Engaging the Bible: An Existential Journey

 

Summary

In our journey to understand the Scriptures more deeply, we must embrace the principle of reading the Bible existentially. This means engaging with the text not just intellectually but with our whole being—personally, passionately, and intimately. The term "existential" might evoke confusion or skepticism, but in this context, it simply calls us to immerse ourselves in the biblical narrative as if it were written directly to us. This approach is not about applying existential philosophy to the Bible but about allowing the stories and teachings to resonate with our own life experiences.

Kierkegaard, a pivotal figure in existential thought, emphasized the importance of moving from being mere spectators of life to becoming active participants. This is particularly relevant for Christians, who are called to engage deeply with the Scriptures. The Bible is not a distant, objective text to be dissected and analyzed from afar; it is a living document that speaks into the very fabric of our lives. By reading the Bible existentially, we step into the shoes of its characters, feeling their struggles, joys, and faith as if they were our own.

Consider the story of Abraham and Isaac, where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. Kierkegaard invites us to ponder the emotional turmoil Abraham might have experienced, challenging us to read between the lines and imagine the depth of his faith and anguish. Similarly, the account of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, who were consumed by fire for offering unauthorized incense, demands that we feel Aaron's grief and confusion, recognizing the profound holiness of God.

The Bible is replete with drama, passion, and real human experiences. It is not a collection of fairy tales but a narrative filled with flesh-and-blood people who faced real challenges and emotions. By reading the Scriptures existentially, we allow their stories to intersect with our own, finding relevance and meaning in our daily lives. This approach transforms our reading from a passive exercise into an active encounter with the divine narrative, where we are invited to see ourselves within the biblical story and let it shape our existence.

Key Takeaways:

1. Engage Personally with Scripture: Reading the Bible existentially means immersing ourselves in its stories as if they were written directly to us. This approach invites us to engage with the text on a personal level, allowing it to speak into our lives and transform us from mere spectators to active participants in God's narrative. [02:47]

2. Feel the Drama of the Bible: The Bible is filled with drama and real human experiences. By reading it existentially, we can feel the emotions and struggles of its characters, making the stories come alive and resonate with our own life situations. This approach helps us see the Bible as a living document that speaks to our hearts. [05:51]

3. Bridge the Gap Between Cultures: To read the Bible existentially, we must bridge the cultural and historical gap between ourselves and the biblical world. This involves understanding the context and emotions of the characters, allowing us to connect with their experiences and apply their lessons to our own lives. [09:55]

4. Recognize the Humanity of Biblical Characters: The people in the Bible were real, with emotions and struggles similar to ours. By acknowledging their humanity, we can relate to their stories and find encouragement in their faith journeys, understanding that they, too, faced challenges and doubts. [11:53]

5. Discover the Passion in Scripture: The Bible is not a dry, academic text but a passionate narrative filled with life. By reading it existentially, we uncover the passion and drama within its pages, allowing it to inspire and challenge us in our walk with God. This approach helps us see the Bible as the most dramatic book ever written. [19:43]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:37] - Introduction to Existential Reading
- [01:19] - Existentialism vs. Existential Reading
- [02:04] - Kierkegaard's Influence
- [02:47] - Aesthetic vs. Existential Stage
- [03:22] - Personal Involvement with Scripture
- [03:58] - The Hero's Experiment
- [05:16] - Drama in the Bible
- [06:32] - Abraham and Isaac's Story
- [08:02] - Kierkegaard's Reflection
- [09:55] - The Humanity of Abraham
- [11:17] - Feeling the Passion
- [12:37] - Nadab and Abihu's Story
- [14:01] - Aaron's Reaction
- [16:24] - Drama in Communication
- [18:22] - The Bible's Drama
- [19:43] - The Greatest Story Ever Told
- [21:15] - Leviticus and Leprosy
- [24:53] - Jesus and the Leper
- [27:01] - Existential Reading of God's Word

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
1. Genesis 22:1-14 - The story of Abraham and Isaac.
2. Leviticus 10:1-3 - The account of Nadab and Abihu.
3. James 5:17 - Reference to Elijah's humanity.

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Observation Questions:

1. What was the emotional and spiritual challenge faced by Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac? How does the sermon suggest we understand Abraham's actions? [08:02]

2. How does the story of Nadab and Abihu illustrate the seriousness of approaching God with reverence? What was Aaron's reaction to their death according to the sermon? [14:01]

3. In what way does the sermon suggest we should read the Bible to feel the drama and humanity of its characters? [11:17]

4. How does the sermon describe the difference between reading the Bible existentially and reading it as a mere objective text? [03:22]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How might understanding the emotional turmoil of biblical characters like Abraham and Aaron change the way we relate to their stories? [09:55]

2. What does the sermon suggest about the importance of recognizing the humanity of biblical figures like Elijah? How does this recognition affect our understanding of their faith journeys? [11:53]

3. How does the concept of reading the Bible existentially challenge the way we typically engage with Scripture? What are the potential benefits of this approach? [05:51]

4. In what ways does the sermon suggest that the Bible's drama and passion can inspire and challenge us in our walk with God? [19:43]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you read a Bible story and felt disconnected from its characters. How might reading it existentially change your perspective? [03:22]

2. Consider the story of Abraham and Isaac. How can you apply the lesson of faith and trust in God to a current challenge in your life? [08:02]

3. How can you bridge the cultural and historical gap between yourself and the biblical world to better understand the context and emotions of its characters? [09:55]

4. Think of a biblical character whose humanity you can relate to. How does their story encourage you in your own faith journey? [11:53]

5. Identify a passage in the Bible that you find particularly dramatic or passionate. How can you let its message inspire and challenge you this week? [19:43]

6. How can you make your Bible reading more personal and engaging, as if the Scriptures were written directly to you? What practical steps can you take to achieve this? [05:16]

7. Reflect on the story of Nadab and Abihu. How does this story remind you of the importance of reverence and holiness in your relationship with God? [14:01]

Devotional

Day 1: Engage Personally with Scripture
Reading the Bible existentially invites believers to immerse themselves in its stories as if they were written directly to them. This approach encourages a personal engagement with the text, transforming readers from mere spectators to active participants in God's narrative. By allowing the Scriptures to speak into their lives, individuals can experience a profound transformation, as the Bible becomes a living document that resonates with their personal journey. This method of reading challenges believers to see themselves within the biblical story, allowing it to shape their existence and deepen their relationship with God. [02:47]

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15:4, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a specific story or passage in the Bible that has always intrigued you. How can you read it today as if it were written directly to you, and what personal insights might you gain from this approach?


Day 2: Feel the Drama of the Bible
The Bible is filled with drama and real human experiences, and reading it existentially allows believers to feel the emotions and struggles of its characters. This approach brings the stories to life, making them resonate with the reader's own life situations. By engaging with the Bible in this way, individuals can see it as a living document that speaks to their hearts, offering guidance and inspiration for their daily lives. The Bible's narratives are not distant or abstract; they are filled with passion and drama that can inspire and challenge believers in their walk with God. [05:51]

"And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?'" (Luke 24:25-26, ESV)

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you felt deeply moved by a story or event in the Bible. How did that experience impact your understanding of God's presence in your life, and how can you seek to feel that same drama in your current spiritual journey?


Day 3: Bridge the Gap Between Cultures
To read the Bible existentially, believers must bridge the cultural and historical gap between themselves and the biblical world. This involves understanding the context and emotions of the characters, allowing readers to connect with their experiences and apply their lessons to their own lives. By doing so, individuals can find relevance and meaning in the Scriptures, as they see the Bible as a living document that speaks into their daily existence. This approach challenges believers to engage deeply with the text, allowing it to transform their understanding of God's narrative and their place within it. [09:55]

"Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did." (1 Corinthians 10:6, ESV)

Reflection: Consider a biblical story that seems distant or difficult to relate to. What steps can you take to better understand the cultural and historical context of that story, and how might that understanding change the way you apply its lessons to your life today?


Day 4: Recognize the Humanity of Biblical Characters
The people in the Bible were real, with emotions and struggles similar to those faced by believers today. By acknowledging their humanity, readers can relate to their stories and find encouragement in their faith journeys. Understanding that biblical characters faced challenges and doubts allows individuals to see themselves within the narrative, finding strength and inspiration in their own walk with God. This approach encourages believers to engage deeply with the Scriptures, allowing the stories to resonate with their personal experiences and transform their understanding of God's presence in their lives. [11:53]

"Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth." (James 5:17, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a biblical character whose story you find particularly relatable. How does recognizing their humanity and struggles encourage you in your own faith journey, and what lessons can you draw from their experiences?


Day 5: Discover the Passion in Scripture
The Bible is not a dry, academic text but a passionate narrative filled with life. By reading it existentially, believers can uncover the passion and drama within its pages, allowing it to inspire and challenge them in their walk with God. This approach helps individuals see the Bible as the most dramatic book ever written, filled with stories that speak into the very fabric of their lives. By engaging with the Scriptures in this way, believers can experience a profound transformation, as they allow the Bible to shape their understanding of God's narrative and their place within it. [19:43]

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

Reflection: Identify a passage in the Bible that you have previously viewed as dry or academic. How can you approach it with fresh eyes to uncover the passion and drama within, and what new insights might you gain from this perspective?

Quotes


Now it's that principle that I want to translate now to the reading of the Scriptures. We're not to come to the Bible and simply remain aloof from its message, trying to reduce it to an objective bit of information that we are to dissect and analyze and record in our memory banks, but this book is a book that is filled with life. It is addressing us in the midst of the stream of our own lives, and if it is going to speak to us, we need to step into its skin, to read these stories in a certain sense as if they were written especially for us. [00:03:11]

The Bible is filled with drama, and to read it existentially means to try to bridge that gap between ourselves and the first century and the culture in which the Bible was written and try to project ourselves into the life situation of the Scriptures so that we can feel it as well as read it with our eyes. There's some license that goes on here that preachers use all the time. It involves the task of reading between the lines. [00:05:37]

I'm talking about feeling, what the people in the Scriptures are feeling, and supplying for ourselves the passion that comes from real life, because the biblical characters are not fictional. They are not fairy tale characters. They are real people -- real flesh, real blood -- and we need to be reminded if anything is the Scriptures themselves remind us from time to time, as St. James does in his epistles when he exhorts the people of God to pray. [00:11:22]

One of my favorite illustrations of the way we must try to recreate the situation comes in the tenth chapter of the book of Leviticus where we have there the record of the death of the sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abihu. We read the text as follows: "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein and put incense thereupon, and they offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not, and there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord." [00:12:21]

Now what do you think it was like for Aaron? Do you think Aaron, after he hears that his sons had been slain at the altar, casually strolled over to the tent of Moses and said, "Moses, I have a theological question for you. Perhaps you can help me. I'm just not quite sure why it is that God would take the lives of my two sons. Perhaps you can enlighten me." Do you think that's how it happened? [00:14:08]

I remember as a seminary student, we had to go through speech exercises in our homiletics class that we thought at the time were somewhat silly. We had to memorize little ditties and poems like, "Thou clear pure heart and bright, one by one like two hailstones, short words fall from my lips fast as the first of a shower. Now in twofold column, I am troche, dancing along now and sprightly. Your spring lane is dancing, lusty, titillacs, and the musical cadence goes on." [00:16:24]

And when the person comes to me and said, "I break down in my Bible study because I get bored," I say, "How can you get bored? The blood is flowing in the streets. The sexual impulses of men and women burn like fire throughout the Scriptures. Anger, hatred, hostility…" Again, I think of Kierkegaard who said about his own age in the nineteenth century in the church of Europe at that time, he said, "My complaint is not that this age is wicked. [00:18:40]

Now that's what I mean, that we get in touch with the lifeblood of Scripture as we read. If we practice looking for the drama, there's no way that we can be bored because I'm convinced, dear friends, that this book is the most dramatic book that has ever been written. I remember back in the forties, there was a radio program borrowed from the best-selling book by Fulton Oursler entitled, "The Greatest Story Ever Told." [00:19:43]

I can remember one last example that I'll give you. I think of reading in later on in the book of Leviticus where we read in the thirteenth chapter the following instructions. Listen to this as Leviticus thirteen and see how interesting Scripture is, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron saying, 'When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or a bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy, then he should be brought unto Aaron the priest or to one of the sons of the priests. [00:20:48]

Even go from the Old Testament to the New and think of the drama that surrounds Jesus' ministry to the leper, how the leper comes down the street and sees Jesus and he cries out in a loud voice, "Jesus, have mercy upon me," and that wretched man is begging on the street, and Jesus walks over and breaks all the laws that are set forth here about contamination and contact with somebody involved with the scourge of leprosy. [00:24:34]

How would we understand it if we didn't first take the time to see the drama even in Leviticus, even in the dietary laws as we read the dietary laws and we say, oh, what could be more boring than what are we supposed to eat things that chew with their -- chew their cud, or how many hooves or cloves they have in their hooves, and all of that business. [00:25:35]

We wouldn't understand the drama if we didn't understand the crucial role that the diet provisions have for the one who is chosen of God to be special. It's all there. It's there in passion. It's there in drama, but for us to catch it and have it touch us where we live, we have to see the flesh, the humanity of the people in their existence and touch them, let their existence touch our existence. [00:27:01]

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Transcript
What was the most surprising thing in this sermon?
Were there any personal stories shared?