The Bible as One Story: How to Read and Understand the Bible

There are a number of perspectives on the structure of the Bible. In his article, Goheen (n.d) presents one of these perspectives. Titled Reading the Bible as One Story, this article presents the Bible as a coherent, well-ordered and properly structured resource for believers. Goheen sets the stage for the discussion that follows with an exploration of the life of Jesus Christ and the purpose that he fulfilled. According to Goheen, the Bible presents Jesus as a Savior whose mission was to redeem mankind and reconcile humanity with God. Goheen then proceeds to discuss how stories enable human beings to give their lives and experiences meaning. Here, Goheen argues that stories make it possible for humans to understand the role that they play in the universe. Another critical issue that Goheen addresses in the article is how the Scripture is structured into distinct chapters which function seamlessly together to establish one unified and coherent narrative. The main message that this narrative conveys is that God has been involved in a decades-long effort to redeem mankind and to restore his relationship with his people.

While engaging with Goheen’s text, I was prompted to reflect on my own perspectives regarding the Scripture. Before reading the article, I understood that the different chapters of the Bible address common themes and attempt to present the same narrative. However, now that I have examined the text, I understand that the structure of the Bible is indeed deliberate. God intended to use the Bible as a resource to communicate his grand plan for mankind. Whereas I found the article to be compelling and interesting, there are some questions that I feel it failed to answer. For instance, if the Bible is indeed a single story, how are believers supposed to reconcile conflicts and contradictions? I think that by responding to these questions, the article would be even more persuasive. Despite this shortcoming, I still find that Goheen’s text allows readers to appreciate the tremendous wisdom and coherence that define Scripture. I would readily invite others seeking to understand the truth of God’s word to read Goheen’s article.

Reference

Goheen, M. W. (n.d). Reading the Bible as one story.