Here’s why I’ve started reading the Bible again and how I found a way into what can be a confusing text through a series of weirdly engaging short videos.
I’ve attended Episcopal churches on and off since college. Our denomination has always seemed to me to be a thinking person’s church. A place that isn’t afraid of science or doubt or difficult questions. A place that’s eager to embrace the progress made by society in treating all kinds of people fairly and with dignity.
At the same time, what’s kept me coming back to the Episcopal Church after forays into other places that also appeal to open-minded people is the church’s authenticity. I find that authenticity in the church’s traditions, whether in architecture, music, or style of worship.
Yet, I have to admit that over years I never really scratched the surface of that tradition. It was reassuring that Episcopal traditions were there. But what did they mean?
In every Sunday service, I listened to scripture readings, sang hymns and recited prayers and creeds that went back hundreds or thousands of years. Their mere presence comforted me. Hey, I thought, this must be trustworthy if it’s been around so long.
And of course I understood the words, usually. But I didn’t get much meaning out of those words. Now that I think about it, many of those words were from the Bible.
According to Church of England theologian Michael Marshall, the Anglican-Episcopal tradition has more Bible passages and quotes in our liturgy than almost any other Christian denomination.
Yet, for some reason, our tradition is not the leader on reading the Bible.
- Taken together with other Mainline Protestants, only 30% of us read the Bible every week, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.
- By contrast, 61% of Historically Black Protestants and 63% of Evangelicals read the Bible at least once a week.
That’s a big difference.
So, to borrow a question from the software industry, does that Bible-reading gap represent a feature or a bug? Are Episcopalians OK with our level of Bible knowledge? Or do we and other Mainline Protestants have something to learn from other Christians who read the Bible more avidly than we do?
My Worship without the Bible Was Uninspiring
Speaking for myself, my lack of familiarity with the Old and New Testaments made it harder for me to connect with worship services. My mind wandered during the scripture readings. During the hymns I paid more attention to trying to carry the tune than trying to get the meaning of the lyrics. And the prayers and creeds became rote recitations, interesting as historical artifacts, but not really speaking to me today.
While I was glad to have the stability and predictability of Episcopal worship, I never went very deep with it.
Yet, I wanted to go deep, not just in religion but in many areas of life. I’ve always been dissatisfied with the obvious explanation for things whether in politics or the economy or culture — and certainly about morals, metaphysics and meaning, issues that have always pointed towards religion. I can’t help it.
But I looked for that depth somewhere — the pages of the New Yorker, a hike over a mountain pass, biographies of great people from American history, a spartan retreat at a Zen Center.
I never thought I could find depth at a nice, reliable Episcopal Church. Friendly, intelligent people who shared most of my assumptions about politics or the economy or living a good life, yes. But insights to find real meaning in life? It seemed unlikely.
And then, last fall, I started reading the Bible again.
I don’t know exactly why I came back to this perennial classic at that time. I guess it was a culmination of years of reading and thinking while responding to a difficult time for myself and my family.
Reading the Bible so far, I’ve discovered a few things.
First — no surprise — the Bible is not always easy to read. And I’m a pretty avid reader. I can usually finish a book or two a week, mostly non-fiction. But going through the Old Testament Book of Habbakuk is not like reading Ron Chernow’s Hamilton. It takes more concentration to read the Bible, even books with more plot like Genesis or the Gospel of Mark.
Second, though I may not remember all that much of my Bible reading, I do remember the experience. If you’re a Christian, then reading the Bible is not like reading an ordinary secular book on history or ethics or philosophy, just for information or entertainment.
Reading a sacred text as a believer is a worship experience. Though I may not actually retain much information or get much entertainment out of a Bible text — at least in my first reading — I do get something. It’s not easy to explain. But I feel it quietly percolating inside me. I can already feel that reading the Bible is changing the mental frame through which I see my life and the world.
And understanding where the words of the liturgical service fit into the larger Bible narrative helps connect me better on Sunday morning to scripture readings, hymns and prayers.
Third, to get more out of my Bible reading, I need some context. For instance, learning about Alexander Hamilton through Ron Chernow’s biography requires some background on British and American history, the politics and philosophy of the eighteenth century, and Hamilton’s family. In the same way, it’s helpful to know about the Bible’s own time and place.
Even Biblical “literalists” care about the language, traditions, and secular history of ancient Israel along with the great empires, from Egypt to Rome, that both defined the limits and opened up the horizons of the Hebrews and early Christians.
Videos that Make the Bible Accessible
One resource that’s been valuable to help me get started with the Bible has been short animated videos from the Bible Project website. Started and run by Bible scholar Tim Mackie and digital videographer Jon Collins, the series has gotten accolades from across the spectrum of Christian denominations. I first heard about it from Father AJ, so it must be Episcopal-approved.
They’re serious videos that explain the context and content of books of the Bible in a way that’s easy for anyone to understand. And their animation and sense of humor make them accessible and fun to watch.
Delving into Bible Project videos and listening to their podcasts with my wife Lindsay was one of the things that inspired me to try reading the Bible again. To help myself understand the literary genres of the nearly 70 books that make up the typical Protestant Bible (fun fact: Episcopalians have bigger Bibles than many other Protestants), I’ve found the Bible Project’s “How to Read the Bible” series so helpful that I wanted to share it with folks at Trinity.
So, after discussions with AJ and Cara, I decided to offer a 12-week course to help make the Bible more accessible and meaningful for modern people. Watch the trailer for the series here.
And then I hope you’ll join us in the Foster Room every Wednesday night from 6-7 pm. You can join anytime, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve missed any of the sessions. We try to make each class clear and useful by itself.
So far, our discussion has been lively. I know I’ve gotten a lot out of talking about the Bible and its world with my fellow Episcopalians, and also gotten a lot out of the videos. I hope you will join us on Wednesday nights!
Class on How to Read the Bible
Featuring videos from the Bible Project
Meets in the Foster Room in the Parish House at
Trinity Episcopal Church, Staunton, VA
Every Wednesday evening from 6-7 pm through the end of May, 2023
Contact the church for more info. I hope to see you there!