There's reading and then there's reading.
First let me get out of the way that I've heard stories that show whole swathes of churches that are actively discouraged from reading their bibles. Or at least, discouraged from reading their Bible without the Correct Interpretation to hand, so to speak.
The tradition I grew up in exhorted you to read it, but (I see now) was not good at helping you understand it. For that, you relied on the sermon or the (hopefully approved) study notes in your Bible Study. The underlying belief was in one of fundamentals. So, the Bible was "inerrant", the Pentateuch was Moses' work, etc etc. Verses were often used out-of-context. Even from the pulpit teaching about the context of the scripture was rarely done and rarely appreciated. I see now there is a self-perpetuating cult of static knowledge.
The first church I called home would be what I would call Evangelical Conservative. But they had a tendancy to look towards Charismatic practices, too, even as they maintained a level of intellectualism. It is possible I am mis-remembering my first church, but we moved suburbs and hence churches when I was 12. The second church I called home was much the same. It was the same denomination - Australian Baptist, to distinguish it from the US's Southern Baptist, but I wonder how far apart in theology they really are.
I left my second church when I was 30 or so. The new church I found myself in was part of the Churches Of Christ in Australia - again, not the same as the US versions. As far as I can tell, theologically identical to my first two churches. None of the three would do the things that Westboro Baptist does, yet the beliefs are not miles apart.
But a funny thing happened a few years ago. The scholarship about the history of the Bible and of the history of the church became more accessible, largely with the help of the Internet and especially Wikipedia.
And I started learning about stories work.
It's all very well reading the Bible to reinforce what you think you know about and to share that with others. It's quite another thing to look at genuine research about how it came together. I think Conservative Evangelical churches don't like the latter because it challenges pre-conceived knowledge - and most pew-sitters don't want to do that.
Wade.
The tradition I grew up in exhorted you to read it, but (I see now) was not good at helping you understand it. For that, you relied on the sermon or the (hopefully approved) study notes in your Bible Study. The underlying belief was in one of fundamentals. So, the Bible was "inerrant", the Pentateuch was Moses' work, etc etc. Verses were often used out-of-context. Even from the pulpit teaching about the context of the scripture was rarely done and rarely appreciated. I see now there is a self-perpetuating cult of static knowledge.
The first church I called home would be what I would call Evangelical Conservative. But they had a tendancy to look towards Charismatic practices, too, even as they maintained a level of intellectualism. It is possible I am mis-remembering my first church, but we moved suburbs and hence churches when I was 12. The second church I called home was much the same. It was the same denomination - Australian Baptist, to distinguish it from the US's Southern Baptist, but I wonder how far apart in theology they really are.
I left my second church when I was 30 or so. The new church I found myself in was part of the Churches Of Christ in Australia - again, not the same as the US versions. As far as I can tell, theologically identical to my first two churches. None of the three would do the things that Westboro Baptist does, yet the beliefs are not miles apart.
But a funny thing happened a few years ago. The scholarship about the history of the Bible and of the history of the church became more accessible, largely with the help of the Internet and especially Wikipedia.
And I started learning about stories work.
It's all very well reading the Bible to reinforce what you think you know about and to share that with others. It's quite another thing to look at genuine research about how it came together. I think Conservative Evangelical churches don't like the latter because it challenges pre-conceived knowledge - and most pew-sitters don't want to do that.
Wade.