It’s a process. If I could somehow describe how I arrived at my current understanding, I would have to describe it as a process. Everyone will have to go their own way, so I can only speak of myself or what I have observed. My understanding will never look quite like your understanding. But we can have a more or less large overlap. However, what we describe, delimit, recognize externally is not the essence. The essence of faith remains a mystery at all times. Paul speaks of a “mystery of faith” (2 Timothy 3:9) and a “mystery of godliness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

When we read or continuously discover the Bible, it is not about ticking off a list of facts worth knowing, nor is it about reaching “higher spheres”, for example, through ever greater “knowledge” (Gnosticism works like that). All of this is self seduction. The Bible, on the other hand, is sober, liberating, and shows us God’s nature and work. How we deal with it now, how we trust and believe, remains deeply a mystery. We can still recognize this in each other and in each other.

Blind believe

I have always been curious. I like to deal with ideas and questions. However, I experienced this frequently: When I approached the church leadership with questions, not infrequently a “definitive answer” was given – it was “so and so”. That was not an answer, but a rebuff. While I was looking for dialogue and asking why things were taught that way, that dialogue would regularly end abruptly. This was then followed by a reference to tradition, to “Christianity” or to a biblical passage. This should take the issue off the table.

If I put it exaggeratedly, then one demanded a cadaver obedience in relation to dogmas and traditions. Perhaps it would be more accurate to construe such an attitude as a refusal to talk? This must be respected. Not everyone likes to talk. Not everyone wants to question. And also: Not everyone is prepared to enter into a dialog in a self-critical manner. Of course, not every conversation has to succeed either. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. However, if conversation avoidance is the local culture, I get short of breath and soon need more air.

A local community culture can be very rigid and full of expectations of conformity. Unfortunately, I am bad at “blindly following” people and assumptions. I can’t. I want to properly comprehend, consider and understand. That’s the only way I can get involved and join somewhere. I don’t want to be simply muzzled. It’s not about having hobby horses that I like to ride around on. No way. The point is to have an open exchange about common questions, where everyone contributes something. This exchange enables a process of learning (see also: “Learning culture”). For me, this is a cornerstone of living community.

What sockets do you have?

On the way to a better understanding there are often people you meet, books you read or videos that help. I remember one particular conversation in this context. That was a very long time ago. Together with some friends I was visiting a Bible teacher. It was about specific questions that we had. I was concerned with the meaning of “Gehenna.” Jesus uses this word in the Gospels and it is sometimes translated as “hell”. What exactly does that mean? What is Gehenna? It was an excellent and open conversation. My question was clear. I was also offered a solution. It was about a direct connection with other verses that I had never seen before. And then what happened?

Nothing happened. I was handed something like a plug, an answer to my question. This plug, however, did not help me, because I did not have a suitable socket for it. I could not do anything with the offered answer. That came only later. After I had the necessary “socket” – a better understanding for connections in the Bible – suddenly also the offered plug fit. My Aha! experience came with delay.

Because I have this experience, I can also understand other people who still can’t do anything with some plugs – simply because the suitable sockets are missing. That’s fine. It is also the reason that I do not want to simply offer answers here on the Kernbeisser website, but build sockets. They are meant to be suggestions to think for oneself, to discover connections and to be able to derive conclusive answers from them.

Growth is a process. Maturity and adulthood in faith come through such processes.

Companions

Occasionally I hear someone refer to themselves as a “beginner in the faith.” That always sounds a little strange to me. But it is even stranger when those who have been in the faith longer even confirm it. Isn’t it the Benedictine monks who have a rule of life for “the beginning,” so to speak, for beginners? This is also the only rule of life they have. There is no advanced life rule. This is what I call wisdom of faith. See Chapter 73 or Epilogue of the Rule (.8). I like to remain a beginner in this sense.

There are no beginners and advanced in faith. There are only people “of the Way” (Acts 18:25) or later with Paul and with Paul “fellow imitators of Christ” (Phil 3:17). We are each other’s companions. How long you have been on the road is neither a disadvantage nor an advantage. It is not because of our running, but because of God’s grace. It is not because of our recognition, but because of our calling. That’s why everyone is welcome to come along for a walk at any time. In the best sense, we are learners, but also gratefully living. In togetherness we see and recognize more than when we are alone (Eph. 3:18-19).

Building blocks

Reading the Bible is not a goal in itself. Reading the Bible allows us to gain insight into the development of God’s work on and in this world. There are retrospectives and outlooks, we find encouragement and life wisdom as well as confidence and faith wisdom. Even if we only take some of it, we gain a lot. They are building blocks of faith. We build our confidence with it and recognize who God is and how He works. We get to know His Christ and learn about Israel, the nations and about the church today. Understanding grows.

We learn about many things in the form of stories so that we can make it part of our own history.

Why does it really work?

What is the goal of reading the Bible? This should also be clarified. Discovering building blocks of faith is not the same as climbing a ladder. There is no fixed sequence of steps or “levels”. Nor is there a critical eye here as to whether something is “wrong” or “right,” as if we had to fight for every inch of faith with trials. It works quite differently. Faith is trust. It’s about feeding the trust. Who do we believe?

Paul describes it as follows:

“Because the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord is above all.

For whose sake I consider all these things forfeited and rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found to be in Him, in whom I have not my own righteousness, that of the law, but that through the faith of Christ, the righteousness from God by faith:

To recognize Him

and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, whether I could possibly attain to the resurrection out of the dead.

Not that I have already received this or am already accomplished in this.

But I chase after it, whether I may take hold of what I have also been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Brothers, I do not consider myself to have grasped it yet.

But I do one thing: I forget what is behind me and reach out to what is in front of me. So I chase the goal according to the prize of God’s calling above in Christ Jesus.

All of us who have matured may be mindful of this;

and if you are of a different mind in anything, God will reveal this also to you.”

Phil 3:7-15

Paul describes how he is on the road as a believer. The sections that start on the far left concern the main statements. The indented texts on it are each an extension and explanation.

Paul is an apostle, but he has not yet reached his goal. However, he was called by Christ and is now trying to grasp for himself the life that was given to him. He is not perfect, any more than we are. For him, it is not the Bible that is central (it did not exist in today’s form at that time), but Christ is central. He is his focus. Together, however, we should be focused on Christ and thus walk a common path.

When we read the Bible, we arrive at such texts. The Bible is not about the text. It is about what and about whom the texts speak. The Bible does not point to itself, but to God and His Christ.

Understanding the Bible

How we come to understand the Bible is a process. Understanding grows step by step and only as far as we learn to trust in God and lean on Him. It’s an adventure in a certain way. We can support each other in this. How? We can allow questions and ask counter-questions. We can pass on suggestions. We may even have to avoid giving direct answers. Because what someone discovers for themselves is much more valuable and sustainable.

We can openly question the Bible without knowing the answer beforehand. We can support one another to take our questions seriously, to grow up, to grow toward Him in everything (Eph. 4:15-16).

Is it not important then to offer biblical teaching at all? Yes, it is necessary. However, it is about the way it is communicated. It should not be dictated, but spread out on the table like a map. Then you can stand together around the map and wonderfully plan a route for the journey in the real world.

Deepening

What attitude can we take toward each other? Discuss the following statement from Paul:

“Not that we have dominion over your faith, but we are fellow workers in your joy; for you have stood firm in the faith.”
2Cor 1,24