This article series by JP’s editor, Joshua Tilton, explores questions like Where did the Scriptures come from? What makes them unique? How can we approach the Scriptures in a respectful manner? How can we interpret the Scriptures in a neighborly fashion?
The seven-part series is in many ways the culmination of Joshua’s twelve-and-a-half year partnership with David Bivin on the Life of Yeshua project, which closely analyzed how the three synoptic evangelists—the authors of Luke, Mark, and Matthew—related to each other’s writings and to the sources they shared in common. Learning how the evangelists worked to produce the Synoptic Gospels raised fundamental questions about the nature of the Scriptures like “What does it mean when we say that the Scriptures are inspired, authoritative, and holy?”
To grapple with these questions Joshua compares and contrasts the ways people typically encounter the Scriptures today—mainly in the form of the Bible—with how the Scriptures were experienced in the first century. At that time the Scriptures were not printed in a single tome, but were a collection of individual scrolls gathered into a sacred library. These different ways of experiencing the Scriptures can alter our perceptions of what the Scriptures are and how they should be understood.
Recovering an ancient sense of the Scriptures as an inspired, authoritative, and holy library, in which the different books are in conversation with one another, can help readers develop a sense of confidence and clarity about the Scriptures that leads to more open-minded and open-hearted approaches to the sacred texts that define communities of faith and that unite readers across the ages.
Articles in the Series:
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 1—More Different Than You’d Think
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 2—What Goes into the Canon?
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 3—Models of Inspiration
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 4—Wherein Lies the Authority?
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 5—Holiness of the Text
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 6—Are You Talking to Me?
Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 7—A Neighborly Approach to the Scriptures
