9th February, 2011

SIU FUNG WU

A research report published by the Evangelical Alliance in the UK (EAUK) just came out. It mentions two interesting trends about Christians in the 16-24 age group. First, they are “less likely to strongly agree that the Bible has supreme authority in guiding their beliefs, views and behaviour.” Second, they are “less likely to pray or read (or listen to) the Bible every day.”

Similarly, Cheryl Catford, the former principal of Tabor College in Melbourne, also observed the declining Biblical literacy in Australia in recent years. In an article in 2009 she talked about her experience of seeing a decline in Biblical knowledge among first-year theological students over her more than 15 years of teaching. The challenge of this phenomenon for the church today is well summarised in the following comment in the EAUK report.

For many in this (younger) age group, beliefs have been shaped by good youth work and summer festivals, rather than personal devotions. We have shared bite-sized theology but one of the greatest challenges is to enable this age group to take responsibility for their own discipleship amidst busy, media saturated lives.

MAINTAINING THE LOVE: Nils von Kalm says he's come to have a deeper respect for those older couples who have been together for more than 30 years. "They are the ones with the wisdom I want." PICTURE: cjhallman www.sxc.hu) "Maybe our attempt to make sense of the Christian faith in the emerging culture has led us to neglect the basics, including the simple but all-important discipline of reading the Scripture devotionally - both individually and as a community?"

Three reasons for the decline

I have seen this happen in the past two decades as a pastor and as a visiting lecturer at several theological colleges. Here is my take on the factors contributing to the declining interest in the Bible.

The first reason for the declining Biblical literacy has something to do with the way the Bible has been studied and preached.

On the one hand, there has been an overemphasis on the intellect. Pastors at my age (the 40-something age group) often complain that their theological training was loaded with a highly intellectual analysis of the Scripture, which is not useful in ministry. In their preaching they have largely abandoned examining a Bible passage verse-by-verse, and opted for a topical study of Biblical themes. They find the latter more engaging for the younger people. The traditional approach to study the Scripture “exegetically” is labelled as old-fashioned and irrelevant.

On the other hand, there are those who habitually use the Bible out of context. Their teaching is characterised by the use of proof-texts and the neglect of the literary, social and historical context of the Biblical texts. Often these preachers are very popular because they speak with zeal and fervour, which appeals to a generation that looks for leadership and passion from their pastors. This is the opposite of the intellectual approach to Scripture. The emphasis is on what works – pragmatism, not intellectualism.

The second reason for the declining interest in the Bible has to do with the reaction to the intellectual and pragmatic approaches to Scriptures. The postmodern generation rightly questions the validity of their modern counterparts. They ask: Why should the intellectual minority (for example, the so-called armchair professors at seminaries) decide how the Scripture should be read? They also question: Should our faith be based on the preaching of those motivational speakers in mega-churches? Unfortunately, bad experiences in church life are not uncommon for young people. Some have seen the hypocrisy of personal piety without loving one’s neighbour. Others have seen how the lifestyle of the so-called Bible-believing Christians is similar to that of other people in the world. It is not surprising that they (rightly) reject the not-so-authentic forms of Christianity in the affluent West.

Yet as the bad elements of Christianity are rejected, often the good things are forgotten as well. Sometimes one’s belief in the authority of the Scripture is confused with some preachers’ very rigid view on how the Scripture should be used. Often the emphasis on carefully studying the Biblical text is thought to be the same as ivory-towered intellectualism. The notion of reading the Scripture daily is mistaken to be hypocritical piety. But does a person’s love for Scripture necessarily lead to intellectualism, individualism or a rigid religion? Of course not.

The third reason for declining Biblical literacy is perhaps our inability to understand the interface between faith and the postmodern culture. Human tendency is to either reject a particular culture or embrace it. Maybe the emphasis on the intellectual study of Scripture in the past failed to see the validity of the questions raised by the emerging postmodern generation? (One can agree with the validity of the questions without always agree with the answers offered.) Perhaps the pragmatic approach of church leaders to make the Scripture relevant to the new world has compromised too much and created a generation of believers who habitually read the Scripture out of context? Maybe our attempt to make sense of the Christian faith in the emerging culture has led us to neglect the basics, including the simple but all-important discipline of reading the Scripture devotionally - both individually and as a community?

Two suggested responses

Space does not allow us to discuss in detail how to meet the challenge of declining Biblical literacy. But I hope the following two thoughts are helpful.

First, we need to recognise the major role stories play in the Bible and how Biblical stories can transform our lives. In every culture – including the postmodern culture! – stories are important. Stories of our ancestors inform us of where we came from. Stories in the family give us a sense of identity. And sometimes stories can be tragic and have a major impact on our lives. Stories of sacred texts like the Bible tell us who God is and how he interacts with humanity. Even tragic stories in the Bible can offer us hope in the worst of times – because they are seasoned with God’s grace and mercy.

The Bible is no dry theology textbook. It is a book consisting of stories easily accessible to everyone – both the educated and unlearned. The creation account speaks not only of human origin, but also the fact that we are God's image-bearers and He longs to have a relationship with us. The exodus story shows us God’s love and redemptive act for a community suffering from socioeconomic hardship and religious-political oppression. The stories in the Gospels speak of who Jesus is, as well as his gathering of a new community who would follow him wholeheartedly. And the reference to Abraham in Romans is not simply an example of justification by faith. It is also about God’s covenantal faithfulness to an elderly childless couple who looked to the promise-keeping God for them and their descendants – as well the people of all the earth.

Imagine how these stories can transform our lives. It is no coincidence that the prayers in the Psalms often recall these ancient stories. As we read the Scripture we enter into God’s stories. As we enter those stories, God’s Word enters our lives and shapes our own life stories. And if the community of God embodies the Biblical stories, the world will see that Christ is in their midst.

Second, we need to recapture the discipline of reading (or listening to) and studying Scriptures. This is a big ask in a world that looks for quick answers and simple solutions. But there is no shortcut. We need to read the Scripture regularly, and pastors need to diligently study the Scripture and teach their people how to understand it.

Can we enter the Biblical stories without being their constant and faithful audience? Can we, modern Westerners, fully understand the heartaches of Abraham and Sarah without some cultural understanding of the shame of childlessness and without heir in the ancient world? Can we enter the stories of Jesus simply by hearing them second hand in our Sunday schools or through our pastors? Is it much better to walk the lands of ancient Palestine with Jesus by reading the Gospels ourselves? Without understanding the workings of the religious systems in Jesus’ world, how can we be a prophetic voice against the social systems and religious structures today?

Can a pastor teach Paul’s letters simply through the lens of justification by faith (despite its obvious importance)? We don’t know how much we miss without some understanding of the historical background of the oppressive Roman Empire. In fact, it is by realising the utter shamefulness of the Roman cross that we can start to understand why Paul says that the cross was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (I Corinthians 1: 22-24). If the gospel could speak to those who lived in the unjust rule of imperial Rome, so can it speak to those in our world today who suffer from social injustice and marginalisation.

So, here we are. On the one hand the Bible is easy to read. Stories are within the grasp of everyone, and do not require sophisticated intellectual ability to understand. On the other hand, stories do require us to read and listen. We need to hear them again and again with reverence and wholehearted devotion. And it pays to study the Scripture so that we can gain a better understanding of those stories, and be better equipped to use the Scripture in an ever-changing world. Let us renew our passion for the Scripture by entering into its life-transforming stories. And let us embody those world-changing stories in a world that desperately needs to experience the reality of the crucified and risen Christ.

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