Q

uestion

63

Is there a right or wrong way to read

the Bible?

Jason Boyett

Who is...

?

Jason Boyett

I am a triathlete.

A.

The easiest way to answer that question is to go negative: how not

to read the Bible. If you’ve never read much of the Bible before,

don’t start on page 1 and try to slog your way through it. The Bible

isn’t a novel. The beginning, Genesis, is fascinating but you’ll lose traction in

Leviticus and be completely stuck by the time you get to Numbers.

Don’t read the Bible as if it is life’s instruction manual. Though it’s full of

wisdom in books like Proverbs or passages like the Sermon on the Mount, the

Bible is not an advice book. Nor is it merely a devotional guide from a single

author or a history book about a particular time and place. No, the Bible is

a mishmash of literary genres, written across centuries of time by dozens of

authors, each with a distinct audience and purpose.

What’s the right way to read the Bible? Read it as the revelation of God

and God’s relationship with his people. It’s a messy relationship, colored with

sin, failure, sacrifi ce, salvation, redemption, love, and surprising grace. The

Bible has much to say about its own context as well as about our world today,

but don’t diminish it by thinking of it as a novel, a history book, or an instruc-

tion manual. It is those things in part, but on the whole, it is so much more: the

great story of God.