Meaning and Interpretation

February 19, 2008

I’m only telling you what the Bible says…

The Bible couldn’t be more clear in its condemnation of homosexuality.

This isn’t my view, it’s Gods.

Homosexuality is a sin. God said it, I believe it, that settles it.

Any of these sound familiar? Did you hear them from a family member? A friend? A pastor? The view being expressed in all these statements is that the Bible speaks, we listen, and receive the truth. When we don’t hear the same thing as the person making these statements then it can only mean one of three things to them. We either know they’re right and we’re just lying, we’ve been deceived to believe a lie, or we’re simply denying what we really know to be true in our hearts in an attempt to justify our sins. They’re right because they’re just saying what the Bible says and we are wrong because we’re living a life in opposition to what the Bible says (to them).

Simple. Case closed.

Let’s be really clear about something. The Bible doesn’t say anything. The Bible doesn’t mean anything. The Bible, like all books sacred and secular, divinely-inspired or humanly-composed contain words; a body of text we read, study, ponder, and ultimately interpret, giving the words of the text meaning.

In and of itself the text doesn’t have meaning but gains its meaning through the process of interpretation. All text is interpreted, none is “taken literally just as it says.” How we as humans interpret and thus find particular meaning in Scripture is influenced by a number of factors; we don’t come as empty vessels. We’re socialized to find certain meaning in the scriptures. We have pre-existing ideas, convictions and prejudices. No one reads the Bible and finds it’s meaning without bias. We’re influenced by our upbringing, by the people who comprise our social circle, by our political leanings, by our social location, race and ethnicity.

Even when we come to the scriptures with a whole set of biblical study methods and tools in place we still come with us and that includes those who claim a literal reading of the Scriptures. People will make a text mean what they want it to mean even when they’re unaware they’re doing it and all of us do it. Individual people and entire churches will see in the text what they want to believe because they already believe it.

We look at the text and see our own reflection. And that includes GLBTQ Christians just as it includes those who oppose homosexuality. We need to acknowledge that in reading the Scriptures and finding meaning there we read it not only having been influenced by our evangelical and conservative leanings (if that’s our background), but that we read the scriptures now as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. It’s that double-perspective that creates the struggle for so many of us.

Why is this important to acknowledge? Because it’s honest. I’m a particular race, class, gender, sexual orientation and all of those contribute to the meaning I find in Scripture. This isn’t a bad thing. Without bringing ourselves to our reading of the Scriptures, the Word is flat and without life. If we don’t engage with the Living Word through our own lives and experiences then it’s only a book. But just as we acknowledge this truth for ourselves, we recognize the same is true for everyone else. No one has a less bias reading of the Scriptures and therefore no one can offer you a “more accurate” interpretation of what a passage means. This is why you need engage personally with the Scriptures by going into its pages for yourself. Don’t base your life on anyone else’s interpretation of Scripture. Trust that you have just as much possibility for knowing truth that will guide your life as you would to any of the other voices attempting to tell you what the Bible is really saying. It’s more than about trusting yourself. It’s about trusting the presence of God’s spirit within you; the same Spirit of God that lived in Jesus is now alive in you and will guide you in all truth (John 6:12).

I encourage you to listen with an open heart to the collective wisdom of others and to weigh honestly all that you bring into your understanding of the Scriptures, but in the end there’s one voice alone to consider when it comes to your life and that’s the voice of the Spirit of God dwelling within you. No other voice, no matter how convincing the words, will bring you certain peace and direction for where you go from here.

[Recommended Reading: Sex and the Single Savior by Dale Martin, Chapter 1: The Myth of Textual Agency]

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Posted in Biblical Authority, Email Outtakes, The Bible and Homosexuality