From Volume 5, Number 2, Autumn 1998

The Bible tells me so

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. It's probably the one of the first hymns a child learns. Yet the late theologian, Karl Barth, at the end of his career, when asked to  share his most profound insight, quoted this line as his response. These two truths lie at the heart of the Christian religion -- that God loves us and that God has spoken to us through the Bible. However, from  those two truths run a number of roiled and contentious roads as Christians argue over the nature of God's love and the nature of God's revelation in the Holy Scriptures.

 The Episcopal Church, generally not regarded as a bastion of evangelical zeal, nonetheless requires all of its candidates for ordination to publicly declare that they believe "the  Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation..." It is worth noting the context of this solemn declaration. It is the first statement that the  candidate makes after being presented and it is the only vow which must be signed by the candidate in the presence of the congregation. At the ordination of a bishop, the Prayer Book requires that "The witnesses add their signatures" after the candidate has signed the declaration. Why this is required of bishops and not of priests or deacons might provide for some amusing speculation. This declaration is required at every ordination, so that a bishop ends up signing it three times in the course of his/her career in ministry.

 This emphasis on adherence to Scriptural authority, found in different forms in various denominations, doesn't seem to have a very deep impact on the life of the Church. One old  saying goes More people own a Bible than read it. More people read the Bible than understand it. More people understand the Bible than follow it. This is hardly surprising as the Bible itself is a dangerous book,  able to break through the barriers that humans erect and bring about transformation when that very transformation is the least thing desired. The Rev'd Nicky Gumbel, curate at Holy Trinity on the Brompton Road in  London, tells a story of a rich young man with a serious drug problem. A friend had given him a pocket New Testament which delighted the young man to no end. It seemed that the pages of the book were very thin and  fine, ideal for rolling joints. Gumbel relates that the young man smoked his way through Matthew, Mark and Luke, and when he got to John, decided to start reading it. The Scriptures broke through his cynicism and  the young man gave his life to Christ. He then brought his therapist to Christ and finally entered a theological college where he trained for ministry in the Church of England. It was there that fellow student Nicky  Gumbel met him and learned another example of the power of the Scriptures.

 There are, of course, more legal ways of trying to avoid the Scriptures' propensity for transformation. One can, of course, ignore it. It is perhaps the safest way. Don't read it.  Better still, don't own a copy. However, if one is a Christian, particularly if one is a Christian minister, this is not really an option.

 Another alternative is to be selective. Find those favorite passages which affirm things already believed, values already held and confine one's reading of Scripture to only those  verses. Yet this is dangerous as well, for it is the favorite tool of the demagogue. In an attempt to justify the heinous practice of American slavery, Christians in the US picked one brief selection in Genesis,  where Noah curses his son Ham for exposing him to ridicule. By a gross misapplication of biblical anthropology and a studious avoidance of the most of the rest of the Bible, this curse was applied solely to  Africans, justifying their servitude and the extreme inhuman treatment piled upon them. As late as the 1950's there were Bible schools which taught this doctrine. On the whole, this manner of protecting oneself from  the transforming power of Scripture is to be avoided.

 Still another alternative is to learn as much as possible about what others think of the Bible without actually knowing it oneself. This is popular in academic circles, though quite  disturbing to the young student who, having had a decent Sunday School upbringing, suddenly realizes that the noble professor hasn't a clue what he or she is talking about. Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz once  drew a cartoon of a couple of teenagers for a church publication. One said to the other, I used to be an expert on the Book of Revelation until I met someone who had actually read it.

 All of this is rather irrelevant for those on the Aidan Way. The first element of our way of life, the element of Study, begins with this line, Daily Bible reading is at  the heart of this Way of life and concludes with these, All that we learn is not for the sake of study itself, but in order that what we learn should be lived. We encourage the Celtic practice of memorizing  scriptures, and learning through the use of creative arts. The Celtic saints were not afraid of the Bible, but welcomed it into their lives. The Psalms were their hymns and many of their poems hymns of praise  regarding the Psalms. Cuthbert and others were wont to keep vigil for long hours, sometimes neck deep in the cold northern waters, chanting the Psalms from memory.

 The Revd Mike Flynn, Episcopal priest and author, marks a moment of transformation in his life and ministry through a change in attitude to the Scriptures. He had noted that during  this theological training the art of Biblical criticism, initially devoted to deepening our understanding of the Scriptures, had built an attitude of judgement in him regarding them. In the midst of his daily prayer  life, he began to understand that if the Scriptures were the Word of God, as he had solemnly declared twice in his ordinations as deacon and priest, then it was the Scriptures that should judge him and not he them.  Though of Irish ancestry, his books show little awareness of his Celtic Christian roots. Yet this one story reveals the true Celtic heart.

 The passionate love of Jesus, discovered in intimate relationship with Him, can lead us to a deep love of God's Word written. This love of the Bible sustains us by pointing us back to  the love of the Savior. The goal of our first element may well be that at the end of our time in this world we may rejoice with Karl Barth in that profound understanding: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible  tells me so.