“If the you of five years ago doesn't consider the you of today a heretic,
you are not growing spiritually.”
(Thomas Merton)
The Bible is God’s living word and its study is beyond the reach of the very common fundamentalism or literalism. Jesus, Himself, taught us how to see, what to emphasize, and also what could be ignored. He practiced what the Jewish people called Midrash – using questions to keep spiritual meanings open, often reflecting on a text or returning people’s questions with more questions.
Midrash allows and encourages us to grow with a text and not to settle for mere literalism, which, in itself, bears little spiritual fruit. It is just a starting point. People at different levels of maturity will interpret the same text in different ways.
Jesus consistently ignored, and even denied exclusionary, punitive, and triumphalist texts in favor of passages that emphasized inclusion, mercy, and honesty. Referencing two passages from Exodus (21:24) and Leviticus (24:20), Jesus suggested the opposite: “You have heard it said, ‘Eye for eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you . . . turn the other cheek” (see Matthew 5:38-39). He read the Scriptures in a spiritual, selective, and questioning way.
Ephesians 3:10 “This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.”
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