Interpreting Ancient Texts in the Face of New Discoveries

When reading our Bibles and entering into conversations with God's people of the past, it is important to ask some hard questions. Here are a few of the questions I ask of my Bible and my brothers and sisters who have gone before me:

 "What did this biblical text (this Sacred text) mean to them THEN- within their cultural context? What did they discern was God's 'Faith Message' to them THEN?" Our "THEN" questions must make allowances for these facts: -Saints of old possessed  limited knowledge of the world they lived in.    

We possess much more knowledge of the natural world then they ever could have imagined. Their specific questions and concerns were not necessarily our specific questions and concerns.
-Saints of old lived, thought, and believed within the constraints of a given culture and language (just as we do); this is the case with Old Testament saints who lived at a given time in the progression of God's unfolding revelation.    

Ancient theological reflections, conversations, and interpretations of sacred texts often give evidence on pressing issues and concerns that may or may not be exactly the issues and concerns of our life context. This is be expected. The world and culture change as History unfolds and more and more mysteries are uncovered. This implies that each new generation must engage in a meaningful conversation with God's sacred texts, saints who have gone before them, and the world they  inhabit. Often there is no need to start completely over, but to simply keep the conversation going. However, in same cases, there are no past paths to consider (specific thoughts on medical ethics might be an example). Each succeeding generation must do fresh theological work for their generation- for their NOW. )

I tweeted this last evening: "They were THEN; We are NOW. They can't tell us everything for living NOW. But God can. Look to God."

SIDE BAR: We must never lose sight of the fact that those who pre-date Jesus could not possibly have seen the fullness of what was coming of God's revelation through the incarnation. The incarnation (followed by Jesus' death upon the cross, his resurrection, and his sending of the Spirit together) represents a major 'game-changer' for the conversations of God's people. This is now a 'New Creation World'.  The beginning of God's Story as well as its entire future must be thoroughly informed by the singular reality of that Jesus has come. Additionally, we must never overlook the role of Jesus' Spirit in both mining and applying the Sacred texts to our life settings and concerns. Jesus himself said the Holy Spirit was given in part to guide God's people "into all truth." Thank God he is here to stay because every generation needs this Guide. He said,  "And I will be 'with you' until the end of the ages." We are told to look to the Spirit for the help we need in going forward- not simply those to who looked to him in past days.

If you are still with me- and I admit this is a bit of a 'brain dump'...

In the light of what we uncover from the questions above, we need to ask:
"What is God's Faith Message- embedded as it is in these sacred texts and this unique life setting- saying to us NOW- in our Time?"   

Remember, we do not rely upon human reason alone in our efforts to converse with scripture. We are to take in all of the resources God has given us in our time- the Holy Spirit's abiding presence to guide us and shape us (as said above); conversations with God's people from the past [N.T. Wright correctly emphasizes that we are wise to read scripture 'with tradition', but avoid reading scripture 'through' tradition]; conversations with our faith community today; the equipping work of God's gifted teachers; and, new truth wherever it is found- including the natural sciences, linguistics, history, etc.)

These are some the critical questions I think we must be asking as we occupy this little space and this short time in God's continuing story.  One person recently asked me: "Are we are not called to be 'guardians of the faith once for all delivered to the saints'?"  My response is an emphatic "Yes."

As a matter of fact, it is the desire to be "faithful" to the 'once for all delivered Faith' that leads one to consider questions like these in the first place. To be guardians of the Faith in no way compels one to embrace all the past interpretations of our Sacred texts. We are also called to carry forward this Faith to future followers of Jesus. Being a 'guardian of past interpretations' could have the effect of cutting off future conversations faithful followers might otherwise have with generation to come. Should we sacrifice future faith in order to endorse the weaknesses of past beloved saints? (Scot McKnight's Blue Parakeet has much more to say on this subject).

We can learn by observing bias at work in saints of old. Our biases are potentially just as influential. Though we lay claim to many matters we believe to be true and meaningful, we ought to remain humble and open to all new avenues of learning about ourselves, God's Word and God's World. We ought to routinely ask God (and one another) whether we are seeing as clearly as is possible for us- knowing "we see now through a glass dimly."

A final thought: As people of God, our "faith" must be secure in the person of Jesus Christ who is the revelation of God. We must remain free to ask hard questions of God's texts and God's people. We must be wholly willing to live with a measure of mystery and ever walk in humility about all things we hold dear.