Preparing to begin participating in our denomination's annual General Assembly, the main issue this year is the question of the ordination of women as ministers. Hold that thought, and pair it with the fact that yesterday I read Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" for a second and more thorough reading. Both the General Assembly, and Rob Bell's book, have a lot to do with how the Bible is read and interpreted.
Biblical debates are as old as the rabbinic tradition - thousands of years, so there's nothing new there. But how is it that people of equal sincerity and commitment to serving God can read the same book and come to different conclusions? It's really remarkable. And as is well known, when people start talking about religious views, the conversation can get emotional. Probably because we can quickly feel insecure when we are challenged on a topic that is so important to us.
So how can good, devoted people who have equal desire to know and serve God come to such different conclusions? Here's what I think: when reading the Bible, a person's interpretation of it goes something like this - Personality + Biblical Training + Life Experience + Environment = Your View. Reading the Bible is not like reading a weather report that simply reports the temperature and humidity. The Bible is inspired narrative and poetry and story, and therefore places itself in the realm of interpretation. Our personality plays a big part in this. Are we analytical or emotional? Are we aggressive or conciliatory? Add 100 other possibilities of human personality here. Then there is the nature of our Biblical training. Beginner or advanced? If trained in seminary - what type of seminary? If trained through a church - what type of church? Then the matter of life experience. Family background? Good experiences in religious environments or bad ones? Abusive background or healthy? This will make a difference in shaping your interpretation of many passages in the Bible. Then finally environment - what is the prevailing current in the environment you are in? We are all influenced in some way by our environment, and depending on personality, some moreso than others.
When you add all these factors together, we can begin to see how people come to such different conclusions. So, we seek the Spirit of God and ask for His help because when it comes to the Bible, Personality + Biblical Training + Life Experience + Environment = Your View.
