Editorial November 23, 1992 Issue

The Bible: how it unites us

Mary Metzner Trammell

All too often, the Bible has been a battleground. People have debated—and sometimes fought wars—over its meaning. But in a much more important sense, the Bible is what brings us together—stilling conflicts and reminding us of our common roots as the dearly beloved children of God.

How can we make sure our thoughts about the Bible are uniting us rather than dividing us? One way is to pray to really live—and not just talk about or debate—the truths in the Scriptures. It's easy to argue about theological concepts we haven't really made our own. But as we honestly try to take the ideas in the Bible and put them into practice in our lives, we'll be stepping beyond air-castle theory into solid reality. We'll be testing our understanding of Scripture day by day, hour by hour. And our daily experience won't lie to us. If the Bible is really nourishing us spiritually—making us happier, healthier, more unselfish—then that's a sign our understanding of Scripture is working for us, changing us for the better, making us more of a peacemaker than a peacebreaker. Our thoughts about the Bible will help glue together fractured situations in our homes, our bodies, our churches, our political institutions, our world.

But what if we don't see healing and unity in the circumstances around us? That could mean we need to reach for a more spiritual and practical understanding of the Bible—the kind we can live day by day. This is the kind of grasp on Bible truth that Mrs. Eddy describes when she writes in Miscellaneous Writings, "The Scriptures require more than a simple admission and feeble acceptance of the truths they present; they require a living faith, that so incorporates their lessons into our lives that these truths become the motive-power of every act."

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