In the past month, I’ve had three encounters that demonstrate the challenge of applying biblical teaching to everyday life.
First, I met a new visitor to our church. She’s educated, smart, and articulate. However, she’s not so sure about the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture anymore. She’s struggling with modern discussions around the Bible’s accuracy and has questions about possible inconsistencies in the Bible.
Second, a friend and church leader—a mature, seasoned Bible reader and a godly man—is deeply grieving the sudden loss of a close friend. What does the Bible say about God’s place in pain, suffering, and death? How do we hold to the goodness of Scripture in crisis and grief?
Third, my own teenage son is growing by asking great questions: How do we understand the Bible? How does it all fit together? What’s the point of it all?
Jonathan Pennington, a New Testament professor and pastor, offers help for each of these people and many others. In Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God Through Scripture, he presents the everyday believer with a roadmap to gaining incredible value from God’s Word. Short and engaging, it may be the most accessible and compelling book on engaging the Bible I’ve ever read.
Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God Through Scripture
Jonathan Pennington
Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God Through Scripture
Jonathan Pennington
The Bible invites us to know God and have eternal life. That makes reading, understanding, and applying Scripture the most important journey we will ever take, but it can be difficult without a guide to provide direction.
In Come and See, Jonathan Pennington helps readers understand what it means to know God from the Bible and details 3 effective approaches to interpreting Scripture. Using the engaging analogy of a road trip, he introduces 3 friends who each have distinct, clear ways of navigating the Bible: informational (understanding genres in Scripture and avoiding exegetical mistakes); theological (reading canonically, traditionally, and creedally); and transformational (focusing on the goal of reading Scripture, our posture as readers, and the role of the Holy Spirit). Pennington gives detailed advice for employing all 3 reading modes, equipping readers to gain wisdom and know God better.
Pennington promotes three approaches to Bible reading—informational, theological, and transformational reading. He frames these three methods through three fictional characters on a road trip together. Each friend takes a turn at the wheel, using his or her approach and skills to help the group reach its final destination. For Pennington, “The goal of reading the Scriptures is not merely to gain knowledge about God or to learn certain beliefs and behaviors. The real aim in reading Scripture is to see and know God himself” (3).
Begin with Understanding
The first fictional driver on the road trip is Ingrid. She takes readers through informational reading that teaches us to “grow in knowledge and skills that relate to gaining and integration information” (8). When approaching the Scriptures, we must remember we’re separated from the original writing of the Bible by time, culture, and language. It’s easy to misunderstand and misinterpret the Bible without realizing it.
When approaching the Scriptures, we must remember we’re separated from the original writing of the Bible by time, culture, and language.
Within informational reading, there are “three avenues” to travel. We read behind the text (learning about the language, history, and culture of biblical times), in the text (focusing on the Bible as literature), and in front of the text (understanding how previous generations of believers have understood and applied it). Informational reading protects us from common mistakes in interpretation and reminds us to “be humble and thoughtful in the task of interpreting the Bible” (59).
Continue to Theology
Tom is the advocate for the second approach, theological reading. As Pennington argues through Tom, “Reading theologically . . . involves paying attention to the scope of the whole Bible, learning how the church before our time interpreted the biblical texts, and understanding how the church’s creeds help us read” (62). This approach to Scripture introduces new skills and techniques to build upon informational reading.
For example, we can better apply the Bible’s teachings when we understand the contexts of the canon (seeing the arc of the Bible as a unified, whole story), the church’s tradition (how systematic theology contributes to our understanding), and orthodoxy (the church’s historic framework of belief). Theological reading, as Pennington summarizes, reminds us “the church that has existed before us and that will still be here after we die has articulated important creedal affirmations that shape, guide, and protect our readings” (93).
These two types of Bible reading, however, aren’t enough. If our reading of Scripture is meant to invite us into a deeper relationship with God, then we must stay focused on our end point. Traveling two-thirds of the way toward the destination, Pennington reminds us, means we still haven’t arrived, no matter how fun the trip has been. Those who merely read the Word and engage it theologically without being changed by its power haven’t completed the task of reading.
Pursue Transformation
A third character, Taylor, presents the final approach to biblical understanding—transformational reading. We learn to “drive” with these informational and theological skills so we can be transformed by the journey itself. The trip is a delight, but the presence of God with us is the greatest blessing. As Pennington writes, “Reading the Bible is an encounter with God.” (101)
Reading for personal transformation protects us from only approaching the Bible intellectually. Pennington explains, “Instead of standing over a text and dissecting it, our posture ought to be one of standing under God’s Word and submitting to it” (109). The Christian life is indeed a journey, and the Bible is our guide into ever-increasing fellowship with the triune God.
Transformational reading, then, is the one type of reading only believers can do. Only by those filled by God’s Spirit can, to quote the late Gordon Fee, “read the Bible for all its worth.” It takes the ongoing presence and power of the Holy Spirit to inspire us to understand, believe, and live according to God’s Word.
Journey Continually
This is the strength of Come and See. It follows its own directions. It begins with head knowledge, integrates helpful outside voices, and then moves into heart-level reflection, thanksgiving, and pursuit of God. Come and see, the Bible welcomes us, and discover a deeper relationship with God all along the path.
The Christian life is indeed a journey, and the Bible is our guide into ever-increasing fellowship with the triune God.
My friends with different challenges—one struggling, one grieving, and one growing—would all benefit from a deeper encounter with God through Scripture. Come and See would be a helpful guide for all three friends.
If we can learn to read our Bibles wisely—with our minds and hearts fully engaged in God’s presence—then we’ll reach our final destination. We’ll see and know God as he is. And in seeing him, we’ll become like him.
This is a road trip worth taking over and over.
