aerial view of the Yale Divinty School

How We Read and Hear the Word

Welcome

Welcome to How We Read and Hear the Word! This course is divided into 7 units where you will be asked to “engage” with the short video of Dr. Joel Baden and then “reflect” on the content using the guiding questions created by YDS alumni the Rev. Erica Avena for individual or group reflection. You’ll also find additional resources if you want to Dig Deeper, and a section on Next Steps that provides practical tools for use of this content in your context.

Each section notes the estimated amount of time we think you will need to spend viewing the video and working through the reflective questions. We also suggest you have a notebook (or notetaking device) and Bible handy as you go through the units.

Through use of this course, you will be asked to reflect on the insights and opportunities that the Historical Critical method opens up for students of the Bible. By engaging text and context, the history of interpretation, and interrogating biases learned from our own communities, we learn to let the Biblical text speak again and again. ​Enjoy!

How YDS Teaches the Bible and Why

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (10-15 minutes)

Reflecting on Dr. Baden’s introductory comments, how do you think about who you are and the kinds of questions you ask in Bible Study?

What is your purpose in studying the Bible, what community or communities have shaped your understanding of what the Biblical text says and how to apply it?

Decentering the Text

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (15-30 minutes)

Calling attention to the plurality of Biblical interpretations coming from the variety of faith communities assembled at the intentionally ecumenical community at YDS, Dr. Baden lifts up the fraught endeavor of basing public policy on Biblical interpretation. What examples can you cite of when Biblical interpretation has been used in support of public policy? Were they effective or ineffective, and why?

Can you think of examples of when a community’s Biblical interpretation should govern their public policy?

As a student of the Bible, do you find there to be “stable discernable things” in it? If so, name, or journal them. If not, in your experience have you encountered those who do?

Reflecting on Dr. Baden’s comments about how Judaism’s interpretive traditions de-center a single interpretation of the Bible, in favor of a “kaleidoscope of interpretations,” share/discuss/journal when you have become aware of more than one reading of a text. What was the context? Whose experience was centered in the conversation? What was at stake in their interpretation?

Understanding the Biblical Text

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (15-30 minutes)

Dr. Baden says that Historical Criticism was written for societies in places and times that are “far, far away, and long, long ago relative to where we sit now.” To say that they mean for us now, exactly what they meant then is a good definition of fundamentalism. What have been your experiences with fundamentalism? Are there things that you respect about fundamentalism? And what concerns do you carry from your experience with fundamentalism?

 “Historical Criticism shows where the spots are where context makes a difference in how the text communicates. Historical sources are incomplete, and we tend to read our own biases into the text. …We’re constantly finding new spots where context matters.” Dr. Baden gives examples of disability, gender studies, and monotheism as areas where modern assumptions need to be analyzed. Think about a time when you recognized you were bringing your own bias to the text. What happened when you learned to read it taking account of another perspective? What is at stake when we study the Bible with a historical critical lens?

Why Historical Criticism is Important

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (10-15 minutes)

Dr. Baden asks: What does modern historical criticism do for us as modern readers of the Bible? The first is allowing us to ask why we read the text the way we do, the second is that it gives us a toolkit for understanding Biblical interpretations and reception. He goes on to say that this opens the door to allow us to interrogate our own reading practices and biases as carefully as we do those of the past. As you think about the blessing and burdens of this opportunity, what gives you pause, and what brings you joy?

The Evolving Interpretation of the Text

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (10-15 minutes)

Dr. Baden says: “There is a humility that comes from historical criticism, the realization that the Bible wasn’t written for us today.” What are the important things to you today about how the Bible is being interpreted for our present time?


 

Does the Bible Conform to Our Views?

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (10-15 minutes)

“If the Bible is taken as an easy affirmation of our own principles and beliefs…we are doing something wrong.” What Biblical passages make you uneasy? Why?


 

Reading the Bible from Contemporary, Social, and Cultural Perspectives

Questions for Individual Reflection/Group Discussion: (15-30 minutes)

Dr. Baden says that the Historical Critical method seeks to develop an empathic reading practice, by asking us to understand the Bible’s context and history, interrogating our own beliefs and practices, as well as what our communities have said. In this way we can answer the question of what the Bible means – for us. At this time, what next steps can you take to deepen your practice of Biblical study and reflection?

Resources to Dig Deeper

How We Teach the Bible and Why, Dr. Joel S. Baden, YDS Summer Study Keynote, 2022

American Bible Society

How to Read the Bible, Harvey Cox, Harper Collins 2015

Engaging the Word: The New Testament and the Christian Believer, Jaime Clark-Soles, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010

Next Steps

Tools

(include any practical resources, PDFs, etc)

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