I believe, that like most people, I have a hybrid of ways that I read and interpret the Bible. If I look at the Bible reading chart, my first impression is that I use mostly Reader-Response Reading when I read the Bible. I find it helpful when reading a passage to find some way to relate it to my life. I think that in this way the Bible is still speaking to people, and is still an active piece in our lives, rather than just something that was written thousands of years ago from which we can learn nothing. If it was just an historical piece of literature, what would be its purpose for us today?
I do like when it says that ‘Reader-Response interpretation can happen in groups of communities of readers’. I think there is a lot of value in reading and interpreting the Bible within a community. I could get really off base with my interpretation, and it will be checked by another person if we are interpreting as a group. God can speak to all of us in different ways, and God has given us all unique personalities, so we will all think a little differently, but we can learn a lot more that way also.
In the ‘Chart of Exegetical Methods’ I think that I would fall more into the existential methods of interpreting. I probably do mostly spiritual reading and embodiment or actualization. I think the Biblical text can be used as worship, and we can learn so much about how to live our lives from the Bible. I do not think that the Bible means much to us at all if we do not embody what it says. If we do not follow the teachings or live our lives as the Bible tells us to, then what authority have we given it?
By reading and interpreting the Bible in these different ways, I try to use what I read and apply it to my everyday life. I use the Bible to learn more about God and how God wants me to live.
