Imaginative Interpretation
13 Pointers for sparking your Imagination when reading or studying the Bible
A number of months ago, I led a short workshop at my Church called “Imaginative Interpretation of the Bible.” Most of our time was spent looking at a few biblical texts, but I also gave participants a little hand out with 11 tips when studying scripture. In the course of the workshop, the group added two more. I thought I’d share these tips here for anyone wanting to get a little more out of reading the Bible.
If “Bible Study” or devotional reading of the Bible is not really your thing, I understand. I would love to encourage you to think about reading the Bible though. While I won’t get into an apologetic for reading the Bible, I will say this…
After preaching on Bible passages for more the twenty years, the Bible has not stopped surprising me, often stopping me in my tracks, helping me understand God, the world, the nature of human beings, comforting me, challenging me, stretching me, and holding me.
Now, before we get to the tips, which have a kind of nuts & bolts & resources vibe, I want to share these two quotes in favour of the use of imagination. Lots of the pointers below won’t sound particularly imaginative, but opening up our imaginations and using tools to spark our imaginations when it comes to reading texts in the Bible are particularly important.
Some of this is because the Bible is translated across language, culture, and millennia (so it takes some imagining to place ourselves in a world very different from our own), and some of this is because I believe that the Spirit of God actually does communicate today through Scripture and also through our imaginations.
“Imagination is the gatekeeper of the human soul.”—Alister McGrath, from C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
“In very truth, a wise imagination, which is the presence of the spirit of God, is the best guide that man or woman can have; for it is not the things we see the most clearly that influence us the most powerfully…”—George MacDonald, from A Dish of Orts
13 Pointers for Interpreting Biblical Texts
Ask questions of the text - write down as many questions as you can about a particular text. As you reflect on the questions, begin by imagining for yourself what the possible answers might be. Allow for multiple answers. You might consult some commentaries or study notes. Even when you do, don’t settle for the easy or first answer right away.
Place yourself inside the text - This is great for stories - e.g. pretend to be a character, but can also work in other forms like poetry/Psalms.
Take the time to read a passage multiple times - This requires patience!
Consider your location - Where do you best “ponder?” Sometimes where you are or what you are doing makes a difference (Eg. Walking, driving, coffee shop, outside in nature, visiting certain parts of town, taking a shower). Or, what if your location matches with what you are reading? An example… In the spring of 1997, southern Manitoba, where I live, experienced one of the most devastating floods in our history. The Red River overflowed its banks to such a degree that it was dubbed the Red Sea. Reading the Noah story, or even the parting of the Red Sea story, after that experience might change how we hear the story.
Notice and understand form. Reading a poem is different than reading a letter, which is different than a parable, which is different from narrative, which is different from a law code, etc.
What is the story behind a text? Often a commentary or a good study Bible can help provide some historical context. Consider the world of the text, the world of the author and original readers, Christian history (traditional interpretations are often helpful but not always), your current context. This is also can become a huge amount of work.
Try reading against the text (not for the faint of heart!) - This isn’t about undermining scripture, but about being truly honest with your reactions, particularly if the passage in question is saying something that severely challenges your worldview. Question everything. Try reading for what is not there (e.g. marginalized characters, women). Sometimes new dimensions of understanding open up when you push back on a text.
Try reading naively. Pretend you don’t know anything about the Bible, that you’ve never heard any of the stories. How would you respond to a text if you had absolutely no background?
Consider the literary context - This is one of my favourites and is easy to do. I like to do this before thinking about the historical context. Basically, you just read passages on either side of the passage you are reading to help understand the flow of what is going on. For example, if you are reading the Beatitudes which are at the beginning of Matthew 5, it is helpful to know that the Beatitudes (Blessed are the poor, etc.) is actually just the opening of Jesus’ famous sermon on the mount which goes all the way to the end of Matthew chapter 7. You might also want to go back and read Matthew 3 and 4 to see how the gospel writer sets up the occasion for Jesus’ teaching.
Pay attention to literary devices - Watch for repetition, unique words, strange phrasing, names (especially name changes), titles (e.g. Son of Man), numbers, symbolism.
Compare English Translations - Bible Gateway is a great way to do this. Often, if I read a phrasing that seems a bit odd, I’ll check other translations. I almost always start with the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSV), and also read the New International Version (note: the NIV had a pretty major update in 2011 so if you have an NIV Bible printed before then, definitely check out the text on Bible Gateway!). I often look at the Message for creative phrasing, the New Living Translation for a simplified version, the King James Version for its classic poetic rendering, and will sometimes look at Young’s Literal Translation which attempted to preserve word use and verb tense in the original languages. I also often end up looking at a lot more than these. I do like reading the RSV (rather than the NRSV) sometimes.
Use an interlinear Bible. An interlinear Bible has the original language with a corresponding word for word translation. The one on BibleHub is pretty easy to use. Just search for the verse you are interested in.
Pay attention to the verbs - This is such a great tip for any text. Paying attention to the action words really helps you know what a text is driving at.
Pay attention to Your Emotions - What comes up for you emotionally as you read a text We often stay “in our heads,” especially when we call it Bible Study. You might want to pay particular attention to which personal relationships or stories come to mind after reading a particular text, and then wonder why you made those connections.
Obviously there could be even more pointers or tips, and many of these just scratch the surface, but I thought it would be fun to share and perhaps get you thinking. If you have a tip for imaginative interpretation of the Bible that you want to share, feel free to put it in the comments!