Being Read by the Bible

I have lost track of how many times I have read the Bible cover-to-cover. I have a dog-eared, underlined, tattered, repaired and rebound Bible to prove it.

During my first fulltime ministry position, there was a retired minister in the community who led a “Through the Bible in a Year” group, which I attended. I adopted his reading schedule and continued using it for many years. It included a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament and Psalms for each day of the year. Later I tried other Bible reading regimens.  

The problem with all those approaches was that they are all self-centered. Their weakness lay in the one doing the reading. It was always me reading the Bible. Whenever I read the Bible, there I was. However often I read the Bible, the “I” was always the one reading it. And I was always messing things up.  

Only when the “I” drops away does this pattern change. Then we can see the problem with all Bible study regimens. They all read scripture through the lens of the self. They do not challenge the authority of the mind and the intellectual systems created by the mind. They submit the Word of God to the tyranny of human tradition.  

Even faiths that insist on the sole authority of scripture are really in bondage to the authority of religious tradition. What is Scripture but a term for unquestioned religious tradition?  

Scriptures are written by the church, collected by the church, and canonized by the church. The Bible is a product of the church. The veneration of scripture is just a clever way for the human ego to remain in control while pretending to submit to God.   

When we read the Bible, we come with a certain religious perspective, and we read that perspective into the Bible. We do not see what the Bible really says. We read it as we think it is. We bring our beliefs and values to the Bible and unsurprisingly find our beliefs and values confirmed in the Bible. That is why there are so many interpretations of the Bible. We read the Bible through rose-colored glasses and never wonder why everything looks rosy.  

A less selfish approach is needed. Instead of reading the Bible, the Bible now reads me. The Letter to the Hebrews says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The divine Word of God is the active agent, not the human reader. 

In interpreting that verse, people assume that the phrase “Word of God” means our Bible. We forget that the Christian Bible did not exist when those words were written. The Word of God is not the Bible; it is older than the Bible.  Even the word “scriptures” as used in the Bible does not mean our Christian Bible. It simply means “writings.” The Biblical canon was not collected and canonized until centuries after the writings were written.  

The “Word of God” is a phrase used in the Bible to describe divine inspiration and communication. The prophets said, “The Word of the Lord came to me saying ....” It is not too bold to say that the phrase “Word of God” is a synonym (or more accurately a metonym) for God. The Gospel of John says. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  

The Word of God existed before humans ever uttered a word. The Word of God brought the universe into existence. Everything came into existence through the Word, as John says. The Word of God can speak through human words in holy scripture, but it is not exclusively identified with scripture. Neither is it identified with any one religious tradition.  

When we hear the living Word of God, we recognize it as the same Divine Word that speaks us into existence. When we read scripture, the Word of God reads us and not the other way around. It is no longer I who read, but the Word who reads in me, to paraphrase the apostle Paul. 

When we are read by the Word we cease to be ourselves. We become one with the Word that was from the beginning.

This Word is heard in the voice of creation. Science is its language, just as certainly as Greek or Hebrew are the languages of scripture. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” There is no conflict between scientific truth and spiritual truth. 

The Word of God was present before creation and will be present after creation returns to its Source. The Word of God is here now. It is the Kingdom of Heaven proclaimed by Jesus. This is the Word of God heard in the Bible. This is the Word of God that reads me. It is amazing what the Word of God says when we get out of the way!