The Biblical Perspective
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Definitions Carry Luggage
Words in general are funny things; they carry with them luggage that may not have always been associated with their original meaning. In particular, a religious term like "Bible" has become loaded with meanings too numerous to itemize, infiltrating our American culture across all media platforms carrying both positive and negative connotations.
One area that more clearly reveals the popular definition of "Bible" in our culture is the book industry. Going on Amazon.com and inserting "Bible" after subjects like "cooking", "fishing", "writing", "cars", "taxes" or "drinking" yields an interesting array of results that share two common themes: They are either how-to manuals or information-heavy dictionaries pertaining to their respective subjects. This usage is consistent with one of the definitions Merriam-Webster online gives it outside of its religious meaning, "a publication that is preeminent especially in authoritativeness or wide readership".
The problem with this understanding of a "Bible" as a how-to book or dictionary is that it is inadequate when attempting to define the true nature of the Christian Bible. Translated from its Greek and Latin roots, "bible" simply means "books". These books, called "The Word of God" or "Holy Scriptures" by Christians, are a collection of divinely inspired human writings including historical records, poems, narrative accounts, wise sayings, personal letters, and yes, even supernatural prophecies of God delivered by human messengers. The diversity of authors, cultural backgrounds, and time periods of writing are so remarkable that seeing it as a how-to book or a dictionary oversimplifies this Judeo-Christian religious anthology, reducing it to only an interesting copyrighted publication good for a birthday or Christmas gift.
The Right Frame for the Canvas
The Christian Bible indeed has rules, laws, principles, religion, revelation, holiness, Jesus red letters, leather binding, gold-dipped pages, and a publication date, but what it contains above all these things, what truly binds it together, is the grand narrative it tells. The Bible is a story. It narrates the history of the world from the perspective of people who were interrupted by an intensely loving and powerful God who created the universe out of love, to suffer the pain of brokenness and evil out of love, and who decided to repair and buy back a devastated humanity, all out of his intense and persistent love.
In truth, one could say that it is actually God's story, that he holds the intellectual property rights to it and is continuing to reveal it, page by page, magnificently allowing his created characters to have an immensely prominent and important role of choosing to love this God in return for how far he goes to prove his compassion: Jesus dying a brutal death on an ancient Roman torturing device.
In this story of God, death is not the end, and pain is not the way it was meant to be. In this story of God, injustice will cease, and his perfect love will flourish. In this story of God, the beauty of his created world will be restored one day, finding the symbiotic harmony that it had at the beginning. In this story of God, "you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope" (Tim Keller).
Have you considered this? Will you if you haven't? Sometimes all it takes to understand something more clearly is the right perspective.
Words in general are funny things; they carry with them luggage that may not have always been associated with their original meaning. In particular, a religious term like "Bible" has become loaded with meanings too numerous to itemize, infiltrating our American culture across all media platforms carrying both positive and negative connotations.
One area that more clearly reveals the popular definition of "Bible" in our culture is the book industry. Going on Amazon.com and inserting "Bible" after subjects like "cooking", "fishing", "writing", "cars", "taxes" or "drinking" yields an interesting array of results that share two common themes: They are either how-to manuals or information-heavy dictionaries pertaining to their respective subjects. This usage is consistent with one of the definitions Merriam-Webster online gives it outside of its religious meaning, "a publication that is preeminent especially in authoritativeness or wide readership".
The problem with this understanding of a "Bible" as a how-to book or dictionary is that it is inadequate when attempting to define the true nature of the Christian Bible. Translated from its Greek and Latin roots, "bible" simply means "books". These books, called "The Word of God" or "Holy Scriptures" by Christians, are a collection of divinely inspired human writings including historical records, poems, narrative accounts, wise sayings, personal letters, and yes, even supernatural prophecies of God delivered by human messengers. The diversity of authors, cultural backgrounds, and time periods of writing are so remarkable that seeing it as a how-to book or a dictionary oversimplifies this Judeo-Christian religious anthology, reducing it to only an interesting copyrighted publication good for a birthday or Christmas gift.
The Right Frame for the Canvas
The Christian Bible indeed has rules, laws, principles, religion, revelation, holiness, Jesus red letters, leather binding, gold-dipped pages, and a publication date, but what it contains above all these things, what truly binds it together, is the grand narrative it tells. The Bible is a story. It narrates the history of the world from the perspective of people who were interrupted by an intensely loving and powerful God who created the universe out of love, to suffer the pain of brokenness and evil out of love, and who decided to repair and buy back a devastated humanity, all out of his intense and persistent love.
In truth, one could say that it is actually God's story, that he holds the intellectual property rights to it and is continuing to reveal it, page by page, magnificently allowing his created characters to have an immensely prominent and important role of choosing to love this God in return for how far he goes to prove his compassion: Jesus dying a brutal death on an ancient Roman torturing device.
In this story of God, death is not the end, and pain is not the way it was meant to be. In this story of God, injustice will cease, and his perfect love will flourish. In this story of God, the beauty of his created world will be restored one day, finding the symbiotic harmony that it had at the beginning. In this story of God, "you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope" (Tim Keller).
Have you considered this? Will you if you haven't? Sometimes all it takes to understand something more clearly is the right perspective.
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