The Whole Bible
By Rev. David Wilson Rogers | June 8, 2013
While traveling abroad some years ago, I had the occasion to visit with a charming British woman who told me that she just loved the United States and joyously proclaimed that she had learned all about the U.S. during her travels here. I then asked her where in the United States she had been and with abounding enthusiasm, she told me that her only trip the U.S. was a bus tour that originated in Boston and ended in Washington D.C. Yet, in her mind, she had seen the whole United States.
Those of us living so far removed from the Eastern Seaboard can quickly and easily recognize that there is far more to the United States of America than that narrow corridor between the Capitol and Boston. In fact, we laugh at the suggestion that people would actually believe her trip is representative of all the U.S. has to offer.
Interestingly, however, we tend to do the same thing with the Bible. Some would call it a preferred “canon within the canon.” Others would, rather pejoratively, call it “proftexting.” However one may refer to the practice, it is never a faithful way to approach and interpret scripture.
Consider
In
stark contrast, one may also consider
The
book of
As
Christians, do we submit full and unquestioned allegiance to the government as
an institution created and placed by God to serve the common good, or do we
faithfully resist all forms of government that fail to serve the common good?
Do we serve God by eradicating all non-Jewish people from the Holy Land or is
God served by working to make the land a place of peace where all nations, all
races, and even all religions can find God in the compassionate and loving acts
of God’s people? Are we sinning if we do not follow the letter of the law as
depicted in Leviticus, or are we to merely follow the example of
These are not easy questions! Yet, often we find simplistic answers that are firmly rooted in one part of scripture and do not take into account the whole of scripture. It is no different from assuming the whole of the U.S. is as one finds it in Boston, New York, or Washington D.C.
For the faithful Christian, the Bible is the indispensable Word of God. It must be taken seriously and trusted implicitly. Yet it must also be taken and interpreted as a complete whole. We do not serve God when we elevate our favorite passages above all others and completely ignore whole sections of the Bible. Our faith demands nothing less!
Back