Most Christians believe that the Bible speaks with one unified voice. That is, every book and every author in the Bible says and means the same thing. This belief then becomes the lens through which the Bible is interpreted. If the Bible speaks with one unified voice, then two passages cannot contradict. Therefore, if two passages contradict, our interpretation of one of the passages is incorrect, and we must reinterpret the passages until we arrive at noncontradictory interpretations. 

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This process of Bible interpretation is both correct and incorrect. It is correct because the Bible tells one, singular story. The Bible tells the story of God by witnessing to God’s activity in the world. The Bible witnesses to God’s creation of the cosmos, his covenanting with Israel, his incarnation in Jesus, his empowerment of the church through the Spirit, and his recreation of the new heavens and new earth.

This process is incorrect because the Bible’s witness to the one story of God is a witness of different, and sometimes contradictory, voices. Imagine someone commits an act of violence in public, surrounded by multiple witnesses. The police gather and interview those witnesses. Each witness will probably tell a similar story of the primary events, but they will not all tell the details of the one-story precisely the same. This is how the Bible’s witness to the one story of God works. 

The Bible is filled with multiple voices who view and think about God’s story in very different ways. It is possible to describe these differing voices not as contradictory but simply as different perspectives on the same reality. Such an approach is acceptable, but one must recognize that if you brought the original authors together, you would likely get a debate about the topic, perhaps even a rather heated one. 

For example, Paul emphasizes the role of faith in the Christian’s life (Eph 2:8–10), while James emphasizes the demonstration of faith through works (James 2:14–17). The author of 1 Chronicles presents David and his reign positively, while the author of 2 Samuel presents David in a very negative light. In Matthew and Luke, Jesus goes to great lengths to honor the law and the temple, while in John, Jesus attacks and disregards the temple. 

Here’s why this is extremely important. When we cannot recognize the variety of voices in the Bible, it becomes easy to explicate a Christianity that cannot contain disagreements. Christians may be able to disagree on the “little” things (e.g., dress, drinking, Sunday evening worship, etc.), but they cannot disagree on the “big” things (e.g., abortion, politics, homosexuality, etc.). 

However, within the pages of the Bible, we get an example of Christians disagreeing and still being Christians. Paul and James even disagree on what is most important for Christian life and salvation! The Bible illustrates that we can disagree and debate with each other while still holding fellowship. It illustrates that there are always multiple angles through which an issue can be examined. It illustrates that our unity is based on faith in the God who revealed Godself through the incarnation of Jesus and has empowered the church through the Holy Spirit, not on what we believe on any one ethical issue. 

by: Spencer Shaw

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