'Four Principles in Reading the Bible"

This excerpt is from the book of Bishop Mack B. Stokes entitled "Major United Methodist Belief's". Be it our guiding principles in reading the Bible.

First, the bible is to be understood as the church's book. It has its being and meaning in and for the community of prayer and faith. The church has authorized it, preserved it,k used it. The church through centuries of prayerful study and reflection, has understood its central meaning as the revelation of god's redemptive love coming to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. In a balanced way, then, we United Methodists place ourselves as interpreters of the Bible in the mainline of Christian tradition.

Second, the Bible is to be understood not merely on the basis of a single verse or a few selected passages. Instead, we must rest our beliefs on the total insight of the biblical revelation. This total insight, as the church has understood it, includes as a central feature the revelation of the purpse of God for humankind in creation, redemption, and consummation. god is revealed in nature - that realm reality known to us through sense - experience. In a unique way, god is revealed through the Bible - the realm of the spiritual world of prayer, worship, and grace.

Third, the Bible is to be understood as revelation for response. We may study it as literature or as history or in reference to scientific accuracy. From the standpoint of the deeper moral and spiritual meaning of the Bible, however, these miss the mark. For the point is that the Bible is God's living Word. A word is for communication. This living Word is communication from God calling for our response. The Word becomes effective when we begin to ask as we read, "What is god trying to say to me today through this passage?" or 'What is God summoning me to do?" For the Bible is revelation for response to God.

Fourth, the Bible is to be understood as confirmed in Christian experience. The bible is, in large measure, the witness of people over many centuries to what god has done. Its promises, its great passages, its insights, its practical teaching - all these are at last comprehend in their deeper meaning in the ongoing lives of believers. This keeps the Bible from being just another book and makes it the dynamic word. It addresses itself to us now and in our particular circumstances today.