Ways to define the Bible

The return of my understanding of the Bible as Story began with The Bible Project, and this book gives fresh appreciation for the subtle but crucial importance of the Story vs the many other approaches one might take to the Book. For posterity, I’ll list the others:

  1. Morsels of Law. To learn how to behave and to think. The Bible as foremost a book to learn how to submit and obey, and to spot rebellion and disobedience.

  2. Morsels of Blessings and Promises. To learn what God promises to do for us and to give us. The Bible as foremost a book to communicate what good things God has for us, along with any conditions attached to that good. Judgment and curses need not be reviewed; let’s stay focused on the positive.

  3. Mirrors and Inkblots. To learn my self, with all my brilliance and psychosis. The Bible is foremost a book to look for my own experiences and find meaning and language for them in the text. Sometimes the Book challenges my views, but more often I’m gratified to see how much of my experience is validated in the reading.

  4. Puzzle Pieces to Construct a Complete Picture. To learn all the secrets of God’s person, His thoughts and His perspective, one has only to puzzle the whole book together into categories. This system, once constructed, represents the true and complete knowledge of God, and no more is left to be understood.

  5. Maestros. To learn how to be like our favorite hero. This might be Jesus, but as likely it’s Paul. Their work is elevated above the other writers and is the lens from which the rest of the Book must be viewed and translated.

References

McKnight, Scot. (2008) Blue Parakeet, 2nd Ed. Chapter 3: Inkblots and Puzzles