Biblical II

The Issue

“To be biblical is simply to align oneself with the claims of the Bible.” said an old friend of mine.

Unfortunately, my friend’s claim is not as simple as it appears. As they say, the devil is in the details; there are many sub-questions that stem from the question of how to be biblical. For instance, is believing in a literal six-day creation essentially biblical? Should a local church have a single or multiple elders? Should women cover their heads at church, or is it just a cultural issue?

Moreover, are these issues primary or secondary in determining whether an individual or an institution is biblical? The difficulty arises from the fact that we often disagree on what is really biblical, what is primary, and what is secondary according to Bible’s teachings. As a result, being biblical requires that we have some common ground in approaching the Bible.

Nonetheless, Christians widely disagree on this issue. For some Christians, being biblical is being literal, taking every statement in the Bible as literally as possible (fundamentals). These Christians often find it easier to interpret the Pauline epistles because they contain straightforward teachings for the church. However, they struggle with interpreting many Old Testament passages, the Gospels, Hebrews, and the book of Revelation. For instance, they tend to interpret many Proverbs as promises [which is not intended by the original author.] In other words, Proverbs about rewards of obedience are interpreted as promises. This approach confused many Christian parents in their endeavor for biblical parenting. They, moreover, struggle with the imagery in the Psalms and the seemingly contradicting narratives of the Gospels. Thus, they end up enforcing their theology on passages that do not fit their rigid literal systems!

 Other Christians focus on specific passages as foundational to their denominations. This selectivity is especially apparent in many mainline Protestant denominations. For example, Presbyterians usually highlight passages supporting election and predestination. On the other hand, Methodists seem to stress passages suggesting human responsibility. Baptists would insist on immersion as the proper way to perform baptism and cite specific passages to support their claim. Finally, other Christians are more concerned with their traditions and liturgies than being biblical (many Catholics and Orthodox Christians). That said, today, many Christians from all backgrounds still struggle with the question of being biblical. Being biblical, thus, is not a question of one’s home church or whether one recites/memorizes some verses but a question of credibility and identity. To be continued…