Embrace the Validity of the Bible
“First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.”
We all misinterpret sacred Scripture because we unconsciously try to make its contents fit our worldview. Acknowledging our worldview and inviting the Holy Spirit’s guidance helps us begin the process of gleaning divine truth. In her book Miracles and Wonder, Elaine Pagels provides helpful examples of how intellectual people can confuse Scripture because they cannot evaluate the Biblical faith except through their narrow, limited lens.
Pagels provides the example of American psychologist William Hurst, who asserted that Jesus suffered from severe paranoia that “progressed to ‘megalomania.’” Pagel then gives French psychiatrist Charles Binet-Sangle as her following example. Binet-Sangle gives the example of Jesus’ temptation with Satan “as evidence of Jesus’s ‘hallucinations,’ [which] suggests a diagnosis of ‘religious paranoia.” Ironically, these two learned individuals fall into the trap of taking scripture literally to provide their “diagnoses.” Hurst and Binet-Sangle fail to interpret Jesus’ words and actions, considering first-century history or as intentional stories that fulfill Hebrew Scripture texts.
Dr. Elaine Pagels confirms, “What these comments show is how far misunderstanding can go when contemporary readers, like these learned psychiatrists, are ignorant of the symbolic language that Jesus’s actions ‘speak.’” Even as Jesus is supposedly clinically “hysterical,” turning the moneychangers’ tables over in the temple, he is quoting Isaiah and Jeremiah’s oracles of divine judgment. Jesus remains in control and makes his point clearly, in a way that all will remember. Attempting to use Scripture without the guidance of scholarly interpretation, the Holy Spirit, and faith will lead to ignorant misinterpretation.
In moments when you speak to someone, or read somewhere, that belief in the Bible is ignorant, remember that their limited understanding will one day become obvious. Do not shy away from the faith because you do not immediately have an answer to an uncomfortable or contradictory aspect of Scripture. Instead, trust those who, for thousands of years, have found truth and wisdom in the sacred texts. Rather than chalk them up to ignorant forebearers who didn’t have knowledge, dive deeper, while trusting God to illumine your mind, strive to develop an understanding that is both intellectually and faithfully true to who God is and how we are to live. Don’t give up, or give in, but know that God will enlighten our path forward.
