It Seems to Me: An Attempt to Talk Sense About the Bible

Copyright © 2011 Jim Dinsmore

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-1720-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1719-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1718-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011928727

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/23/2011

For Jolene

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1. THE BIBLE COMES TO AMERICA

2. HISTORY

3. LANGUAGE

4. THINKING ABOUT THEOLOGY

5. THINKING ABOUT THE

GOD OF THE BIBLE

6. BITS AND PIECES

7. SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE

8. STRANGE THINGS IN THE BIBLE

(and some strange things that are not really there)

9. DIFFERENCES AND DISAGREEMENTS IN THE EARLY CHURCH

10. OUR STORY

IN CONCLUSION

PREFACE

This book is the result of many years in pastoral ministry, and particularly the place of the Bible in that ministry. My people loved the Bible, they believed the Bible, they respected the Bible. But most of them were not really at home in the Bible. They could quote verses, they knew many of the stories, but didn’t really seem to know how to get past that.

So I began to look for ways to help them feel at home in the Bible. There are books, printed Bible studies, charts, maps and other helps available. But most of them were either too simple, or too technical, or too question and answer or so oriented to a specific agenda that most of them didn’t really help a lot. I tried context and history and language and timelines and all kinds of stuff, with a bit of success, but not nearly enough.

I came to believe that many people are a bit intimidated by the Bible. It is so different from the other books they read. They have mostly experienced it in small pieces, or perhaps in a reading program that sends them all over the Bible with minimal guidance as to why the program is jumping around so much. For one reason or another, many have come to think it is only the professionals who can rightly interpret the Bible. But given the incredible variety of theological opinions, sometimes I wonder if we professionals have not created more problems than we have solved.

So I began to look for a better way. What makes me feel at home in the Bible? When does the Bible really grab me? I began to focus on the STORY, the ongoing story of the People of God, the Family of God. I found I learned more that was worthwhile when I looked at how the people had experienced their lives with God. I began to understand that I am part of that experience.

That’s what this book is about.

Many people have helped me in this journey. So many of the guys in Mankato, Minnesota have contributed greatly to my life. Wayne Sandee taught me to look for invitations. Roger Paquin was involved with so many events that taught me a little more about living. Dick McNea, Edroy Anderson, Otis Olson, and others modeled Christian faith for me in credible, beautiful ways. I am very grateful to them all.

Dr. Bruce Jones and Mike Hardee gave invaluable help in reading versions of the manuscript, and offered very helpful suggestions for content, direction, and style. Their help is much appreciated.

Jim Dinsmore

INTRODUCTION

This little book is a collection of ideas and observations about the way we read the Bible.

As a pastor I preached from the Bible, taught the Bible, counseled from the Bible. In churches, prisons, rescue missions, camps, living rooms, on street corners and letters to the editor, and a host of other settings, I listened to people talking about what the Bible says. I observed that what the Bible says varied with the opinions and personality of those quoting it.

The polarization we see in our country today, especially in politics and religion, is very troubling. Sometimes I wonder if we have lost our way. Politicians seem more interested in winning, gaining or regaining power, than in doing what is good for our nation. In religion, we often seem more interested in promoting our opinions than in reflecting the beauty of Christ. And the Bible is right in the middle of the battle.

But when I hear that Bible being used in the battle, most of the time it doesn’t sound much like the Bible I know. And I wonder why that is. The Bible on my shelf is pretty much the Bible on the shelf of the folks down the street. People tend to find pretty much what they want to find in the Bible. See, I’m right. It says so right there. Surely that is not what God has in mind.

Being right. We seem to turn every disagreement into a question or an argument about who’s right? And there is a certain evil pleasure in being right. But it seems to me that is almost always the wrong question when the people of God disagree. Is it not more helpful (and more biblical) to ask How can I understand? Isn’t it better to share a cup of coffee on the front porch than to stand in two lines and throw mud at one another?

Part of what this book is about is the way we read the Bible. We mostly read the Bible in ways we would read no other book, except perhaps the dictionary or Roget’s Thesaurus. When I read a story, or a book of history, or a novel, I read the book. Probably I will have a cup of coffee or a root beer, and if I’m really lucky, a piece of lemon meringue pie. But I sit down and read the book. I get the story line, the character development, the suspense, the surprises. I can talk about the book, the real book.

But with the Bible, we read verses, chapters, check out references, talk about little bits and pieces. It seems to me that much of the way we come to the Bible essentially guarantees that we will miss the central STORY. And it is the STORY which we must hear. It is in the STORY that we find our identity.

This little book is written to readers who care about the Bible, who want to have a sensible understanding of the Bible, but who don’t speak or think in the specialized language or categories of theology. I think many people believe the Bible must be understood and interpreted by the specialists and professionals. There is just enough truth in that idea to make it dangerous. Some things are hard to understand, and those who have studied the languages and the history and the customs can help greatly. But there is a great STORY spread large upon the pages of the Bible, that is available to readers who simply come to the Bible to read, look, and listen. The blessing for the one who hears and the one who reads of Revelation chapter 1 might well be applied to the whole sweep of the Bible’s STORY.

I have been in the church my whole life. As a pastor, I was very much an insider. But I always tried to listen to as many outsiders as possible. I learned quickly that respect and credibility are not a given. You have to earn it. And words and opinions were not much help in that process.

That is part of the fire in the belly that made me want to put these thoughts on paper. I hope the book can help the reader feel more at home in the Bible, and see his mission more clearly.

This book offers not a method but a way of seeing. That way of seeing has helped me to feel at home in the Bible. I believe that when Christians are at home in the Bible, when they see themselves and other believers in the STORY, it is more likely they will play nice with their brothers and sisters, and reflect some of the beauty of Christ to the world. .

Jim Dinsmore

CHAPTER 1

THE BIBLE COMES TO AMERICA

The Bible came to America a long time ago. A great mix of people, from around the world, came to these shores, bringing with them a wide variety of religious beliefs and practices. Beginning in 1513, Spanish armies and missionaries brought Catholic Christianity to the North American continent first in Florida. By 1521, Catholic missionaries were seeking to convert the native population. By 1600, missionaries followed the armies across the continent, as far as the present states of New Mexico, and Arizona, and deep into Mexico.

As the process of settlement progressed, it brought Huguenots (French Calvinists) to Florida and other coastal states. A Huguenot settlement was established in Florida in 1564. Slave ships brought African captives, some with traditional African religion, some Muslim. Anglicans, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Puritans, Anabaptists and Baptists, Quakers, Lutherans, Mennonites, Dunkers, Moravian Pietists, and others followed. Eclectic groups developed, mixing Christian and traditional beliefs and practices. Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, founded in 1636 by Baptist Roger Williams, became home and haven for dissidents such as Anne Hutchinson, Quakers, Jews, and various non-conformist groups.

These groups all brought their Bibles. They all believed their Bibles. They all cared about following their Bibles. And they all disagreed about their Bibles. In Jamestown, Virginia, (founded 1607) the law required attendance at Sunday worship in the Anglican Church. But in Plymouth(1620) or Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) Separatists such as the Pilgrims rejected the practices of the Anglican Church. They all read the Good Book, but didn’t seem to be able to agree on what it meant.

Wherever the new Americans went, the church and the Bible went with them. Where various nationalities and ethnic groups settled together, their churches arose. Norwegian settlements built Lutheran Churches, The Dutch built Reformed, Calvinist churches. Orthodox churches arose in areas where Russian, Greek, and others of Orthodox tradition settled. Where Jewish immigrants settled, synagogues were established. Some African slaves continued to practice Islam, though specifics