Two Kinds of Reading of Scripture
Photo by Danny.Hammontree
As readers of Scripture we must make every effort to achieve a credible and coherent understanding of a text on its own terms and in its own context. In his marvelous work, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
C.S. Lewis, in the last book he wrote, talked about two kinds of reading, the reading in which we use a book for our own purposes and the reading which in which we receive the author’s purposes. The first ensures only bad reading; the second opens up the possibility to good reading.
There is both good and bad reading of Scripture. This is the case concerning any book in the Bible and is especially true concerning the Book of Revelation. Too many preachers and teachers use the book for their own purposes–to predict the end of the world–rather than be receptive to and show respect for John’s intended purpose–a call to obey God no matter when the world ends (Rev. 1:3 and 22:7).
I recently taught a seminar on Revelation in a congregation. One man came for one session and only one. Why? Because he would not let Revelation speak on its own terms and I wasn’t allowing that to happen. And what wasn’t I allowing? I wasn’t allowing Revelation to tell me exactly when Jesus was coming again. I regret that he didn’t like the first session, but he would have liked the following sessions even less.
A question for you, my reading friend: How do you read the Bible?
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