of the reading and interpretation of the Bible into two broad periods that I am calling the "People
of the Story" (how the Bible was read and interpreted from the Old Testament times to the
Reformation) and the "People of the Book" (how the Bible has been read and interpreted from
the Reformation to today). After painting this broad picture I will conclude with some
implications for today and the future as we proactively adjust our approach to reading and
interpreting the Bible in order to make it relevant to coming generations of the twenty-first
century and beyond, to the "People of the Byte."
From the time period of Abraham to Moses, the Hebrew people had no Bible, no written
document to guide them in their faith or practice. For the most part, the vast majority of them did
not read anyway, so the lack of a written document was no problem. Instead, they were people of
the story, where the traditions about the patriarchs--Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph--were
handed down in oral form from one generation to another. Memorization was the primary
technique used by these nomadic peoples and there was little need for interpretation. The
traditions spoke for themselves. The patriarchs lived, were faithful to God, and died. As the
fathers instructed their families in remembering the patriarchs they also helped them readily
apply these examples of faithfulness to their own lives.
The oral stories continued during the 400 years of Egyptian captivity. With Moses, however,
came not only a new freedom but also the use of a new technology. The Egyptians had perfected
the art of alphabet writing on papyrus sheets and Moses, highly educated and steeped in Egyptian
ways, became not only the liberator of his people but also the writer of their history. It was he
who wrote down the stories of the patriarchs as well as the law code that God provided on Mt.
Sinai. The resulting first five books of the Old Testament--the Law or the Torah--subsequently
became the new standard by which the Hebrew people believed and measured their lives. The
priests and the Levites became the keepers of that new standard. Now the old stories and new
laws were passed on orally not only from father to son but from priest to people. The educated
priests were aided in this task by the newer technology of hand-copied scrolls that allowed the
law to be read in the wilderness tabernacle and later in the Jerusalem temple. But note that even
though it was now written down, the truths of the Torah were still communicated orally to the
people. There was no private, silent reading and of the Torah. The patriarchal stories continued to
be recited out loud at family meals; the law was listened to in tribal community. Thus, the
Hebrews--later Jews--during this time period remained essentially people of the story. There
was little need for interpretation since the living situations of the people were still very similar to
those recited in the older stories and talked about in the law. Any interpretation that was needed
was done in the context of the community of the faithful who listened to the Torah in family and
tribal units.
The Captivity in Babylon (587 to 538 B.C.) dramatically changed things. Because of the
destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the only thread of religious commonality in the lives of
the Jewish people became the words of Scripture. As a result, a whole new way of handling