I have some cousins; I’ll bet you do, too. Linda, John, Mary, Victor, Vernon, and Tim (born to one of my mother’s sisters). All in the same family, all having the same mother and father, all having been raised by the same parents in the same localities. But oh how different they are!
Isn’t it amazing how different children in the same family can be from one another. Now there are almost always some obvious similarities, too. But what makes each one unique, memorable, recognizable . . . are the differences.
Linda was the oldest, the most sophisticated; John was the mischievous one; Mary was the quiet, reserved one (except at times); Victor and Vernon were twins, but each had his own distinct personality and manner of speaking; and Tim was the baby, into absolutely everything. They are all grown now, of course. But I loved those cousins, and their individuality.
One way people deal with Scripture is to look for the common thread that runs throughout; they will refer to parts of the Old Testament and compare them with the New Testament, looking for the similarities. And sometimes . . . ignoring the stark differences. Often you will hear it said, “you should interpret the Bible with the Bible.” That might work . . . as long as you know what you’re doing.
But linking verses of Scripture together can be dangerous, too, of course. As in the case of the man who read from Matthew’s gospel and then flipped over to Luke’s gospel, looking for direction for his life from the Bible.
” He (Judas) . . . went away and hanged himself”
Matthew 27:5b; Luke 10:37b
AND
“Go and do likewise.”
This sounds comical, of course. And it should! Because to take a compilation of ancient documents, bound together in a single volume, and then randomly read them like one would read if seeking advice from the Magic 8 Ball . . . . Now that IS comical! And sad, too. Do people do it? Yes. ALL THE TIME.
Part of the reason is because we’ve been taught to use the Bible this way. But when you do so you not only are doing something dangerous (with regard to interpretation), but inadvertently you rob yourself of seeing the uniqueness of each book in the compilation. Remember, these ancient documents were not written as audition pieces in order to get into the Bible. Each one has its own author, recipients, occasion, and purpose. If you really want to know what they SAY, you must know each of those things.
For example, using the illustration of my twin cousins, Victor and Vernon . . . the Apostle Paul had a couple of “twin” letters: Ephesians, and Colossians. There is a great deal of similarity between these two ancient documents, both likely written in the 60s A.D. And yet, their uniqueness shines through if the reader takes the time to notice. Their two messages complement one another, but they are not the same. Their terminology has some similarities, but also some stark differences. They both address the behavior of wives, husbands, slaves and masters, etc., and they both discuss “the mystery,” but whereas Ephesians talks a great deal about “the heavenly realms” (1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) and the Lord’s “power” (1:19; 3:7, 16, 18, 20; 6:10), Colossians emphasizes the “fullness” of God in Christ (1:19, 25; 2:9-10) and “the basic principles of the world” (2:8, 20), ascetic practices that threaten the Christian’s new identity.
Sometimes these letters were meant to be shared, as in the case of Colossians, where Paul asks that the church there exchange their letter with the Christians in Laodicea and vice versa (Colossians 4:16). Galatians was written to multiple churches in an area (Galatians 1:2), and 1 Peter was written to Christians “scattered” throughout several provinces (1 Peter 1:1). Some were written to individuals, e.g. 3 John, Philemon, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Luke & Acts.
Each document is unique. Are they in conflict with one another because they do not have the same message or use the same vocabulary? Of course not! If you wanted to tell someone how to get to your house you would not give identical instructions to someone living in New York City and someone living in San Francisco. They are two very different places; and different highways (or airports) would be used to get them to your home.
The documents we call “Scripture” do not have the same audience, do not all address the same issue(s), and do not have the same author. Sometimes, referring to them all as “God’s Word” can be misleading, making the reader unconsciously assume that since God is the ultimate source of the material the reader can “mix and match” (so to speak) at will. The fact is, even when the same author is writing (e.g. Paul) there are differences in the terminology used. Writing in the late 40s A.D. to Gentile Christians, recent converts to the faith, Paul says:
” . . . you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God . . . .”
1 Thessalonians 1:9b
This would have made little sense to a Jewish audience. Just as the following (written around the same time to Jewish Christians) would have made little sense to a Gentile audience:
“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.”
Galatians 4:21-22
You can’t read Revelation (written in an apocalyptic style) in the same way you read Jude, even though they are situated right next to each other in the current canon. Genesis isn’t like Song of Songs (in fact, almost nothing is), and you can’t read Job like you read 1 Corinthians. James says that “faith without deeds is useless” and “dead” (James 2:17, 20, 26); by contrast, Paul says ” . . . by grace you have been saved through faith . . . not by works . . . ” (Ephesians 2:8-9). They don’t sound the same.
My cousins are very much alike in one sense, and impossibly different in another sense. 1 Corinthians was written in response to a series of questions Paul had been asked. Romans was written to help Gentiles to accept Jews back into the church after having been expelled by the emperor for 5 years. Jude had intended to write a letter about “the salvation we share” (Jude 3), but dire circumstances caused him to change his message (Jude 3-4). Over and over again the unique nature of each document is of utmost importance. Their intent dictated the words chosen, just as they do in any conversation, letter, email, or text you write today.
Picasso doodled and scribbled constantly, and the things he doodled are as varied as they come. Often he gave those scribblings away. But no matter how much variety there was in his doodles . . . they were still Picassos. The variety you find in Scripture works the same way.
If you want to flip open the Bible, point to a verse and read it to receive direction for your life . . . of course you can do so. But if you really want to understand what the words were meant to convey, well . . . that is a whole different project altogether. The “cousins” are waiting for you.
But we’re not done yet! We will tackle the subject of “inspiration” in the next blog entry. Hang on to your seats!!!!! It’s bound to be a bumpy ride.
The God Story 
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