Francis begins the book by suggesting how vital it is that we, with effort, read and study scripture as if it were our first time laying eyes on it.
(With some hesitance, he does point out that it is important to note context and the fact that the scriptures were written to a faith based community. Taking an exegetical approach is also important when reading scripture as well... but these are all normal approaches when handling any type of literature).
But his point is that we should leave our "baggage at the
door" when it comes to taking in what the scripture has to say in order to grasp the full meaning. That means all our presuppositions and influences should not interpret the meaning of scripture. His point-- don't allow ourselves to be spoon fed by other sources (ie. pastors, leaders, parents, teachers, friends, strangers, ect.) when the scriptures are here, accessible to all. We are more than capable of reading them ourselves. And for the most part I agree. Further on, we should ask questions and follow up on what we are taught in church, in school, in music, in podcast... or through whatever medium we hear or s
ee the scriptures.
It is this last part that I have chewed on mainly because I have a bruised past with it. In my early teens, I was in a position once where I was being fed a tainted view of the gospel, and was told not to ask hard questions when it came to the parts of scripture that were hard to digest. In fact, I was just suppose to "have faith" and accept what I was being told. And sometimes, my questions would be answered with other questions with an objective to divert from what my original question was... you with me? In other words
, I was receiving a very manipulated fashion of teaching.
Anyway, thankfully, God opened up (through a painful and detrimental event, mind you) a way for me to leave that environment. God placed me in a community where I was free to ask my questions. Some were answered... some were not. Nevertheless, I was free to ask them without being looked upon as "backsliding" or "doubting the faith" or whatever you would call it.
Back to Chan, he quotes the verse in Acts 17 where Paul was teaching and the Bereans were eagerly listening AND examining the Scriptures to make sure what Paul was saying was indeed true according to the Scripture. After learning many things about Paul and fully comprehending how awesome he was, a man who was so faithful and full of integrity as well, a man that could be trusted, yet the Bereans still tested his words to the Scriptures. Interesting...
One of the first things I learned in my Hermeneutics was that S
cripture is THE PRIMARY source. You can read credible books, listen to the most intellectual, hip, relevant pastor/speaker/teacher, sing the most theological hymn.... but without YOU actively holding their message side by side to the Scriptures,.. you are just taking them at their word. Spoon-feeding at its best.
My point--If a man like Paul, during his ministry, was tested in the things he said by what the Scriptures proclaimed... then we shouldn't listen to any
message without testing its content in light of what the Bible says. Further more, teachers, pastors, theologians, ect shouldn't feel offended when their audience or congregation dust off their Bibles and open them to test their message with the Scriptures. In fact-- in acts the Bereans are regarded as receiving Paul's message eagerly. I'm imagining them as having a zeal or excitement to hear Paul so that they could hold what he was saying to the content of the Scriptures. I imagine them thinking if what Paul was saying was true, then this made for incredible revelation! A fulfillment of the prophecies of old! (And obviously, Paul was speaking in accordance to the Scriptures).
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