Things to Think About...

What's so special about the Bible?
Every major faith tradition has some form of sacred scripture. It is important for the followers of a faith to have some kind of rule or measuring stick that stands over and against the daily practice of the faith, something which measures and motivates daily life. Typically this is contained in some form of sacred writings. For example: the Muslims have the Koran, the Jews have the Tanakh, the Mormons have the book of Mormon, Hindusim has the Bhagavad Gita. All of these are different forms of scripture.

Christians have scripture as well. We claim that the Bible as scripture. However, we Christians are bold to claim that although we have scripture as so many other faiths do, ours is different. Our scripture is Holy Scripture. The addition of that one word Holy is very significant for our understanding of Christian scripture.

In my thinking on the nature and purpose of scripture I have been deeply formed by John Webster’s Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. Webster points out that scripture is a common human endeavor. The religions of various cultures and ages have compiled writings that are a rich mixture of culture, art, drama, poetry, teachings of wisdom etc. This is the human and earthly reality that is present in every form of scripture. For Christians we could point to the poetry of the Psalms, the drama of the story of Joseph, the wisdom of Proverbs or the book of James. All scriptures, regardless of the tradition are compilations of human reading and writing. What then is it that makes Christian scripture different?

Christian scripture is Holy scripture and that one word makes all the difference. To speak of scripture as Holy is not to reference its origins in the heart and mind of human artists and writers but rather to refer to its divine origin. To be sure, Christian scripture is a human endeavor, written by human hands at a certain point in history. However, Christians recognize that this particular set of human writings, has been sanctified, that is set apart by God to be used by God in God’s work of revealing himself through Jesus Christ. In other words, the divine origin and use of this particular set of human writings (the Old and New Testaments) make them Holy. Had God not chosen to uses these writings to reveal himself to us then they would be simply scripture. However, God in his freedom and graciousness has decided to be present to us, to speak to us, guide us, teach us, and save us through these particular writings.

So then, what makes the Bible holy? The fact that God uses it to communicate himself to us. I have offered this as my answer to the question ‘What’s so special about the Bible?’ I offer my answer as a challenge to you. If your neighbor, co-worker, or child asked you ‘What’s so special about the Bible?’ how would you answer? The stuttering reply ‘Well….it’s the Bible’ is not likely to impress people who don’t often read the Bible or go to Church. In order to share our faith with our neighbors it is important for us to be able to articulate our faith clearly. So I challenge you this week, take some time to answer this question for yourself.
What’s so special about the Bible?