Course: How to Study Your Bible Part 1b

This course is presented by Dr. Mark Strauss. The following is my transcription of his lecture with minimal edits to make the text flow better for reading. You can download the lecture directly here (mp3) or go to the download page to download all nine lessons here.

INTRODUCTION

Lecture 2: The Nature of the Bible: Unity and Diversity

The best way to understand the nature of the Bible is unity and diversity. Together, these two terms really help us to understand what the Bible is and how we ought to approach it.

Diversity

By diversity, we mean that the Bible is a diverse collection of literary works.

Kinds of Diversity

1. Diversity of Time - The Bible is written over a long period of time, something like 1500 years.
2. Diversity of Authors - We have authors from all walks of life in the Bible. We have fishermen, tent makers, priests, prophets, kings, a whole range of different occupations and different backgrounds from different cultures in different contexts
3. Diversity of Cultures
4. Diversity of Languages - The Bible was written in two main languages. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek. There is a smattering of Aramaic, both in the Old Testament and then a few Aramaic words in the New Testament.
5. Diversity of Genres - Perhaps the most significant and important. Genre refers to different literary form. What kinds of genres are in the Bible? The two main genres are prose and poetry, but there are many, many sub-genres: psalms, parables, letters, historical narratives, laws, proverbs, prophecies.

How does that extraordinary diversity affect the way we read Scripture? What are the implications associated with this great diversity of Scripture that was written by many different authors in many different times and places, presenting various theological perspectives?

3 Key Implications of Diversity

1. We must adapt our methods for various kinds of literature.
   As we just mentioned, one of the aspects of diversity is diversity of genre, and different genres require different methods of interpretations, different approaches. Let me just give you some illustrations of this:
   
   Daniel 7:6 says, "After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule."
   
   That's a strange passage for many people. You've got this image of a beast that's a cross between various animals. In order to understand this passage, we have to identify the literary form or genre. We can't possibly understand it unless we identify and recognize that this is what is called apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature often uses symbolic, sometimes bizarre, imagery in order to communicate spiritual truth or in order to communicate some historical event or some historical person. So in order to understand this passage, we have to first acknowledge and identify what literary form it is.
   
   Ecclesiastes 1:1-4
   “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
   says the Teacher.
   “Utterly meaningless!
   Everything is meaningless.”
   What does anyone gain from all their labors
   at which they toil under the sun?
   Generations come and generations go,
   but the earth remains forever.
   
   If we read that passage and ask, Is it true? Is everything ultimately meaningless? In order to understand this passage in God's Word, we have first to identify its literary form. Is this meant to be God's wisdom? Is this meant to be absolute truth that everything meaningless or is this truth given from a human perspective apart from God. Identifying the genre of the book of Ecclesiastes is essential before we can understand it.
   
   Psalm 137:9 says, "Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!" That's not a very pretty picture nor does it sound like the loving God who cares about all people. How do we understand that passage? We have to recognize its genre, its literary form. It's not just a psalm, it's actually what we call an imprecatory psalm.
   
   An imprecatory psalm is the psalmist crying out in agony, in suffering, against his enemies. So we recognize this is not necessarily something we should be saying about our enemies. This is someone's human emotion expressed towards God. Identifying that literary form or genre is essential if we're gonna understand that passage.
   
   Isaiah 55:12 says, "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."
   
   We might ask, is that true? Will the mountains one day burst into song? Will the trees in the field clap their hands? In order to understand this passage, you have to acknowledge and recognize that the genre is poetry. It's poetic, and it's eschatological poetry, or focusing on God's end-time salvation. It's using symbols. It's using metaphors to describe the restoration of creation at the end of time.
   
   Is it to be taken literally? No, because it's figurative poetry; it's meant to be take figuratively. So identifying that literary form is essential if we are going to understand God's Word.
   
   So, that was the first implication of the diversity of Scripture. We must adapt methodology for various kinds of literature.
   
   
2. We must recognize the progress of revelation
   There is a development of doctrine in Scripture. Later stages do not replace the earlier stages but they clarify the earlier passages, and they develop a gradual developing [and] understanding of the people of God. Hebrews 1:1 illustrates what we mean by the progress of revelation.
   
   Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe."
   
   That verse points out that the old covenant, the Old Testament, was given at various times and in various places in a somewhat scattered way through the prophets. The new covenant, the New Testament, is God's final, complete revelation through His Son. So we see progress from the old covenant to the new covenant.
   
   Let me give you some examples of the progress of revelation, the way we see the development of doctrine between the old covenant and the new covenant.
   
   Doctrine of the Trinity
   The truth that God is three persons. One God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Perhaps the most foundational truth of Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity. But if you read your Old Testament, the doctrine of the Trinity is not clearly taught. We get some hints of it, some suggestions of it in the Old Testament. When God says, "Let us make man in our own image," the us there perhaps refer to the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit, but it certainly is not clear. We see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters at the time of creation, but in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God is not clearly identified as a distinct person within the Trinity. The Spirit of God is the vitality of God, the presence of God in the world, the power and presence of God. So in the Old Testament, we do not see the Trinity clearly taught.
   
   We get to the New Testament, of course, we see God reveal Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We could point many, many passages in the New Testament to confirm the doctrine of the Trinity. We see this progress of revelation from the Old Testament to the New. The diversity of Scripture reminds us that we have to read an Old Testament writer within that writer's original context. We must not force New Testament meanings, for example, on the Old Testament unless if we must allow allow each writer to speak for themselves.
   
   Why did God not reveal Himself more clearly as Trinity in the old covenant? One possible answer to is that the nation of Israel was living in the context of polygamy, where there were many, many gods, and the nations around had competing gods; and perhaps the rallying cry of Judaism, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord He is one," one as opposed to the many gods of the nation. So perhaps God revealed Himself in the unity alone in the old covenant in order to keep Israel from adopting a polytheistic view of God or that the demonstration of the one true God was essential for Israel's religion under the old covenant.
   
   The practice of sacrificing of animals
   The old covenant commanded animal sacrifices to be made and those sacrifices were meant to pay the penalty for sin. We get many Old Testament passages that refer to the sacrifice of an animal paying the penalty for sins. We get to the new covenant, however, the New Testament, and it becomes clear that Jesus Christ is the only true and ultimate sacrifice; and that the sacrifices of the old covenant never really did pay for sin.
   
   Hebrews 10:4 says, "For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." The old covenant seems to suggest that the blood of bulls and goats did take away sins. The new covenant confirms that the blood of bulls and goats, the sacrifices of animals, never did actually take away sins.
   
   How do we put these two together? The answer is the progress of revelation. God progressively revealed His plan to human beings.
   
   
3. We must first allow the Biblical writers to speak for themselves, then we must seek an internal unity behind their diverse expressions of faith.
   Too often, we have a tendency to interpret one author exclusively by another author instead of first listening to that particular author. We must allow the Biblical writers to speak for themselves. Let me give you a few examples of this:
   
   James and Paul on the issue of faith and works
   At first reading, these two seem to contradict each other. Paul says a person is justified by faith alone, apart from works (Romans 3:28). A person is justified or declared righteous by God by faith alone apart from works.
   
   James, on the other hand, says faith without works is dead (James 2:17, 20, 26). He also says, you see a person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:14, 24).
   
   These two writers, at first, seem to be contradicting each other. Well, this point about diversity, we must allow the Biblical writers to speak for themselves. We must listen to James in the context of James's letter. We must listen to Paul in the context of his life and letters and overall theology. So we must, first of all, allow the Biblical writers to speak for themselves. Once we understand James, and once we understand Paul, we can be confident that these two will ultimately agree. They will complement each other, rather than contradict each other.
   
   Hebrews and Paul on the issue of eternal security
   Paul, for example, in a great passage in Romans 8:29-30 says, "For those God foreknew He also predestined... those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified." Paul makes it clear that those that God foreknew, those He saved, He will glorify. That once you are saved, you can be certain that you will retain that salvation forever.
   
   The writer of the Hebrews, on the other hand, says in Hebrews 10:26-27, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." At first reading, it sounds as though the writer of Hebrews is saying that you can lose the salvation you've gained.
   
   So how do you bring Paul and the writer of Hebrews together on an issue of eternal security, whether we're once saved and always saved? The diversity of Scripture reminds us that we need to, first and foremost, listen to each author in their original context. We have to understand what Paul is saying in his context, and we have to understand what the writer of Hebrews is saying in his context; and, ultimately, we know that these two will be brought together. They will be complementary, rather than contradictory.

On this issue of the diverse theologies of various New Testament writers, the study of each diverse theology is called Biblical Theology.

Biblical Theology

Biblical theology deals with God's progressive revelation through the distinct theological emphasis of persons and periods.

Examples of distinct theological emphasis of a particular person: Paul's theology, John's theology or Johannine theology, Isaiah's theology, or (broadly) prophetic theology (the theology, in general, of the Old Testament prophets)

Doing theology as we apply God's Word to life is always a three-step process, and Biblical theology is the centerpoint of those three steps. We'll be talking more about this in future lectures, but essentially, the first is what we call exegesis.

1. Exegesis is (a) seeking to determine the author's original meaning in a particular passage and then to (b) relate that particular passage to an author's overall perspective.
   
   Let me give you an illustration: Suppose we're reading Paul's letter to the Philippians. We try to read that passage, that letter, in its original context, and we read it by trying to discern what Paul intends to say in that passage; but then we take that message and we look at it from the perspective, from the context, of Paul's theology as revealed in his other letters. That's biblical theology.
   
   
2. Biblical theology is examining the distinct theological emphasis of a particular person or of a particular period. Every Biblical author has a distinct theological perspective--a theological perspective that is not contradictory of other perspectives but is complementary of other perspectives.
   
   
3. Systematic theology or taking those various distinct theological perspectives (Paul's theology, John's theology, Isaiah's theology) and bringing them together into a system of truth or a systematic theology, statements of absolute or statements of God's truth.

The whole point of this discussion is that before we can identify systematic truth or God's truth, we have to first read God's Word in context. Doing Biblical theology is just reading Paul's letter within the context of Paul's thought world and John's letter within the context of John's theology.

So we've examined three implications of the diversity of Scripture:

1. We must adopt methodology for various kinds of literature.
2. We must recognize the progress of revelation, that later doctrine doesn't replace earlier but explains it, develops it, gives us a greater understanding of who God is and what His purpose for the world is.
3. We must allow the Biblical writers to speak for themselves and then seek an internal unity behind their diverse expressions of faith. 

We might call the diversity of scripture the human side of the Bible, because we recognize it was written by human beings in different cultures in different languages at different times. That's the human side of Scripture, but there's also a divine side of Scripture related to the inspiration by God.

Diversity was the first point under the nature of the Bible. Our second point is unity.

Unity

Despite this diversity of authors, despite this diversity of times and places and language, we have an ultimate unity in Scripture, and it is a unity of theme. That theme could be stated in a variety of ways. Let me give you one statement of theme. In other words, what the whole Bible is about from beginning to end.

Here's a statement of theme that would describe the entire Biblical revelation, the actions of God in bringing salvation to humanity through Jesus Christ. It is the story of God's redemption. So the actions of God in bringing redemption to creation through Jesus Christ, through Jesus the Messiah. This theme can summarize the whole Scripture from beginning to end. The Old Testament looks forward to the coming of Jesus Christ and the salvation He will accomplish; the New Testament looks back at the salvation achieved through Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and then it looks forward to the final salvation which will be accomplished when He comes.

I'd like to look at one passage that really summarizes this whole issue of the unity of theme and Scripture. It's in Luke 24:13-34. It's the resurrection appearance of Jesus to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. These two disciples are walking along when Jesus joins them. He is just risen from the dead, but they're prevented, God prevents them from being able to recognize Him, and as they walk along, He asked them, "What were you discussing together along the way?"

It says, "they stood still, their faces downcast." One of them said, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

Jesus plays along, and says, What things are you talking about? And they describe Jesus of Nazareth, "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people." This Jesus was this powerful prophet and we thought he might be the one to redeem Israel. We thought he might be the Messiah, the savior of the world, but he's been crucified. He died, and so he can't possibly be the one we thought he was.

Jesus responds to them with this, "He said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?'" Jesus says you've missed it, haven't you? You don't understand. Isn't this all along what the prophets said? That the Messiah would have to suffer and die before entering into His glory?

In Luke 24:27, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets--Moses refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The Prophets are the books that follow that. Moses and the Prophets is a shorthand way of summarizing the whole of the Old Testament.

So Luke, the author, tells us, beginning with Genesis and moving all the way through the Old Testament revelations "He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself." What an incredible sermon that must have been as Jesus took these two disciples through essentially the whole revelation of the Old Testament. Because all Scripture, ultimately, points to Jesus Christ; so the unifying theme, once again, of all of Scripture is the actions of God in bringing redemption to creation through Jesus the Messiah.

Genesis describes how God created a perfect world, how He placed Adam and Even within the Garden to tend it, to keep it; but then Adam and Even rebelled against Him, and they were judged by God. And all of creation entered a fallen state. The whole rest of the revelation of Scripture is God's purpose and plan to redeem that creation, His purpose and plan through the Messiah, through Jesus Christ, who is the centerpoint of history.

So, the unity of Scripture tells us that we have one central theme, and the central theme according to Luke 24 is Jesus Christ. The old covenant looks forward to Jesus Christ, the new covenant looks back to what He accomplished on the cross.

So we have seen the diversity of Scripture, written by human authors in diverse situations and context. Now we see the unity of scripture.

2 Key Implications of Unity

1. The Bible is one story from beginning to end.
   Though made up of diverse literature, though made up of many, many short stories, in one sense, every book of the Bible relates to God's ultimate redemption.
   
   Let me just give you an example of what we mean by the Bible as one story. Take the Old Testament story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis. It's a great narrative, a great story in its own right. The story of Joseph who is favored by his father, Jacob, over his brothers. His brothers hate him, and so, at one point, they seize him and sell him as a slave into Egypt. A story of sibling rivalry, but also a story of Joseph's faithfulness as he perseveres, remains faithful to God, and God takes him and blesses him in Egypt. He becomes second in command only to Pharaoh. Eventually, his brothers, because of a famine in the land of Israel, come to him. They're reunited with Joseph. Just a wonderful story.
   
   We can understand that on the level of story. We can talk about moral lessons and so forth that are taught by that story, but, ultimately, that story fits into the larger picture of God's overall story, the grand narrative--what we might call the metanarrative of Scripture that begins in Genesis and comes to conclusion in Revelation.
   
   The Joseph story is part of a larger story, that larger story is the story of Israel, because the Joseph story shows us how God preserved His people, the nation of Israel, during the great time of famine by sending Joseph ahead of his family into Egypt. He prepared the way for them, and so the children of Israel were saved, were delivered from that famine. It's part of Israel's story, the story of their redemption.
   
   But Israel's story is part of God's grand narrative, God's story of redemption that begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation--the story of God's plan to save and redeem His people, because through the nation of Israel, the Messiah would come. Jesus who would die for the sins of the world, who would reverse the results of Adam and Eve's sin.
   
   So Joseph's story fits into the larger perspective of Scripture, confirming the Bible is one story.
   
   Let me just give you another example: another Old Testament book, the Book of Esther. The Book of Esther is unique in many ways, and one way it is unique is the fact that the name of God never appears in Esther. Not once is God mentioned in Esther. Some had wondered why this book is even part of the Bible if God is not even mentioned. But the story of Esther is part of a greater story, just like the Joseph story. It's part of two greater stories actually. It's part of the story of Israel, because Esther once again is a story of how God's people are rescued and delivered. When someone attempts to destroy them, Esther becomes queen, and through that story, she accomplishes Israel's deliverance. The story of Israel's deliverance is once again part of the larger story of God's redemptive plan for all of humanity.
   
   So every small narrative in the Old Testament fits in to the larger narrative of Israel, and every larger narrative of Israel fits into the grand or metanarrative of all of Scripture, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation. So we can place each story into its context of God's ultimate purpose and plan for all humanity.
   
   
2. A systematic theology becomes a possibility
   What do I mean by that? I mean we can ask the question, What is Truth? And by examining Scripture, we can come up with answers, with propositions, with statements that are complete, that are cohesive, and that are complementary not contradictory.
   
   
   
   
   • Complete - We recognize that we have the whole story. Genesis through Revelation forms a complete narrative of God's purpose and plan, covering all topics that we need for faith and practice. So the unity of the Bible reminds us that God's story is complete.
   • Cohesive - It is a story that makes sense, that begins at one point, that ends in another, that describes God's actions in human history.
   • Complementary not contradictory - Not only is it complete and cohesive, it is also complementary not contradictory. We can read one author and understand them within their context, and then read another and understand them within their context, and those two authors will be complementary. They will not contradict one another because of the unity of God's Word.

Summary

So what have we seen? We have seen two aspects of the nature of the Bible. We've seen the diversity of Scripture by different authors at many times in many places. We've seen the unity of Scripture. Ultimately, it is one story. It is God's Word.

One analogy we can draw here: The Bible is God's word. It is the written Word. Jesus is identified in John 1:1 as the Living Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus, as the Word, means that Jesus is God's self revelation. We talked about Jesus' nature. We talked about Him as fully human and fully divine. By being fully human, He could pay the penalty for our sins. By being fully divine, He could die for all the sins of the world. So Jesus is the Living Word of God. God's living revelation is fully human and fully divine.

But the written Word, the Bible, is also fully human and fully divine. And these two aspects of the nature of the Bible, diversity and unity, point to the humanity of the Bible, written in real life situations by real authors in real time in real places. That's the human side. But it is not only fully human, it is also fully divine. It is God's Word, and that gives the Bible this unity from beginning to end. We can ask the question, What is Truth? And we can recognize that the Bible's answer will be trustworthy and will be true.

This lecture was provided by BiblicalTraining.org.