I mentioned recently that I am once again taking seminary
courses. Due to their online format,
topic discussions are accomplished through discussion boards. Recently I was engaged in a conversation with
another student who was adamant that Scripture is to be read literally. He sees any deviation from this as the
slippery slope toward heresy, especially in his focus on a literal
interpretation of Genesis 1 and rejection of evolution.
I once held the same view of literal interpretation as my
brother and classmate. However, as I've
studied and grown in the Scriptures, I found room for a different approach toward
areas in Scripture that were perhaps not meant to be received literally as a
historical narrative. By no means does
this mean that I have devalued Scripture in my life or theology. Allowing a perspective on a biblical author’s
poetic license certainly does not in itself erode the elevation of Scripture. Rather, I believe, reflecting on where an
author may have used poetic license has actually helped me hold a higher view
of Scripture.
The literary skills of the biblical authors are hardly
debated. We widely (both within and outside
Christian circles) esteem biblical texts as among the best literature ever written. Why would we assume these expert wordsmiths would
have restricted themselves to such a narrow set of literary tools in describing
such vast and glorious topics as God’s nature and His workings among mankind? I don’t believe that Robert Frost in The Road Not Taken intended us to
believe simply taking the more rugged path in a day hike changed his life. Bob Dylan in Blowing in the Wind wasn't asking us to chase the breeze with a
net. We would even find it odd if
someone responded to our clumsy invitation to receive ‘Jesus into her heart’
with a hesitation based on her fear of His presence restricting blood flow.
I hold a very high regard for Scripture. I have such a high regard that I find it
absolutely imperative that we wrestle with how the author intended and did not
intend his book to be read. I also
believe biblical authors (especially in the OT) used poetic genres and language
to ignite our imagination toward the radically different world God is calling us
into when sanitary prose simply would not do.
In these cases, the image they invite us into is much more important
than the sum of their words used.
Among several bloggers I read is author, theologian, and Baptist
professor Scott McKnight, who shares his blog with a contributor who posts with
the pen-name RJS. RJS recently posted an
interesting article on the Literal
Reading of Scripture. He makes
extensive reference to an excellent video of author and Presbyterian pastor Tim
Keller addressing this same issue. They both make the important point that
Christian orthodoxy is big enough to hold differing views. Where there exists a lack of clarity within
the orthodox Christian community on a passage’s genre and resultant
implications, we must be willing to embrace the debate and debaters with
Christian love and honest scholarship.
I advised my classmate to be careful not to hold so tightly
to a hotly debated view that it can become a stumbling block in his
relationship with other devout Christians or a become a stumbling block to a
non-Christian in hearing the gospel of Christ.
This is a much more destructive situation than taking Genesis 1 as
allegory.
What say you? Is
genre up for debate in biblical texts? Does
your view treat Tim Keller as a brother or an enemy to the gospel?
