The Bible is one of the oldest and most-read books of all time. According to Business Insider:
Writer James Chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years.
He found that the Bible far outsold any other book, with a whopping 3.9 billion copies sold over the last 50 years.
Nearly everyone has read or been taught from the Bible sometime during their lives. But is the Bible really relevant today?
One of the greatest curiosities I had as a Catholic was learning more about the Bible. But after spending over 25 years studying the mysterious book, I abandoned my daily reading. Not that I no longer believed it was a very important book, but because it was no longer speaking to me.
Having been taught that the Bible was a ‘magical book’, I was greatly disappointed with the way people I knew had twisted so many stories to justify their viewpoint! How could I, after seeing this, use the ancient words and lesson in a format that would touch my heart again?
When I joined the New Thought movement many years ago, I realized I had been looking at the Bible through a very narrow lens.
Bible Stories Through a New Lens
According to Maggie Whitehouse’s Unity Magazine May 2019 article, “The Power of No”, the Bible and its stories can be read and understood in several different ways:
- Literal — did it or did it not happen?
- Allegorical — what’s the inner message for us all?
- Metaphysical — what does this mean to my own soul?
- Mystical — how is it relevant to the development of humanity/God’s plan for us?
Once I decided to look at the Bible and its stories allegorically, metaphysically and mystically, I found a new love for reading its stories. Instead of wondering if Joah really lived in the belly of a whale for 3 days as stated in the Old Testament Book of Joah, I started wondering what this meant for me? Maybe I needed to look at areas in my life where I was ignoring the calling of Spirit. Or maybe it is a story admonishing mankind to stop running for their true purpose in life.
Now, the Bible became more personal to me. Instead of a large collection of obscure stories, it became a book of interesting lessons to ponder and apply to my own life.
If you are looking at the Bible from just the literal perspective, like I did, I suggest you try reading it to find the different ways you can glean from its stories.