What is the Bible, and what is it for?

Scripture is at the heart of our faith and practice ... even when we struggle with it!

The Bible is a huge library of many different and individual writings, composed by many different authors over nearly a millennium. Christians divide the Bible into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament consists of ancient Israelite and Jewish writings from before the time of Jesus, while the New Testament contains accounts of Jesus’ life as well as letters and other texts from the period of the earliest Christians.

While the different texts found in the Bible have differing origins and historical contexts, Christians also hold that they stand together, having been inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. This goes for both the Old and New Testaments—a particularly important point, because some people mistakenly believe that the two present contradictory views of God, with the New Testament depicting a “God of love” in contrast to a violent, angry “Old Testament God.” The reality is far more complex and holistic.

So how do we read the Bible? Many theologians and biblical scholars who work within the church have emphasized two points in particular: that we ought to read in community, and in accordance with love. For the first, we read the Bible together, not just individually. We do this in worship, as well as in other settings such as group Bible studies. We seek to find not just “what the Bible is saying to me,” but what God, through the Bible, is calling the church to do in today’s world. This stands in contrast to the consumerist mentality of some popular Christian culture, which treats the Bible as an ancient self-help manual. Certainly people should read the Bible themselves! But we should always remember that we share the Bible with the whole church.

For the second, we remember the words of the great Christian bishop Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430): “Whoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as he ought.” Augustine alludes to Jesus’ words when asked what the two greatest commandments are: to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:28–30). However we read the Bible, we are to keep this principle in mind.