The dangers of not knowing the Bible

Why should we care about the Bible? Why should we take the time to study it? After all, it is not the easiest thing to read or to understand. It was written centuries ago and in an entirely different culture.

So why bother?

The answer is so simple and obvious that it is easy to overlook it, even by people of faith.

Here is the simple truth: for the past 2000 years there has been nothing more central or more important for the Christian faith than the Bible. Nothing.

From the very beginning our faith was grounded in the scriptures of the Jewish faith and in Jesus as the fulfillment of those scriptures. This belief gave birth to our faith. The first generations of Christians, like Paul and the gospel writers, added the story of Jesus and his significance. These writings became the scriptures of the New Testament.

Together the Jewish scriptures of the Old Testament and the writings of the New Testament have formed the Christian Bible. Ever since, whatever Christians have disagreed on, the one thing they have consistently agreed on is that the scriptures are the foundation and touchstone of our faith.

Nothing is more central or important. The Bible contains the great narrative of how God has been at work in our world and in human history, how that comes to a climax in the story of Jesus of Nazareth and of what this means for us. This narrative unifies the Bible and holds it together.

The Bible is also the source for the basic beliefs of our faith. It is to the scriptures that we turn to understand who God is, who we are as God’s children, and what it is that God desires of us. On any real issue of faith, the question is ‘is it biblical?’

In the United Methodist tradition we affirm this when we say that the Bible is the ‘primary’ source of faith and practice, of what we believe, and how we are called to live our lives in the world.

But here is the sad truth: many in the faith, while affirming the importance of the Bible, have not taken the time to really read or study the Bible, and as a result they do not know the Biblical story or that the Bible contains. Across the centuries many have literally laid down their lives that we can have the scriptures, have them in a language we can understand, and have the freedom and ability to read them for ourselves.

If we want to know what it means to be Christian, what it means to have faith, what is really significant in life, nothing can take the place of the Bible.

In the world we live in, we know that illiteracy is tragic and limiting. And it is dangerous. Literacy literally opens worlds up for us. It creates now possibilities. It is the path to a rich and fulfilling life. That is why we place such a high priority on literacy in our culture.

Biblical illiteracy is equally tragic and dangerous. For one thing, not knowing the Bible, its stories and its content, makes us easy prey for those who would distort the Bible for their own ends.

Not knowing the Bible is tragic in that it deprives us of the richness that the Bible can provide. The sad truth is that those who do not know the bible, who have not taken the time to read and study it, do not even know what they are missing, the riches that could be theirs, if only…

On the flip side, one thing that has been consistently true is that vital faith draws its life from the scriptures. We speak of Bible as being inspired or ‘God breathed’ – that something of God is found there. We speak of the Bible as being ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’ for a reason.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says ‘I have come that you might have life and have it in full’. Across the ages countless Christians have found this to be true. The Bible – its story and its stories, its great truth, its guidance for live – have been the source for Christian life.

Biblical literacy makes a difference. Across the ages countless people have discovered that it can be the greatest treasure of life.

So, here is the question: do we really know the scriptures?

Do we know the grand narrative that holds the Bible together? Do you know the stories, the characters and the truths that are to be found in the Bible? Do we know the guidance for life that in found there?

In short, are we biblically literate, or illiterate?

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