Essays in Understanding the Bible (2): The Unity and Diversity of the Bible

In this series of essays, Helen Parry explores some basic principles for understanding the Bible. The essays are posted monthly on the LICC website, normally on the third Monday of the month. Since interpretation is not a dry academic exercise but is essential to a proper use of Scripture, each essay is followed by questions for reflection (and discussion with others, where applicable), and suggestions for action.

During my first job, teaching English in a girls’ secondary school, I made a classic mistake (that I am still embarrassed to recall). I started teaching a novel that I hadn’t read through to the end. The book was Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. The plot hangs on the strong physical likeness between two of the male characters. If I had realised this, I would have helped the girls to spot the clues that shape the story right through to the dramatic climax. Knowing the end from the beginning, I would have taught the book differently.

The same is true of reading the Bible. This is not to say that in order to understand the Bible it is necessary to have read every chapter of Leviticus or all the prophecies of Ezekiel. But the Bible needs to be understood as a unity, as God’s whole written revelation to humankind, from the creation of heaven and earth to the new creation of the new heaven and the new earth.

It’s a progressive revelation. Following the prehistoric prologue of Genesis 1-11, the whole of the rest of the Bible is concerned with the unfolding and enacting of salvation history. The narrative form of much of the Bible – and the possibility of placing the non-narrative books at historical points within that narrative – gives us a clear ‘plot line’.

At the same time, the huge diversity of Scripture, in terms of genres, or styles of literature, means that within the narrative framework many aspects of God’s character, truth and purposes are presented. This diversity gives us, for example, a multi-faceted approach to the problem of sin. Genesis 3 reveals the essential nature of sin. The law illustrates the scope of sin and its consequences. The Psalms illustrate the guilt and shame of sin, while Proverbs exposes sin essentially as folly. The prophets denounce corporate and national sin; they anticipate the teaching of Jesus that it is the heart’s relationship with God that counts, rather than external conformity to the law. The epistles explain Christ’s victory over sin, and the new life that enables believers to resist it. Finally, the apocalyptic literature proclaims the ultimate defeat of Satan and the powers of evil.

It is often confidently said that the God of the Old Testament is quite different from the God of the New Testament. John 1:17 may seem to reinforce this: ‘The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’. This is not to say, however, that there is no law in the New Testament, no grace and truth in the Old; indeed, Jesus said that he had come not to abolish the law but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17). And, alongside ‘I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me’, we find not only ‘but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commandments’ (Exodus 20:4-6), but innumerable other verses in the Old Testament. ‘The Lord is gracious and compassionate’ is a constant refrain in the Psalms (e.g., 103:8, 111:4, 112:4; 145:8); ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ proclaims the Lord through Jeremiah (31:3); and God’s loving care is compared to that of a father (Psalm 103:13), a mother (Isaiah 66:13) and an eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11-12).

Although this doesn’t resolve all our dilemmas about how God is revealed in the Old Testament, it is important to consider the historical and cultural contexts in which it was written. By the time of Christ, the world was a very different place. The region of the eastern Mediterranean, vastly enlarged by the culture, language and military conquest by Greece and Rome, was, by then, ready to receive the gospel of grace and truth, extended not just to the Jews but to the rest of humanity.

The Bible also reflects an evolving understanding of life after death. ‘Initially Sheol seems little more than the grave or a very shadowy existence beyond. But by Daniel 12, resurrection of both just and unjust is articulated, and the NT even more clearly delineates the nature and occupants of heaven and hell.’ (Craig Blomberg in The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, IVP, 2000.)

As we read the Bible, then, it is important that we take account of where in the ‘story’ a particular book or passage comes. ‘Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you’ (Genesis 3:18) is not, for example, God’s last word on the relationship between the sexes. (Rather, in fact, it was part of the curse that God pronounced after the fall – a curse that Christ came to redeem!) Nor is Simeon’s prophecy over the baby Jesus, ‘my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles’ (Luke 2:30-32) God’s first declaration that his saving grace extended beyond the nation of Israel.

Critics of the Bible may point to apparent inconsistencies and contradictions. Careful reading, and a historical and cultural awareness, will explain some of these. How, for example, can we reconcile what at first sight looks like a contradiction of Paul by James? Paul wrote (Galatians 2:16): ‘We have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no-one will be justified.’ But James argues powerfully (James 2:20, 24) that ‘faith without works is useless... You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone’.

The first response to this is to look at the word translated ‘works’ in some English translations of the Bible (notably the King James Version). Although in both letters the Greek word is the same, Paul, in each case, adds to it ‘of the law’, thus referring specifically to the Torah, the Old Testament law. To remove the ambiguity, more recent translations have clearly differentiated between Paul and James. Thus the NIV renders Paul’s phrase ‘observing the law’, and James's as ‘deeds’ or ‘what he does’. So James is referring, as is shown by his examples (such as generosity to the poor), to believers’ actions, their everyday behaviour.

A second point, however, is the contexts in which Paul’s letter and James’s were written. The issue of the Old Testament law was critical in the early church. Were all those who put their faith in Christ (Jew and Gentile alike) required to observe the law? The Galatians were being misled by some people who were ‘throwing [them] into confusion and trying to pervert the gospel of Christ’ (1:7). Hence Paul’s passionate argument that salvation was by faith alone, not by faith plus observance of the law. James, on the other hand, writing not to a specific church, was concerned about those who claimed to be saved on the ground of a presumptuous faith commitment that failed to understand that genuine saving faith must result in changed character and behaviour. ‘Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.’ There is thus no incompatibility between the teaching of Paul and of James.

But there are other issues less easily resolved, where the Bible reflects a range of differing views – as, for example, on war or capital punishment. Here, if we are wise, we will avoid a rigid dogmatism, based on one or two verses, but, having looked at all sides of the issue, be willing to admit that we don’t know.

For personal reflection:

1 Peter chapter 1 is one of those well-known chapters, full of wonderful and uplifting verses. Read quickly from verse 3 to verse 21, reminding yourself of the great truths that it contains. Now read through it again, making a note of all the references in it to time – past, present and future. Reflect on, and praise God for, the majestic unfolding of his purposes, and consider the implications for your own life.

For group discussion:

Read Isaiah 41:8-10, 42:1-7 and 49:5-6.

1. To whom do the prophecies in Isaiah seem to refer? Who was to be the light to the Gentiles?

2. What do Luke 2:32 and Acts 13:47 add to our understanding?

3. And John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14-16?

4. In what sense is Jesus the light of the world?

5. How can Christians be the light of the world?

6. What conclusions can you draw from these verses about the nature of Old Testament prophecy, and about the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament?

For action:

• Reflect on the darkness of the world without Christ, and pray for people and societies that are living in darkness.
• Seek consciously this week to perform ‘good deeds’ in your workplace, neighbourhood or household – acts of kindness, generosity and compassion, words of encouragement and affirmation, lending a hand, going the ‘extra mile’ – so that people will see Christ's light shining through you.
• Seek an opportunity of talking to one person about how Jesus can bring light into their darkness.

At the beginning of the next session:

1. Try to summarise the significance of the Bible’s diversity in revealing the unfolding purposes of God.

2. Share your experiences in having made a conscious effort during the week to do ‘good deeds’ to those around you.

Helen Parry

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