Author: Fiona Hammond

Theme 6: How the Bible still matters
6e: Should the Bible be normative for people other than Christians? Should we expect that?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What are your thoughts on the Bible’s place in a secular world?
How would you like our world to learn about it?
Raise your own awareness of what others think of the Bible—simply keep your eyes and ears open to how others use the Bible, when they speak of it, and the place it holds for them. See if you can learn from others more ways to appreciate the Bible.
If you find yourself with some time on your hands, design a social awareness campaign to raise the profile of the Bible! Dream about where your posters, tweets, Instagram and Facebook posts would reach! The world is your oyster!
TRANSCRIPT
The Rev'd Jazz Dow
Chaplain, Community of the Way
I don’t think that the word ‘should’ and ‘faith practice’ go together. I think that faith practice should come from a deep well of desire and joy and deep feeling, something that comes naturally to us rather than something that we should do.
So, when we say should the Bible be normative, I’d rephrase the question - could the scripture and sacred stories that we hold so dearly to ourselves be lifegiving to someone else? Absolutely! Should we force them to read it? Absolutely not.
I think Christians throughout history have used their own interpretation of scripture to define to others what is normative behaviour or expected behaviour, and we’ve seen the great price that we have paid for that. In the church as we see it now, we’ve got a whole generation, or generations of people leaving the church because they’ve been told what is right and what is normative about behaviour and they just can’t find life in that. They’ve chosen to find life in other places.
Life is in scripture, life is in the pages – we have to read with the lens of what Jesus has shown us - that he came to bring life in abundance rather than what is right and wrong, what we should do, as against what we shouldn’t do.

www.stfran.qld.edu.au Exploring the Bible: 6e. Should the Bible be normative for everyone? #
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