How Do We Interpret the Bible; such as the Creation Story?
Psalm 104: 1-24, 27-30; Psalm 8: 4-6; 2 Timothy 3: 14-17
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
July 29, 2018
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild asses quench their thirst.
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has its home in the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they withdraw
and lie down in their dens.
People go out to their work
and to their labor until the evening.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures. - Psalm 104: 1-24
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands. - Psalm 8: 4-6
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3: 14-17
I stand alone on the Word of God/ the B-I-B-L-E
You know the song, but how would you describe the way you stand alone on the Word of God?
Thomas Jefferson did so in a unique way. Like many of the founding fathers, Jefferson subscribed to deism – the belief that after God created the world, God no longer actively related to it. Deist thinkers liken God to an all-knowing clock maker who made the world like a perfect clock; God set it into motion and it needs no help from its maker [2].
A highly educated man of the 1800’s, Jefferson was drawn to science, reason, and theology. Jefferson read the Bible in Greek, Latin, French, and King James’ English, but took issue with parts of it. Most of us wrestle with the Bible too.
But Jefferson had a distrust of the gospel writers, “whom he considered to be untrustworthy correspondents” [1]. As a result, Jefferson created his own Bible. He took the likes of an X-Acto knife and cut out pages of the New Testament to reflect his personal interpretation of Christ’s philosophy and teachings.
It is surprising to note that the Jeffersonian Bible “[omitted] anything that Jefferson perceived as “contrary to reason;” including Jesus’ miracles and even the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.”[1]
To say we stand alone on the Word of God leads us to our next question from the pew today: How do we interpret the Bible, such as the Creation story? For example, is the earth young or old?
There is a sea that divides us when we read the Bible from the time in which it was written and our time today. The reading of Scripture in the fourth century was greatly influenced by Saint Augustine who said, “We turn to the faith within only to accede beyond, to God.” [3]
Thomas Jefferson lived in the time when the social tides of authority significantly shifted. Rene’ Descartes (pronounced ‘day-cart’) was a 17th century French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician. He brought about this shift known as the Enlightenment, marking modernity as we know it. Descartes completely shifted the world’s thinking.
Dr. George Stroup (Theology Professor of Columbia Theological Seminary) describes this modern thought as, “Clear and distinct ideas are [now] the criterion for discerning truth…The center of reality is now thinking, reasoning, and self, and not God.” [4]
You and I are children of the Enlightenment. We are driven to interpret and prove or disprove ideas based on empirical facts and logic. As a result, science and faith have since been perceived as rival teams that threaten one another, especially when it comes to understanding the Creation story.
Some read the Genesis account of Creation literally (Genesis 1). This interpretation of Scripture holds that God created in a twenty-four hour – six day period. This shapes a reading of the world as a young earth. For some that brings clarity and understanding. For others it brings more questions.
The truth is that regarding Creation, science and faith are asking two different questions. Science asks how Creation happened. Faith asks why God created the heavens and earth and you and me?
And yet the big question remains hanging out there: How do we interpret the Bible? How do we render a faithful understanding of God’s Word?
I would be remiss if I did not share a disclaimer to you. To answer this question faithfully through much prayer and study, the answer is not a denominational answer. Rather our faith seeks understanding through the Reformed tradition, which goes back to the 16th century.
Its voice is a collective one for millions of Christians across the world. Its foundation is the authority of Scripture because the Bible always points to God’s authority in all things. This tradition urges our faith to seek understanding by asking questions of the living Word of God. The Holy Spirit leads us to articulate what we believe in every time and place for God is on the move to do a new thing through the Word of Jesus Christ. We do this by prayerful study of the Scripture as we are guided by the confessions. This is the task of the Reformed tradition.
We faithfully interpret Scripture when we stand under the Bible’s authority. “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3: 16-17).
The Bible holds such powerful authority for our lives because it points to God’s authority. “The authority of God’s Word does not depend on the testimony of the church or any human, but solely rests upon God (Westminster Confession of Faith 6.004).” Scripture points to God’s authority as our Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth, our refuge, rock, shepherd, judge, and redeemer.
As our faith seeks to understand the Bible we must remember Scripture is not a text book of religion or science. If we engage the Bible to find scientific answers (such as the age of the earth) or to validate its historical accuracy, then we will be sorely disappointed. This is not the purpose of Scripture.
The biblical focus of the Creation stories (Genesis 1-2 holds two Creation accounts) is not solely about the creation. The biblical focus is about the Creator.
A beloved mentor, professor, and the ninth President of Columbia Theological Seminary – Steve Hayner once preached, “The Bible is largely a narrative of God’s people who are trying to figure out their lives in relation to God.”
Therefore, we must read the whole of Scripture and not stand alone on parts of God’s Word. So, let us hold our texts today alongside the first two chapters of Genesis.
God did not create, set us in motion and turn us loose. Rather God’s wisdom has made all of creation, creatures, and humanity to live in relationship with God and one another (Psalm 104:24). The heavens and earth, the springs, the grass, the trees, the birds, the mountains, the lions, and we ourselves all share a God-given manifold intimacy that the Psalmist poetically describes (Psalm 104: 1-24). Oh, that we would be captivated by our Maker to praise God and enjoy the Lord forever because the Lord delights in us (Genesis 1, Psalm 8, Psalm 104, 2 Timothy 3: 16).
Approaching the Bible faithfully means we should not be satisfied with just the plain reading of Scripture. The Bible was first passed down through the oral tradition and was later written. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek, and both have been prayerfully translated into every language to witness to God’s life-giving hope.
Did you know that of all the world’s religions the Bible is the only sacred book that is translated in various languages?
The Bible holds writings of different literary genres: narratives (traditions and cultural memories), history (not facts but deep truths), prophecy (interpreting the future through the past), poetry, wisdom, gospels, parables, and letters. These genres resist literal interpretation. They reveal truths of how we are to live into God’s purposes, and they invite us to join God in fulfilling them by way of Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit.
It matters that God’s Word was written in a particular time, in a particular context, and in a particular language that is not always clear to understand. Therefore, we honor the Bible’s authority by studying its historical and literary context in order to comprehend it in our time and context today.
The Jewish tradition attributes Genesis and the next four books of the Bible to Moses. However, biblical scholars hold that the Creation accounts in Genesis were actually written when God’s people were held captive in Babylon (586 B.C.E. – 516 B.C.E.).
The Babylonian culture understood their origins from the mythical god Marduk. In the beginning chaos was stirred up like a choppy ocean from the goddess Tiamat. Marduk and Tiamat engaged in an epic struggle. Marduk subdued the chaos by killing Tiamat. Marduk cut her body in two, making two domes, and then brought forth the created order. Then Marduk claimed his position as the almighty god [5].
God’s people of Israel did not hold this to be their truth. Instead the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the Lord alone. When you look toward heaven and count the stars, remember you are descendants of Abraham (Genesis 15:5). The breadth of God swept over the watery chaos and brought the order of creation; the assurance that God would bring God’s people order in the chaos of exile. (Genesis 1:1-2; Jeremiah 29: 4-13; Ezekiel 37: 1-14). God created all things between heaven and earth and called each one good; the assurance of God’s steadfast love and promise to bring forth a future with hope (Psalm 104, Jeremiah 29:11).
Does learning the historical context of Genesis invalidate the authenticity of the Bible? As the Apostle Paul says, “By no means!” The context reveals that Creation is more than a one-time event. It is a theological claim about identity; the identity of God and God’s people.
When life seems like an endless void – you might say a ‘hot mess’ – well that is when God does his best work. Nothing is impossible for God.
If God told the chaos of the sea, “You will only come this far,” then God will tame the chaos around and within you too.
If God has a vision for creating everything with goodness and great detail one day at a time, then God is trustworthy to care for every detail of your daily living too.
If God connects every living thing with purpose, then God surely has blessed your life with a purpose to bless others.
Remember that God brought forth new life from a formless void – nothingness (Genesis 1:1). God made the valley of dead bones live again (Ezekiel 37). God resurrected our Savior who suffered and died.
And if God has done all that, then God will surely raise up new life within you and me and this weary world. God will do it today and every day until we are united in heaven.
That’s how our Reformed tradition stands alone on the Word of God.
My dear friend The Rev. Dr. Steve Hayner once said, “The Bible is there so that by its proper use, the Creator may be glorified, and the creation may be healed.”
May you and I strive to be faithful students of the B-I-B-L-E. It is God’s gift to us and our responsibility to be faithful to it.
As a dear colleague of mine says - It’s all that easy and it’s all that hard.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] Owen Edwards, “How Thomas Jefferson Created His Own Bible,” Smithsonian Magazine, January 2012
[2] Daniel Migliore, “Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology” (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2004), p. 407.
[3] George Stroup, “Before God” (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), p. 32.
[4] George Stroup, p. 32.
[5] Michael D. Coogan, "The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures" (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 5-6
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