Formation versus Information

In his overview, Dr. J. L. Miller brought up the very important distinction between reading the Scriptures for information and reading the Scriptures for formation. You can go to any number of state universities and take a course called something along the lines of “The Bible as Literature.” In a class of this sort, you may learn all sorts of useful information about the history of the Bible and the Bible as a collection of different genres of literature. 

However, such a class probably won’t teach you how to open yourself up to be changed by the word.

You may have heard someone say at some point that the Bible is God’s answer book. There is tremendous truth in that statement. Do you want to know what God is like? Do you want to know the way into the kingdom of God? Do you want to know how to live? The Bible gives us great information on all these issues.

The danger is that we never move beyond using the Bible to know things to where we are actually changed. James boldly tells his audience that the demons believe that there is one God but still shudder in fear (James 2:19). The demons could likely beat any Israelite or Christian that ever has lived on the information in the Bible! But they will not be in the kingdom of God. There is apparently something more important about Scripture than mere answers to our questions!

God thus wants us to get more than just information from the Bible. God wants to change us. Without hardly a thought, it is possible to treat the Bible as something that we master rather than a way for God to master us. It is when we read the Bible with an open heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit that the Bible truly becomes Scripture to us.

Dr. Miller made it clear that the historical and literary study of the Bible need not be the enemy of spiritual readings like lectio divina. There is a place for knowing the cultural context of biblical texts. There are insights to be had by knowing the genres of the Bible. You might call such study “reading in context.” We hear the story of God walking with his people throughout history. We sense the overarching story of salvation.

A spiritual practice like lectio divina opens up to the Spirit speaking to us from a single word or verse. God’s words to us in such spiritual, personal ways will never contradict his broader message and walk with humanity throughout history. But as a living word, the Spirit regularly transcends the limits of the past. We chew on it. We ingest it into our lives. We grow in wisdom and in favor with God and humanity (Luke 2:52).