Believe Differently

I hate the phrase “biblical principle” – especially when it is used by smarmy television evangelist types! The phrase is always invoked – admittedly probably subconsciously by most users of it – to imply a kind of quasi scientific quality to a piece of bible teaching. The implication – as far as I can figure it – that somehow the “bible teacher” has discovered within scripture a kind of law which is somehow sown into our reality such that if we choose to align ourselves with it, and live our lives accordingly, we will be blessed….

–Well, I say Baloney to that! ….

Even if you could convince me that “scientific laws” exist – see my posts in the category “Faith & Science” - I would still continue vehemently to resist the idea that such a thing could be found in scripture. This phrase is nothing more than a thinly veiled “will to power” on behalf of the “preacher”; an attempt to provide an air of authority through the invocation of scientific language.

It might be hard to say exactly what scripture it is but one thing for sure is that it is not a scientific document. And why on earth would we want it to be? Why should the scientific world view be the standard for all truth? Not only that, but it does not make sense to try and make the bible conform to such a view. A key problem with this approach is that scientific truth is not a static body of knowledge. As I have pointed out in previous posts, scientific thought moves through what has been called “revolutions”; that is, the scientific world view can sometimes change so radically that all that went before is considered annulled. The consequence of aligning scripture with such a system of thought is that we would expect to find similar revolutions in theological understanding. Whilst, actually on reflection, I might not think that such a bad idea, I suspect those that want to treat the bible as a scientific document probably would.

I am further bothered by what I perceive to be a common attitude amongst Evangelical Christians that regards the bible simply as a book containing information. It is common to hear it described as the “makers manual”; that its function is simply to convey information on how we should live. Well, forgive my alliteration, but I do not want to be informed, I want to be transformed; and I do not believe the way to transformation is through information. Frankly, if God wanted to write a manual for humanity, he could have done a much better job. Confirming to the usual rules of the said genre would have been a good start; and typically such documents do not contain poems, letters, stories, songs and other such what not! If there is one characteristic that defines the “Instruction Manual” genre it is clarity; and that is not a word I would use to describe the biblical text. It is a hotchpotch of traditions, genres and contradictions, polysemic and multilayered.

Honing scripture for information or principles, in my opinion, misses everything. God is in the business of forming character. It is a wholly different kind of education and it involves far more than the transmission and reception of information. I believe this is why Saint Paul writes:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God1

The metaphor is one of inhabitation. I am encouraged to enter into a kind relationship with the text; I must dwell with it. In such a context the meaning I discover does not lead to knowledge in the philosophical – or scientific - sense but in the personal sense; meaning is not so much read but discovered in the reading; it is found more in the interpreting and not so much in the interpretation. I need to spend time with the text, meditate upon it; I need to engage it, reflect upon it, question it and sometimes disagree with it. I must let it make me angry, sad, hopeful and excited, joyful etc., and experience all of the other emotions that occur within the context of a genuine and real healthy relationship.

In the process I will find myself changed. Not because I will have read and followed the manufacturer’s instructions, but because I will have been impacted in much the same way as I am when I open myself to another. This type of knowledge cannot be reduced to a principle or a formula; neither can it be captured in language - except say in prose or metaphor. The character of the knowledge we are seeking is personal, and can only really be acquired truly through intimacy. It is the type of “knowledge” perhaps most accurately implied by the euphemistic “biblical sense” of the word.  And therefore… you should “know” what you can do with your “biblical principles”.
 

1. Colossians 3:16 [NIV] [↩]