Resources:
- Subscribe to QuakerSpeak so you never miss a video
- See a list of all the videos we’ve produced.
- Read Friends Journal to see how other Friends describe the substance of Quaker spirituality
Transcript:
You know, there’s a story about a Jewish scholar, probably the same amount of time as Jesus was, and he was challenged to recite the whole of Scripture while standing on one leg. And he stood on one leg and said, “ Do not do unto others what is hateful unto yourself, everything else is detail.
My name is Tim Gee, I’m a member Britain Yearly Meeting, and I serve as General Secretary to the Friends World Committee for Consultation, and I use the pronouns he/him. So I think my journey, into faith and with faith and through faith, is primarily to do with seeking a direct communication, direct connection and communication with the divine. And for many friends, in some countries, including Britain, this can mean the Bible taking a place which isn’t central. I think that probably was my beginnings of my faith journey.
As I’ve experienced a number of things, though, I’ve found great companionship with different people in the Bible, wonderful empathy, as I observe them seeking a direct relationship with the divine, trying to understand what it is that God wants them to do, trying to act on that, facing some challenges, sometimes getting it wrong, yet still experiencing God’s loving power and presence to support them towards God’s plan for them. Trying to discern vocation is such an important thing to do that we need all of the support that we can get — and the best resource for accompaniment in that journey, in my experience, is the wonderful resource of scripture.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is sometimes called one of the great theologians of the 20th century, and in his letters and notes from prison when he was awaiting the end of his life, as we now know, he read the Bible again and he wrote, “There’s so much more to learn every time”. One of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, at the end of his life is reading the Bible again and finding new things. So every time we go back to it, we can find something new. Every new language it’s translated into, every time we have a new experience that we come back to it through the light of that experience will notice something new.
It was actually during the pandemic that I decided I was going to do a cover to cover Bible read. I was asking lots of big questions. I had some unanticipated extra time. And, you know, there are passages where you could read it one time, two times, three times, ten times, and ask, “Whew, what do I do with that?” There’s many things to disagree with with Augustine, but I’m going to paraphrase. One of the things that he advises in Bible reading is, “If any texts at first seems to be leading towards harm, meditate upon it until you can find it pointing to a place of charity. Augustine, sometimes called the father of theology! You know, this is not a leftfield idea. This is in the foundation of what’s become Christian theology. And I suppose I’m aware that one of the crises that the world is currently facing is polarization, people either not wanting to talk to each other or when they do talk to each other, shouting or arguing or just making accusations against each other. And I think a really good training ground for entering into a space of a difficult conversation, where there’s some difference is trying to read a text where you really want to find the good in it but it’s not immediately available on the surface.
Jesus does say that the whole of Scripture is summarized in the words, “Love God and love your neighbor.” That’s how I read what he says, anyway. But actually loving God and loving your neighbor in every situation in the world is very, very, very hard. So I think if someone can go into Scripture, go into the Bible, and bear this in mind — if anything doesn’t seem to be talking about loving God and loving your neighbor, then you’ve not interpreted it right. And if someone’s told you that some aspects of scripture involves not loving God or not loving your neighbor, they’re not interpreting it right. And it’s down to you to either interpret it right or find somebody who can help you do so.
There’s another story actually, from a Jewish teacher who says, “You know, you don’t have to fully understand every word the first time. The point is to lay them on top of your heart and then when, for one reason or another, your heart breaks open, they’ll fall in just when they’re needed. So if your heart doesn’t tell you the answer straight away, just like the words on top of your heart and just wait for the answer to come to you, it’s okay.
Discussion Question:
- How has scripture impacted your life and faith?
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
I will include this episode in our update for Celo Friends Meeting.
The story you began with is a garbled retelling of one of Hillel the Elder, a prominent rabbi a generation older than Jesus.. Jesus’s response in the Gospels to a questioner attempting to trick Him into blasphemy was to paraphase a saying of Hillel to thwart him, so Jesus knew well Hillel’s teachings. I am disappointed with your video and trust you will be more careful in future presentations. I am very fond of my Vulgate, read it often with benefit and agree that Bible study is very valuable, but silent worship will for me continue a more trustworthy link to God than a book with the defects uncovered by scholars in the 3+ centuries since the time of Cromwell and Charles Ii. But others disagree, and I will consider carefully messages comprised of or incorporating biblical text, as guided by the Inner Light.