How (and How Not) to Read the Bible

A podcast episode recommendation

Hello, readers! While I continue plugging away at my essay about the church (I promise I’m still working on it every chance I get… I’m just S - L - O - W, plus I do have to take care of my family), I wanted to recommend an excellent podcast episode.

First, a little bit of background about why I’m recommending it…

I’ve spent most of my years as a Christian in the Presbyterian/Reformed tradition, and the spiritual formation I experienced within that tradition shaped my understanding of and approach to Bible interpretation in some very specific ways that I now find incomplete and well, sometimes totally off-base. Don’t come at me, bro, with your flaming arrows. They’ll merely bounce off my shield of faith. (Insert laughing crying emoji.)

During the past two years that we’ve been without a church, Peter and I have been exploring different theological traditions within Christianity. It’s remarkable the way each one has particular strengths and weaknesses that speak to the strengths and weaknesses of others. We’ve become particularly enamored of the riches in Orthodox Christianity. No, we haven’t converted, but we have become regular listeners of the Lord of Spirits podcast/radio show that’s hosted by two Orthodox priests. I recommend that any believer check out the whole collection, but because there’s so much material there, I thought I would highlight this one episode about how to read the Bible because how we do that determines so much of the way we approach God, scripture itself, the world, and ourselves.

It’s entitled “How (and How Not) to Read the Bible.”

The website link for the episode is here.

The Spotify link is here:

Or, you can pretty much find it wherever you listen to podcasts.

It’s long (nearly 3 hours), but I finished it over a couple of days while running errands, doing laundry, walking the dog, and cleaning the pool.

If you do end up listening, let me know what you think!