Tonight we were presented with the question of how do we come to know God? The presentation suggested personal prayer and meditation, spiritual direction, communal prayer, ritual, sacrament, reading and study, and the Bible as answers to that question. We explored what is the Bible, divisions of the Bible, what kind of book is the Bible, and religious truths in the Bible.
The Bible is ancient, obviously, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek (obviously), not English, German, or even Latin. It came from a very different time and culture, which means that to read it out of context, is dangerous, which in turn makes it difficult to read. As we read we must try to understand the culturally conditioned experiences of God that the writers convey. Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Jesus, although historical figures did not write anything in the Bible; they were written about. Still, we believe that there is Truth to be understood, interpreted, applied, and passed on to contemporary people of faith.
The Bible contains fact, myth, and truth. Examples of historical fact include David, who was king around 1000 BC, and Assyria, who destroyed Israel around 722 BC. Examples of things that are not fact, include the stories of creation found in Genesis, and the number of men leaving Egypt during the Exodus. Still, we are confident that God’s love and care for humanity is preserved in the Bible, whether buried beneath factual inaccuracies or not.
The Bible is ancient, obviously, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek (obviously), not English, German, or even Latin. It came from a very different time and culture, which means that to read it out of context, is dangerous, which in turn makes it difficult to read. As we read we must try to understand the culturally conditioned experiences of God that the writers convey. Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Jesus, although historical figures did not write anything in the Bible; they were written about. Still, we believe that there is Truth to be understood, interpreted, applied, and passed on to contemporary people of faith.
The Bible contains fact, myth, and truth. Examples of historical fact include David, who was king around 1000 BC, and Assyria, who destroyed Israel around 722 BC. Examples of things that are not fact, include the stories of creation found in Genesis, and the number of men leaving Egypt during the Exodus. Still, we are confident that God’s love and care for humanity is preserved in the Bible, whether buried beneath factual inaccuracies or not.
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