The Greatest Story You've N/ever Heard: Introductory Remarks.

Introductory Remarks:

    Everyone reads the Bible for different reasons.  Some read it from a historical perspective, some read it from a critical perspective, some read it out of obligation, and some read it because they believe it is the word of God.   Inevitably, how you approach the text will be the guiding factor of what you find there.  The Bible is a vast and complicated book.  From my personal experiences, when people set out to read or study the Bible, they usually do so because they are searching for something.  Like in all matters of life, a person will usually find what they are looking for if they are willing to search hard enough.  This is no more or less true with the Bible than any other text.

It is for such reasons that the Bible has become such a widely debated and controversial book.  It is for such reasons that there are so many different, sometimes conflicting, branches of the Christian church.  Just the number of denominations under the umbrella of Protestantism is itself staggering.  So, what does the Bible really teach us?  Is there just one answer, or are there many answers?  Is one interpretation more accurate than another?  Does one denomination or branch of Christianity hold more relevance than others?  These are all difficult questions to answer.  And, unfortunately the responses to any of these questions will depend on the person providing the answers.  For some there will only be one correct interpretation and therefore only one correct answer, while for others there may be a plurality of possible interpretations and therefore a variety of different answers.  In sum, different folks, different strokes.

Like many readers of the Bible, I grew up in the church.  So, before I even began to read the Christian scriptures on my own, my head was already filled with stories, ideas, values, and beliefs.  It is very difficult to read any text in a different light than how one was taught or trained.  Accordingly, my experience has been that those who have been taught or trained to adhere to traditional, contemporary Christian beliefs usually, whether correctly or incorrectly, read those beliefs and values into the text.  This is not necessarily a fault; it is natural and to be expected. Conversely, they often read over, or completely ignore, those passages that don’t pertain to their chosen set of values or beliefs.   Such is human nature.

Understandably, my personal journey has been an uphill battle.  But, as I’ve have grown older, as I have done my own serious scholarship, and as I have explored the writings and beliefs of other religions, I have worked diligently to read the Bible differently than how I was taught.  In some sense, my goal has been an impossible one, as I wanted to read the Bible from a completely fresh perspective… outside the confines of the dogma or doctrine I had been indoctrinated in since childhood.  This isn’t necessarily because such teachings were ‘wrong’ or even ‘ill received.’  More accurately, my ongoing effort to approach the Bible differently is predicated on the understanding that there is and always has been a plank, or blind spot, in mine own eye, regardless of either doctrine or dogma. 

Experience has taught me that real learning begins by closely analyzing one’s own faults and errors.  It is for this reason that I have worked to read the Bible ‘differently.’  Accordingly, the critical voice I offer in this book could be understood, first and foremost, as a criticism of many of my own beliefs, values, and even of the community that raised me.  Yet, what I have found from my years of teaching and studying various religions is that the ‘truth’ one finds in any one particular religion typically begins with the ‘truth’ the individual is seeking and expecting.  Knowing this I attempted to approach different religious texts with the same expectations I had when approaching the Bible.  For example, I began to read texts like The Bhagavad Gita or The Upanishads while seeking the same ‘truths’ I typically sought when I read the Bible.

The exercise was illuminating.  It was therefore only a matter of time before I began to wonder, what if I read the Bible like I traditionally read other religious texts, texts I believed were written with an intent and purpose but did not expect to provide eternal answers or divine truths. Would the Bible teach me the same ‘truths’ I already assumed it taught? Would the main characters be the same?  What would the moral of the story be? When would the story reach its climax and when would it reach its conclusion? 

Most modern scholars have learned to approach the Christian scriptures as a narrative.  As scholars have proven, the individual narratives found throughout the books of the Bible are best understood when placed in the context of the greater meta-narrative of the Bible itself.  The isolation of individual chapters, passages, and even verses often does an injustice to the original writings and can, at times, do an injustice to the greater story as well.  Accordingly, it is my goal to follow scholarly tradition and interpret all the books of the Bible as narratives in the broader context of a larger meta-narrative. Yet, even a narrative approach to the scriptures does not necessarily aim to read the Bible as purely mythic.   

To be sure, the two are closely connected and not mutually exclusive, but most Christians read the Bible differently from how they read The Iliad or Beowulf.  The reasons for doing so are obvious as The Iliad and Beowulf are traditionally read by Christians as clear examples of fictional myths whereas the Bible, on the other hand, is typically read and understood to be the greatest non-fiction myth ever complied into written form.  Yet, when all the chips fall where they may and one cracks open their Bible and starts to read, it is difficult to know where history ends and fiction begins.  After all, Jesus was known to teach in parables.  Is the truth found in these parables predicated on historical facts?  Must the Good Samaritan exist for Jesus’ parable to be true?  I think we can all agree the answer is no.  The truth lies in the story itself, not in the historical facts that do or do not surround it.

In short, what I have observed in my years of teaching is that when most people read the writings of other, opposing religions they tend to read them as fiction; they approach them with the assumption that what is to be found between the covers is not to be believed as ‘factually true’ but is still worthy of interest and general curiosity. This is interesting when one considers that, for example, the city of Troy existed, and it seems that it did once fall by the hands of the Greeks, not unlike in Homer’s story.

Well, what if I read the Bible in the same way?  I concluded that such an approach would not only expose how the Bible appears to all those living outside the teachings found within the Christian tradition, it would also expose what the Bible in fact does and does not say, regardless of history or tradition.  It is therefore my goal to take what some philosophers might refer to as a ‘phenomenological approach’ to reading the Bible. In short, my goal is to bracket off all those questions that are impossible to answer such as which manuscripts are the most accurate or which passages are to be trusted, and to instead direct my focus on questions that can be answered.  Simply put, my goal is to answer the bigger questions: what is the central story found in the Bible, and what does that story have to teach us?

My answers to these two simple questions are provided in the pages of this book.  Some may be uncomfortable with the idea of reading the Bible in such a way; yet, my experience is that when one approaches the text in this way the contents of the scriptures take on a new and powerful light.  One’s attention is no longer diverted by questions of doctrine, dogma, or traditional church teachings, and it is instead redirected to the message of the story itself. This isn’t to say that there isn’t a place for facts, textual accuracy, and even general historicism.  In fact, my first book The Best Bible Study You’ve N/ever Had* addressed many such problems, directly.  It is just to say that in this book, the second in my series on the Bible, such issues will be considered but will not be at the forefront of my exploration.

It is therefore worth noting: if you aren’t already aware, last year I compiled a virtual, online Bible study into a book titled The Best Bible Study You've N/ever Had.  This book was to function as the first installment of an ongoing series.  The book did well, and as a result I have produced the second volume in the series, which is the book you currently hold in your hand.   If you haven’t read my first book, The Best Bible Study You’ve N/ever Had, then I highly recommend you do, as it well help you to better understand the writing of this one.  With that said, both books were written to stand alone, and they can therefore be read independently from one another, as well.

Much of the material that I addressed in my first book may have been challenging for many readers as the conclusions I often arrived at did not always adhere to traditional, contemporary Biblical teachings, and they probably would not be welcomed in most conservative Evangelical communities.  Although, it is worth noting that my study was designed to focus on the Bible, and the Bible alone.  It therefore did not concern itself with the beliefs, teachings, or values of the Evangelical Christian tradition, or any specific Christian tradition throughout the ages.

This was intentional.  My goal was to take a ‘deconstructive’ look at the Bible in hopes that by breaking down the scriptures into ten key areas (areas based on ten basic quiz questions) I would then be able to expose many of the issues, inconsistencies, and problems found within the scriptures themselves.  Inevitably this process also exposed many of the problems found within common church teachings as well.

            The Christian Church has been around for a very long time.  It has existed in many forms and has held many different beliefs, values, and teachings throughout the centuries. Like in all cases, the church is a product of its time, and it is also a product of those who make up its body.  In sum, the church, at any point in history, only exists within the people who make up its congregations.  As its congregants go, so goes the church. This is no more or less true today than it was 500 years ago during the Protestant Reformation.  This fact alone may be helpful for some readers to remember.

Nevertheless, with any ‘deconstructive’ act the end goal is not destruction but construction.  It must be understood that any ‘deconstructive’ process moves in waves.  The building of ideas and beliefs is not unlike the building of objects or buildings. In order to build something new, or perhaps to properly rebuild something old, things must first be broken down and, at times, destroyed.  As a result, to some the initial wave, or movement, of destruction may appear nihilistic, but this is a false precept. Dismantling must occur first before rebuilding can occur, so while the first wave of deconstruction may be destructive the second wave is always constructive.

Such is the case with my first study and, in turn, my current study.  In short, my first book was written to breakdown or ‘destroy’ many of the common misconceptions people in the church hold about the Bible. This second book is being written to build up or ‘reconstruct’ what the Bible actually does have to teach us. Now that the dismantling has begun, and readers now recognize that many of their thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs about the Bible are skewed, inaccurate, or false, reconstruction can begin.  Now we can address what this story actually has to offer.

This new study, this new phase of exploration and reconstruction, shall be called The Greatest Story You've N/ever Heard, and its aim is to rebuild the Bible in hopes of discovering what its true message is. As noted above, the ‘truth’ of this message will not be grounded in church creeds, doctrines, dogma, or even in historical certainties; it will instead live within the movement of the story itself.  As the story progresses, its teachings and truths will emerge.  That is the message I hope to capture.

The Bible, the stories of the Jewish god Yahweh, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth have all had an enormous effect on the world.  Their influences throughout history are beyond compare and even comprehension.  Yet, like all stories, these stories have gotten bogged down, watered down, and corrupted over time.  It is my hope to breathe some fresh life into them.  It is my hope that be revisiting these stories in a new (yet old) light, readers will see the real message offered by the Bible.  Some may disagree with many of the assessments and conclusions I make.  That is to be expected and welcomed.  Like in my previous book, I intend this new book to be a platform for discussion, which encourages further research and scholarship for all parties involved. 

Hopefully when readers have completed their reading of this new book they will have encountered the Bible in a new, different, and hopefully more fruitful light.  In short, it is my hope that they will have heard The Greatest Story They’ve N/ever Heard.

            Following a similar vein as last time, this book will be broken down into ten sub sections.  Each subsection will represent an individual chapter. The ten subsections are as follows:

1. The Emergence of Judaism (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)
2. The Flight from Egypt (Joseph, Moses, and Aaron)
3. Before the Kingdom (Joshua and the Judges)
4. The Coming of the Kingdom (Samuel, Saul, and David)
5. The Building of the Temple (Solomon)
6. The Diaspora & the Prophets (Jeremiah and Daniel)
7. The Second Temple Period (Ezra and Nehemiah)
8. The inter-Testament Period (1 and 2 Maccabees)
9. The First Century and The Teachings of Jesus (The Gospels)
10. The Teachings of Paul and the future Church of Christ (The Letters)

Epilogue: The Greatest Message You’ve N/ever Heard.

*My first book in this series, The Best Bible Study You've N/ever Had, which functions as part one of my project, is currently available for sale.  Please visit Amazon.com and purchase your copy today.