an apostle (St. Paul) and also other significant
early Christian leaders. But, they are letters, written to specific people in
a specific time, and so need to be read carefully and interpreted for our time
and culture.
The Book of Revelation.
This is an
imaginative work of prophesy which draws heavily upon poetic, metaphorical,
and religious imagery. It is not a literal description of the end of the world
and should not be treated as such.
How
do we read the Bible?
Unlike
most books there are many different ways we can read the Bible.
To begin with we read it in Church. Most probably, this is how it was
intended to be used. In the ancient world most people could not read and so
trained readers would read it out to people.
We
can study the Bible. There are lots of books written to help explain the
scriptures, but often daily-study notes can be most helpful. These can help
explain some of the background to a particular passage to aid our
understanding. We can read the Bible devotional or prayerfully. One type of
prayer involves reading a passage and then, imagining yourself in the story.
Or you can take a short passage, just one verse, and use it as a short prayer
to repeat during the day.
We
read the scriptures on our own or with others. But however we approach the
scriptures, we should do so regularly.
Finally,
the Church of England has long understood that the Scriptures have authority
to help us live the Christian life. However, they are not the sole authority.
God has given us the ability to think and question and so we should use our
intellect or reason when we look at the scriptures. Also, the Church has many
traditions outside the Bible. These also can help us to live out our baptismal
vows and be obedient to Christ. We
look to all
three, scripture, tradition, and reason, when making decisions about our
Christian faith and life.