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Ministers learn to read the Bible through the lenses of various methods of interpretation. The technical name for them is “criticisms,” which simply means different ways to evaluate the meaning of a text based on form, textual context, history, authorship, canonical function, and other variables. Essentially these are tools of interpretation that help ministers reach the best possible conclusion about the original meaning of a biblical passage. Because the methods and the people using them are different, conclusions are also often different. While similarities are always present, scholars and ministers sometimes disagree as to the overall meaning of a text. This is what makes study of the Bible interesting and humbling.
It occurs to me that a similar approach to faith is needed for Christians today. Despite the church’s efforts to state core Christian beliefs through creeds and doctrine and dogma, there has never been any widespread agreement about those beliefs. Theological diversity has always characterized the Christian community, a lesson apparently lost on many Christians. So they read the four gospels that are quite different in the story they tell about Jesus as if these differences don’t exist, or, if they do, don’t matter. That would be like saying no differences in belief exist between Protestants and Catholics, and, if they do, they don’t matter. They do exist, of course, and they do matter, but not enough to make us enemies or lead us to declare who is or is not a real Christian. Sadly, though, this is precisely how such differences have been used.
This kind of theological naivete that insists there is only one way to interpret the Bible or only one set of Christian beliefs that is true cannot be the foundation for a faith that is big enough for the world we live in. Thinking that all Christians are going to believe the same things almost guarantees conflict and schism. We must, instead, recognize the richness and efficacy of theological diversity. Christians of all stripes must find some common ground for discussing the differences that exist between us about issues that range from the nature of God to Jesus to the Bible to core beliefs. What that common ground is something I will write about in my next blog.
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