Why Some People Struggle to Understand the Bible Posted on May 27, 2010, 9:17 pm, by frdoug, under Theology. Scripture is the self-disclosure of God reversing the curse and restoring creation to its Edenic origins (Gen. 3, Rev. 20-21). This restoration takes place within history, the time-space continuum, so that the events of history can only be interpreted eschatologically. In other words, a single verse, person, or event must always be read as a contribution to the over-arching narrative, God’s meta-narrative of restoration. A few illustrations will suffice. Moses is a harbinger of the true Israelite to come, the One who will redeem His brethern. As such, he passes through the water (Ex. 2:1-10), enters the wilderness (Ex. 2:11-15) and meets God on a mountain (Ex. 3:1-3). A cursory reading of the gospels shows Christ fufilling the pattern. So then, Moses can no longer be construed merely as an example of faith, courage or endurance. Instead, he must be interpreted redemptively, as a type of the Christ to come. This method of reading the Scriptures illumines seemingly opaque details. Take for example Luke’s passing remark in Acts 18:3, “[Paul] was a tentmaker.” Generally, this is seen as insignificant, important only for church planters. Yet, when read through an eschatological “lense” those words swell with meaning and help ellucidate God’s meta-narrative of restoration, for only three chapters earlier (Acts 15:16) James quotes Amos 9:11, “I will restore David’s fallen tent” to justify the inclusion of the Gentiles. So then, Paul is more than a missionary, who supports himself. Instead, he is the tent making Apostle will make God a tent, comprised of both Jew and Gentiles (Eph. 2). Priests and pastors must eschew moralism, for that will reduce them to mere motivators, while transforming their people into arrogant Pharisees. Instead they must preach the whole of Scripture as God’s story of redemption and transformation.

Fr Doug Sangster, Holy Trinity Reformed Episcopal Church Houston.

http://holytrinityrec.org/AFAC/?p=160