Do you understand what you are reading?

In the 8th chapter of the book of Acts, Philip’s encounter with an Ethiopian Eunuch is reported. It is a short story, but very important in our understanding of the early history of Christianity. How did Jesus, a poor, formally uneducated person from a small village in a poverty stricken rural area, become so noteworthy in history? How did the Jesus story spread so rapidly? The book of Acts tells a version of the story. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch is a piece of Luke’s story. It was written 2-3 generations after the death of Jesus.

We are told that Philip took a trip south apparently headed for Africa. Philip was a missionary with a message. He met an Ethiopian Eunuch, who was a servant/slave of a wealthy, royal family in Ethiopia. Being a sexless servant made the Eunuch a member of the lowest class. A sexless slave. How he got to be the person he was is unknown. He was probably Jewish. He could have been well educated and intelligent, but he was a slave. Luke is telling us about a very special nobody. When Philip met him, the Eunuch was reading from an Isaiah scroll. The common denominator between the two was the Isaiah scroll. And it is the Isaiah scroll that draws me into the story.

When in seminary, I took a course on the major prophets of the Old Testament. That is where I met Isaiah. As my class project I wrote a lengthy paper about the authorship of the book of Isaiah. I discovered that much of the Isaiah material was written not by Isaiah but by multiple writers over a period of centuries. They had all been inspired by the original Isaiah, a prophet of 8th century Israel. The original Isaiah was a harsh critic of the leaders of Israel, but always with a message of hope for the future. Followers of Isaiah took up his causes and messages.

The “school of Isaiah thought” lasted for at least eight centuries. Jesus is best understood as a disciple of Isaiah. Jesus referred to the Isaiah material constantly. He was completely committed to the dual purpose of the original Isaiah. Jesus was a constant critic of those who were in control. Jesus was an adamant critic of people of wealth and people of power in both government and religion. He was killed by Roman soldiers with encouragement of religious leaders. The charge against Jesus was that he was an insurrectionist.

The Ethiopian Eunuch was poor and powerless. He had no power except that given to him by his owner. How he had obtained a copy of the Isaiah material, we will never know. He was a hungry soul looking for a meaningful life. He could not escape his sexless slave status. How could he become whole? His search had led him to the Isaiah writings.

The Bible is the world’s best-selling book. Not everyone who owns a Bible reads it. However, many people do read it, hoping to find a message that will assist them to find a full and meaningful life. Among those who do read the Bible, the vast majority do not know what they are reading. They are kinfolk of the Ethiopian Eunuch.

We now live in a special period of time in the history of religious studies. We are privileged to live with the finest collection of Bible scholars in history. They are not found exclusively in religious colleges and seminaries. They are found in state universities where departments of religious studies are flourishing. Scholars of religion teaching at state universities are not bound by religious traditions or creeds. A whole new era of understanding of the Bible material is in full bloom. Scholarly evidence shows that the Bible is a collection of writings by male human beings, whose writings can be put into historical context. When put under the search light of modern scholarship, Bible writings advocate not one point of view, but several. The New Testament has many writers. Their writings are not a grand pronouncement of truth. The New Testament writings are a collection of materials that call for interpretation, discussion and debate. The best title for the collection is not “Holy Bible” but “The Great Debate.” I strongly suspect that most of today’s Bible readers are like the Ethiopian Eunuch; they read without understanding what they are reading.

Philip asked the Eunuch the right question. “Do you understand what you are reading?”

I write this essay as a “born again, evangelical Christian and a non-creedal Baptist.” My confession “Jesus is Lord” is wholehearted. I love the Bible readings. I search the Bible for insights and understandings about life. I eagerly enter into the debates that I find in the Bible.

I weary of today’s preachers and serious Bible readers who somehow believe they have clear and correct understandings and interpretations of the Bible material. It seems in every generation, we produce a new crop of Bible readers, who are absolutely certain they have clear understanding of the material. Many devout Bible readers need a Philip to ask a key question.

Do you understand what you are reading?

Help is available. Just as the Eunuch had the help of Philip, today we have excellent scholars, writers and teachers to give Bible readers help. Harvey Cox, Bart Ehrman, John Shelby Strong, Raymond Brown, Robert Funk, and John A. T. Robertson, are just a few of the modern scholars that are eager to help.

THE END

The Rev. Howard Bess is an American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net. He is pastor emeritus of Church of the Covenant.