Your Questions About the Bible

Your Questions About the Bible

Earlier this week I asked “why don’t people read the Bible anymore?” I suggested that one of the reasons was embarrassment – many people live in the embarrassing tension of knowing the Bible is important and knowing they don’t know much about the Bible. That resonated with a number of the folks that responded to the blog or that I’ve talked to since then.

But there were other reasons, too. Some said the Bible is just plain challenging – the story jumps around and it’s hard to keep track of characters. Others mentioned how unfamiliar they are with some of the different literary styles and genres in the Bible, with everything from legal codes and genealogies to love poetry and apocalyptic visions. Still others mentioned the challenge of moving between the ancient cultures of the Bible and our modern and postmodern culture today.

Along with these responses came lots of great questions – not just questions about what’s in the Bible, but about the Bible itself. I think questions are really important, that they’re the mark of a lively and curious faith. I’ve recently written a book about the Bible called Making Sense of Scripture: Big Questions About the Book of Faith (yes, it’s available on Amazon), and I’d like to this blog to address some of the questions people have – questions you have – about the Bible.

Even more, I’d like to use this blog to enter into conversation with you about the Bible, as I think we learn the most through honest conversation. So I again invite you to email me ( dlose@luthersem.edu ) with your questions about the Bible. What challenges you? What confuses you? What questions would you like to ask but are embarrassed to, either because you feel like you should already know the answer or because you’re not sure many churches would welcome your question?

Go ahead, ask away – the only dumb question is the one that’s never asked.