A Crisis of Biblical Literacy

During Lent, I began facilitating a parish book study on Rachel Held Evans’ Inspired. Intended to be a layperson’s introduction to scriptural interpretation, Evans wrote Inspired for both former Evangelicals who were trained to read the Bible as a cohesive history and Mainline Christians whose congregations have often left them woefully unprepared to read or interpret Scripture on their own.

When I polled participants in my book study (a mix of cradle Episcopalians and former Catholics and Lutherans) on their engagement with scripture, they revealed that almost the entirety of their scriptural education was bound to the Sunday morning lectionary. They’re not alone. For many Episcopal congregants concerned with differentiating themselves from conservatives and Biblical literalists, reading the Bible outside of the liturgy is more readily accepted as the punchline of a joke than as a living practice. According to one report, Episcopalians are the most well-educated denomination in the U.S., but come close to last when ranked for biblical literacy.

Given how entrenched not reading the Bible has become among Episcopalians, you may be surprised to discover that our sixteenth century forbears would find this troubling - especially the editor of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, Thomas Cranmer.

Cranmer’s Homily on the Reading of Scripture

Cranmer’s unique role in Anglican history – he was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to serve after Henry VIII separated from the Church of Rome – gave him many opportunities to speak passionately about importance of reading scripture to his newly reformed church. The “Homily on the Reading of Scripture,” the first homily in Cranmer’s First Book of Homilies, lays out an argument for scripture-reading among all Christians: “To a Christian man there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable, than the knowledge of holy Scripture, forasmuch as in it is contained God’s true word, setting forth his glory, and also man’s duty.”

For Cranmer, becoming biblically literate through diligent scripture-reading served several purposes. It was the primary way to receive “sweet and pleasant” knowledge of God, an assurance against the corruptions of human-made traditions and bad theology, the source of moral teaching, and a warning to those who stray from God’s virtues and commands. In other words, the Bible is a comprehensive source for knowledge of God and theological instruction. It is accessible to all, regardless of age, class, or education. Cranmer suggests that the scriptures speak into individual experience and context, offering a balm to some and discipline to others according to their need. With continued reading, the Bible draws the reader ever deeper into the way of God.

In the second part of the homily, Cranmer makes some compelling arguments for reading Scripture. If philosophers read philosophy and lawyers study law, he asks, then how can Christians claim our name without studying our foundational texts? While we may argue that it’s too difficult to understand without guidance, Cranmer points out that an outright refusal to independently read the Bible leaves us just as ignorant as we began. There is simply no way to engage the Bible responsibly if we don’t ever pick it up! That being said, Cranmer acknowledges the “dark mysteries” of the Bible – those passages that defy immediate understanding - and suggests that Christians keep at it, knowing that God will reveal Godself in time.

What Cranmer Can Teach Us Today

While much has changed since the sixteenth century, our concerns are not so different from Cranmer’s. Like him, we must confront unchecked power in our churches and political systems, work to discern the will of God in our lives, and upend the harmful and perverse theologies that permeate our tradition.

While many Episcopalians, myself included, cherish the cultural, liturgical, and even hierarchical norms of our denomination, we sometimes lack the tools to properly confront clergy abuses of power, particularly as they pertain to theological teachings that re-entrench secular social and economic ideals. In the face of claims aligned with particular political ideologies or identity-based exclusion, laypeople steeped in the nuances of Biblical knowledge could claim their own authority to respond. They would know that Paul’s teaching on “homosexuality” struggles from translation issues and cultural misunderstandings. They would understand that building wealth is a virtue of American civil religion and not of the church. In other words, a biblically literate church would be empowered to illuminate the text out of an ongoing and collective engagement with it, even and especially as it challenges them. 

Cranmer advocated for the same in his time. For him and his contemporaries, making scripture-reading accessible to all was a revolutionary act. It was a way of keeping earthly rulers in the church and beyond accountable to God’s instruction – a democratizing force that allowed all to be educated in the school of our faith.

More than that, it was a way of reminding us that God is immanently accessible to us as individuals, speaking through and with the prophets and apostles in our sacred texts. Cranmer reveals to us that the Bible is a “precious gift” from God. Though complicated, it is worth the effort to explore. Biblical literacy grounds us in the ongoing dialogue of God with all of God’s people, and we are empowered to claim our place in “the priesthood of all believers.”

Responding to Pushback

It is occasionally suggested that encouraging laypeople to read the Bible will result in inaccurate and even unjust interpretations of the text. The argument assumes that laypeople are incapable of understanding nuance, or engaging at even a basic level with historical-critical or literary approaches to reading the Bible that respect its multivalent and often confusing forms and content. I would argue that to believe such a thing is to deny the responsibilities of clergy and churches to foster deeper religious understanding. It says more about the limited imagination of church leaders than about the realities of laypeople’s capacities.

Certainly, we should discourage a “plain reading” of the Bible that fails to account for changing cultural norms and historically violent readings of passages on topics like slavery, homosexuality, and the place of women. To protect against limiting interpretations, we will need to provide opportunities for independent scripture readers to articulate their questions within the multi-interpretive context of the church. And Cranmer provides a way forward here, as well, advocating for continual humility as we approach and attempt to interpret the text. 

To say that laypeople should read the Bible is not to suggest that we do away with corporate and individual obligations to engage responsibly. It is to bring all people into fuller knowledge of God. And that is worth the risk.

Conclusion

My small-but-dedicated book study group was so inspired by scriptural discussion that we decided to extend our time together. As we continue to wrestle with the complexities of our sacred texts, we are discovering anew what our forebears knew: that the Bible offers empathy as it provides accountability, refuge as it suggests action. We are learning, with frustration and delight, that the same passage can be a “dark mystery” one week and revelatory the next. We are coming to understand what it means to partake in this gift from God, with the joy and humility Cranmer described nearly 500 years ago. 

As it turns out, Biblical literacy is our tradition. Crack open your Bibles, Episcopalians. It’s time to come home.

Works Cited

Clifford, George. “Encourage People to Read the Bible? Maybe not.” Episcopal Café. February 3, 2012. Accessed March 12, 2021. https://www.episcopalcafe.com/encourage_people_to_read_the_bible_maybe_not/

Cranmer, Thomas. No. 1, “Homily on the Reading of Scripture.” First Book of Homilies. Short-Title Catalogue 13675. Renaissance Electronic Texts 1.1. Ian Lancashire ed. University of Toronto, 1994.

Williams, Leslie. Emblem of Faith Untouched: A Short Life of Thomas Cranmer. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016.

Zabriskie, Marek. “The Bible Challenge.” Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) Vital Practices. November 2012. Accessed March 12, 2021. https://www.ecfvp.org/vestry-papers/article/319/the-bible-challenge