Part One:  Is the Bible a Theology Book, Story Book, or Guide Book?

What is it? may be the most often wondered but seldom verbalized question church-goers ask about the Bible.  It’s the same question the wanderers in the wilderness asked Moses the first morning they found manna scattered on the ground.  Manna, a name derived from the Hebrew word for “what?,” was the “bread from heaven” God used to train His people to hunger daily for and hold dearly to His Word (Exodus 16; Deuteronomy 8).  Morning by morning the people woke to find manna covering the ground like dust.  Imagine how comical that first manna breakfast must have been as folks not only asked What is it? but then having in it hand also wondered Now, what do we do with it?

What is the Bible? is the question the people in our pews (or the folks in our folding chairs) are asking themselves but are hesitant to ask to their pastors and Bible teachers.  They know that God has provided His Word as heavenly food for daily consumption, but morning by morning, as folks wake up to find God’s Word sitting on the chair-side table covered with dust, they wonder:  What is it? and What do we do with it? As preachers and teachers of the Word of God, we must help our listeners understand what sort of book the Bible is and what purpose it serves in the life of God’s people.

What is the Bible?
In my experience most people read the Bible one of three ways: either as a theology book, a story book, or a guide book.

As a theology book, the Bible answers questions about God, people, and the world.  These answers can then be arranged by categories into tomes of systematic theology or detailed catechisms.

As a story book, the Bible is mainly the historical narrative of God’s relationship with His creation, particularly people.  It’s a collection of stories that taken together convey the bigger Story that God is telling the world.

As a guide book, the Scriptures tell us what to do.  Its pages overflow with rules for right living, commands to be carried out, and principles for practicing godliness.

Thad loves learning theology.  He has a good grasp of doctrinal categories such as prolegomena, Christology, soteriology, harmartiology, ecclesiology, and eschatology.  Thad can explain what the Bible says about sin, salvation, and sanctification.  He has a keen mind for discerning doctrinal deficiencies and defending orthodoxy.  Verses about renewing one’s mind and thinking on things that are lovely, pure, and right are taped to his bathroom mirror.  He’s a regular commenter on the popular theology blogs and forums and has even begun to develop his own think tank website. Thad loves the Lord with his mind more than most, but is sometimes accused of living his Christianity from head-knowledge more than heart-experience.  When he’s honest with himself, he senses it, too.

Stacy can’t help but get caught up in the Bible’s story.  Narrative is her niche.  When she reads the Bible, she sees the big picture, the overarching drama of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.  When Stacy studies God’s Word she’s quickly whisked away into the tragedy of the forbidden tree,  the redemptive romance of Ruth, the emotional pleas of Ezekiel and the prophets, and the joy of Jesus.  She feels the passion and pain of every story that God has woven together into His Story.  Stacy sees the themes of God’s Story in her favorite novels and movies and shares her insights with her coffee talk club each Tuesday night.  She has a tender heart for the narratives of Scripture, but sometimes her small group thinks she downplays doctrine.  There are times, though, when she wishes she understood the meaning of the stories more than she does.

Gary is a practical guy and the Bible is his guide to life.  Gary’s delight is in the Law of the Lord and he meditates on it day and night.  He could have written Psalm 119.  No matter what he does as a husband, father, employee, or friend, Gary longs to do it God’s way.  Gary gets frustrated with Bible studies that get stuck on theological issues or touchy-feely sentiments.  He’s the one who always asks the “so what?” questions in his Sunday morning adult Bible class.  Gary thinks Bible study methods like observation and interpretation are fine, but some folks think he tends to rush too quickly to the bottom line of application.  And Gary would admit that on occasion he finds himself wandering in “grey areas” where God’s Word doesn’t seem to offer specific steps or point by point principles to follow.  Sometimes he wonders why the lamp for his feet lights his path so dimly.

All of the names in the preceding scenarios have been changed to protect . . . me.  Sometimes I am Thad, because I love to think deeply and devour the doctrine of Scripture.  But then I can get too bogged down in the details, so like Stacy, I simply run free in the wonder-full drama of the Bible’s grand narrative, amazed by every thread that runs from Genesis to Revelation.  But I also regularly find it difficult to connect my little story with God’s Larger Story, so like Gary I search for something in God’s Word that will give me some directions for how to put together a life lived on earth as it is in heaven.

The answer is…yes!
So which is it?  Is the Bible a book of doctrine, drama, or directions?  I’ve discovered that the answer is yes.  I found that answer by teaching an overview of the Bible to high school and college students, as well as adults, both in school and church settings over the last few years.  Here’s how I believe all three of these approaches to the Bible work together:

The Bible is a story book in which God describes the drama that helps us love the Story of Jesus. The Bible is a theology book in which God inscribes the doctrine that helps us learn the Story of Jesus.  The Bible is a guide book in which God prescribes directions that help us live in the Story of Jesus.

Next week, I’ll explain each of these understandings of the Bible with a little help from the writing of several pastors and professors who have helped me pull these approaches together.  My third and fourth installments of this series will help us help our people answer the question What do we do with the Bible?

For more insight to this topic, get the book, Understanding and Applying the Bible, by Robertson McQuilkin, from our online store.

Or read the article, “Agapic Reading,” by David Naugle.