Today’s Word from Pastor Katrina
Today is February 28th and I’d like to focus today’s writing on how we read the Bible. Today is also the end of Black History Month – a month that encourages us to study the effects that African Americans have had on life, thought, and action in the United States. To combine Bible-reading and Black History Month, I’d like to celebrate two African American Biblical Scholars who have impacted my education and inspired me to read the Bible while considering multiple contexts and lenses: Rev. Renita Weems PhD, and Rev. Wil Gafney PhD.
Dr. Renita Weems had a background in economics but then went to seminary, graduating in 1983. Because she was a woman, she was unable to be hired into parish ministry, so she went to Princeton Theological Seminary to become the first African American woman to earn a PhD in Old Testament Studies in 1989. Some of her extensive work encourages readers of the Bible to raise questions about texts, authors, and the assumptions embedded in them. She encourages readers to use their imaginations to retell the story in a way that gets at hidden truths, and to consider and take responsibility for the impact the stories have on the lives of others.1
Dr. Wil Gafney is a Biblical Scholar and Episcopal priest whose research focuses on intersections between the Biblical text and contemporary issues – specifically women’s issues and women’s Biblical stories.
The works of Dr. Gafney and Dr. Weems have impacted my reading of the Bible in part by prompting me to consider what is not written on the page. In one sermon I heard, Pastor Karen Dammann gave an example of this in Matthew 20:1-16 (the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard) when she encouraged us to ask questions like “why weren’t the last employees employable until 5pm – did they have transportation issues? Did they have children at home? Did they face some form of discrimination? Were they not literate?”
Another part of paying attention to what is not written on the page is being aware of what values we bring to the reading of scripture. Our reading of the Bible will be a different experience amongst both individuals and cultural groups. The Bible had historically been used to justify slavery and white supremacy, so it’s really important to consider how the experience of reading the Bible may have been for African Americans in that context. In their reading of the Bible, God made God’s self known in ways that spoke to their unique circumstances.
Pastor Jim often reminds us how important it is to think about the context in which a scripture is written; what is the meaning of a text in the setting of its context, history, and grammar; what is the exegesis? Dr. Weems, Dr. Gafney, and Biblical Scholar Dr. Mitzi Smith would also say that it’s important to be aware of the lenses we are using when we read the text, as we bring our own experiences, values, and lives to our reading, understanding, and use of the text. In my own experience with the Bible, this has helped me to be more curious about why I react in certain ways to certain passages, and to critically and compassionately look at all the factors that may be impacting my understanding-of and engagement-with a text. It’s not just a Bible Study, but also a study of self-reflection and of cultural reflection.
It may be the last day of Black History Month, but I pray that it may be the continuation of important learning as we consider the myriad ways in which God connects with all people in all places of the world, and how we relate to each other and to God’s Word.
Your humble servant,
Pastor Katrina
1 Sechrest, Love Lazarus. Race & Rhyme: Rereading the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2022
