What if I told you that you can take the Bible seriously but not literally? I’m Rev Darcy, a Universalist pastor from rural Alabama, and I’m inviting you on a journey with me through the Bible where we’ll dive deep into all of the drama without the spiritual trauma. Come with me to learn about just how much you are loved, just as you are in this moment, as we spend the next eleven minutes in heaven.
Listen to what the Spirit is saying to you through this sacred word from 1 Timothy 3:16-17: “Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good” (CEB)
Hello Beloved, I’m Rev. Darcy (she/hers), and I am looking forward to our journey through the Bible on this new podcast, Eleven Minutes in Heaven. Our sacred word today is a small excerpt from the first letter to Timothy, and I’m opening our time together with this scripture passage because it is often used as an “aha gotcha” scripture proof that God wrote the Bible. Which I find interesting since much of what we call the New Testament was not written when that scripture was penned. As you might have gotten from the opening of this episode, I don’t take the Bible literally, but I do take it seriously. And I think that taking it seriously means looking at it from beyond its superficial surface meaning to uncover the timeless truth contained in the words human beings, inspired by the Sacred and Holy, wrote about the relationship between humankind and the Divine. As we journey through the Bible together we will dig deep into three different contexts, or “worlds,” to help us discover these truths.
Sermon Note: If you want to dig even deeper in to the history and themes of the Bible, I recommend this introductory textbook.
The World Behind the Text
The first context we will consider as we journey through the Bible together is the world behind the text. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1,500 years by different authors in different cultures and times. Their interpretation of the Divine and of truth was influenced by the time they lived in, their cultural norms and values, and the knowledge widely available to them. Understanding the world behind the text helps us understand the timeless truths that are contained in specific examples and narrative choices. For example, the Bible teaches that, “God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them” (Genesis 1:27, CEB). A literal reading of this scripture would imply that intersex people do not exist or that they are malformed. This scripture has also been used in a literal sense to “prove” there’s something abnormal about transgender people. However, science has demonstrated both of these interpretations to be untrue. So who is correct? When we consider the world behind the text, we can acknowledge that the Biblical author, inspired by the Divine, wrote the important truth that we are all precious and worthy of dignity and respect because we are made by God in God’s image just the way we are. We can also acknowledge that the Divinely inspired author was limited in their perspective to what knowledge the world had at the time surrounding biological sex and psychosocial gender. We are not limited in our understanding in the same way— we know that there are three broad sex categories (i.e., male, female, and intersex) and that one’s internal sense and external expression of their gender is not necessarily aligned with biological sex, so we can expand the meaning of Genesis 1:27 to say that we are made in God’s image just as we are. God makes no mistakes. This is the timeless truth.
The World of the Text
The second context we will consider on our journey is the world of the text. The Bible contains three broad literary styles. Forty-three percent of the Bible is in a narrative style, 33% is poetry, and 24% is prose discourse. Understanding the literary choice chosen by the author of the specific book helps us understand their intention. For example, let’s take a look at the “prophetic” books of the Hebrew Scriptures, commonly called the “Old” Testament. The Book of Hosea contains a lot of really problematic statements about women. The prophet Hosea’s wife, Gomer, was unfaithful to him, and his prophecy contains a lot of invectives against “whores.” I have a lot of trouble reading this book (but this is the world in front of the text, so I need to put these feelings to one side for a second). Understanding the literary genre of this book— prose discourse in the form of a prophesy— helps with interpretation. Prophetic language is supposed to be unsettling, offensive. It’s supposed to get our attention and make us change our behavior. Hosea uses the language he does, comparing the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel to unfaithful wives, to try and turn them from the social injustice and exploitation that was tearing their nations apart.
The World in Front of the Text
The last context we will consider on our journey is the world in front of the text. This includes the way the scripture has been received and interpreted by its readers across time and culture…including your reception and interpretation! This podcast, my interpretation, and your interpretation of what I am saying make up the world in front of the text. There is no such thing as a neutral or value-free interpretation of the text. If this were true then there would not be more than 45,000 Christian denominations world-wide! We bring our presuppositions and biases and perspectives to any reading of the Biblical text, and that’s okay. Let’s revisit the Book of Hosea. Reading something that calls an entire nation a “whore” or “prostitute” disgusts me on a personal level as a woman and a feminist. However, some men today might approve of it or even feel justified in their disgusting attitudes toward women as a result of hearing it. This definitely has been the predominant reception of Biblical texts like this in the past. Understanding what we bring to the text (like me coming at the text as a woman and a feminist), and what others today bring to the text (like some pastors bringing their toxic masculinity and misogyny) and what others in the past have brought to the text, helps us understand, in part, why we interpret the text the way we do. Combining all of these worlds— the world behind, the world of, and the world in front of the text gives us a clearer picture of the timeless truth the Spirit is delivering through the sacred word.
Our Bible Translation
Speaking of the world in front of the text, what Bible translation will we be using during our time together? The Bible has been translated into 3,317 different versions in 2,170 languages, each bringing their own unique interpretation and perspective to the Biblical narrative. Which one will we be using? I’ve selected the Common English Bible as our common text for this podcast. The Common English Bible was translated between 2008 and 2011 by a committee formed of an alliance of mainline protestant denominations. The Common English Bible was translated using a mixture of formal and dynamic equivalence. Formal equivalence involves staying as true as possible to the semantic structure (e.g., words and sentence structure) of the original text, while dynamic equivalence involves making the language more natural to the target audience. The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, each of which have different syntax, writing styles, and narrative conventions.
A literal or direct translation of the Bible into English may or may not make sense, and usually will not read naturally to us. Let’s look a commonly known scripture verse, John 3:16 as an example. Young’s Literal Translation, which was translated using strict formal equivalence, would read like this: “For God did so love the world, that His Son -- the only begotten -- He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during” (John 3:16). While we understand what this translation is saying, it doesn’t read naturally to us, and after a while our minds would go numb. Now, let’s read the same passage in the the Common English Bible: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life” (John 3:16). This translation preserves the intent and message of the original while putting it in language that seems natural to English speakers. I like the Common English Bible because it is written at a level a seventh grader could read, thus making it one of the most accessible versions of the Bible available in English.
Conclusion
I hope that you are as excited as I am about our journey through the Bible together. As your guide, I promise you that I am not infallible, and the word I’ll be bringing you is neither my final word (nor God’s final word) on any subject. I promise you that I will thoughtfully prepare for each episode and do my best to deliver an episode full of Biblical drama without spiritual trauma. I promise you that I will hold you in my heart as I practice prayer and meditation each day.
Beloved, go about your day knowing you were loved more than you could ever ask or imagine. Be kind to yourself and to one another. Have a snack and take a nap. Dwell in peace, may it be.
Eleven Minutes in Heaven is © Copyright 2024 Darcy Corbitt, LLC, PO Box 23, Camp Hill, AL 36850. Support Rev. Darcy by becoming a paid subscriber at revdarcy.substack.com/subscribe.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations come from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE which is © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.CommonEnglishBible.com).
Scripture quotations from the 1898 YOUNG’S LITERAL TRANSLATION are in the public domain.
Music included in this podcast is by Julius H used under the Pixabay Content License.
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