How to Read the Bible Like a Human Being was written out of a commitment to the roots of the Christian faith as found in the ancient creeds of the church. These studies do not focus on making or teaching doctrine, but on making pictures (visualizing scenes in scripture) and emotionally identifying with the characters in the Bible. The materials are designed to be used in community, so any insights gotten through them can be shaped and tested within the framework of sound doctrine, the church and our living relationship with Jesus. 


While these studies focus on Jesus's humanity, the materials do not attempt to provide a theological explanation of his humanity and divinity, or any other doctrinal disputes, so as to 'major in the majors' and leave issues where Christians disagree to one's local church.

 

Values

Values are deeply held beliefs that guide your decisions and make you stand out from others in the same space. Here are some of the unique values of How to Read the Bible Like a Human Being:

Jesus came all the way down to earth and lived a human life like us precisely so that we could identify with him—meaning, know him with our emotional brains through our shared experience of humanity. So that must be pretty important to him! These studies aren't about what to believe or how to behave (theology and practice), but simply about knowing him.

We are building pictures of what happened and identifying with the characters based on factual details contained in the passages. If the stories about Jesus are myths, or merely redaction upon redaction with little of what actually happened remaining, studying the bible with this method would be pointless! So we treat the gospels as accurate eyewitness accounts.

Because both Jesus and I are fully human, I can emotionally identify with his life. My own experiences help me grasp his experience. And since we  hold that he is both God and man:

  • We don’t make up human explanations to avoid acknowledging his divinity.
    For example, when the woman with the issue of blood touches his robe and is healed, that’s a supernatural miracle.
  • In the same way, we don’t make up divine explanations to avoid acknowledging Jesus’ humanity.
    When Jesus turned around after she was healed and said, “Who touched me?” he asked this because he honestly didn’t know. That’s his humanity. 
  • Rational-brain study without the engaging our emotional brains produces lifeless head knowledge.
  • Emotional-brain study without a rational foundation is ungrounded and quickly falls into error.
  • Therefore, God has intentionally revealed himself in both a book (for the rational mind) and the life of a person, Jesus (for the emotional brain), to fully engage both halves of our brains.

Without imagination, we can't relate to people who lived 2000 years ago in places we've never been. Making pictures is what makes emotional identification possible. So without imagination (seeing the scenes in our minds), we are left knowing about Peter and James and Jesus without really knowing them.

When we write visual narratives about bible characters, we make educated guesses about details and dialog to flesh out the oh-so-short accounts given in scripture. While the scenes we imagine are based on biblical,  cultural and archaeological research, our goal is not to get the details right, but realistic—lifelike enough so that our emotional brains can identify with the picture. Since we know that these pictures are 'visual aids' instead of precise statements of doctrine or perfect descriptions of what happened, we hold them lightly, enjoying the freedom to be creative without being afraid to make mistakes.

We remember far more of what we discover than what we are told. Therefore, instead of spoon-feeding you the 'right' answers, the facilitator's job is to ask questions, create discussion and let the group explore together. For the stories in the bible to come alive, they have to connect with your life story, not just the facilitator's!