The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of The Bible

In this episode, we get into our ever evolving relationship with the Bible. We reflect on our early experiences with the Bible as children, including the simplified and often traumatizing stories we were taught. As we grew older, both of us felt pressure to read the Bible regularly and experienced a ton of guilt when we didn’t meet those expectations. Brian shares how his discovery of his queerness led him to search for inclusion in the Bible, while Shannon explores his journey of reading the Bible academically and finding new meaning through artistic interpretation. We also discuss the importance of understanding the historical and cultural context of the Bible and the importance of knowing history to help make sense of faith.

Takeaways

• Early experiences with the Bible can be simplified and traumatizing, leading to a need for reevaluation and reinterpretation.
• Feeling guilty for not reading the Bible regularly is common, but it’s important to find a personal approach that feels authentic.
• Exploring the Bible academically and artistically can provide new perspectives and meaning.
• Understanding the historical and cultural context of the Bible is crucial for interpretation and avoiding misinterpretation. Having a grounding library of foundational documents provides a point of reference and a source of inspiration.
• Knowing our history helps us understand how people have made sense of faith and navigate big questions.
• Living with tensions and making decisions can be challenging, but community support and communal discernment can provide guidance.
• Engaging in discussions and learning from diverse perspectives can expand our minds and lead to personal growth.

Chapters

(00:27) Early relationship with the Bible  

(04:07) Searching for inclusion  

(05:32) Viewing the Bible as a creative story  

(06:02) Source material for creative works  

(06:30) Reading the Bible from a Jewish perspective  

(07:00) Different interpretations of the Bible  

(09:21) Navigating Christian and Jewish perspectives  

(10:48) Transitioning and reimagining the Bible  

(13:23) Memorizing Bible verses and devotionals  

(14:49) Engaging with the Bible academically  

(16:14) Finding new meaning through artistic interpretation  

(24:27) The power of texts and foundational documents  

(30:07) Knowing history and making sense of faith  

(34:20) Living with tensions and making decisions  

(44:10) The importance of community and communal discernment

Resources:

• Learn more and sign up for the workshop, From Affirmation to Liberation at queertheology.com/class 
• Join the  Sanctuary Collective Community

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