I care about truth. Twist the epistemological argument every which way and slander postmoderns as you will, but pursuing truth does matter to me. But in the myriad of options for interpreting the Bible, sometimes it is hard to claim one truth over another. It is difficult to know which truth I want to cling to – which holds the most meaning for me.
Before you get too weirded out let me explain why this is currently bugging me. I was considering the story of Josiah rediscovering the book of the law as recorded in 2 Kings 22. Not exactly a story I grew up hearing often (no animals so therefore not an appropriate children’s Bible story apparently). But one that resonates with powerful meaning – depending on how you choose to interpret it.
The few times I heard this story mentioned in the literalist/inerrantist churches I attended, the truth in the story rested on it being historically factual. As in everything in it actually happened exactly as written in scripture. The King miraculously found the lost books of the law, was convicted by the nation’s lack of regard for God, and turned Judah back to worship of the one God. The moral of the story being to always immerse oneself in scriptures lest one fall away from true worship. Josiah was a great hero of the faith, and we too should be sure to never forget our daily quiet time of reading the Bible.
Then there’s the source criticism interpretation. Scholars suggest that Shaphan and Hilkiah, representatives of two powerful families in Judah at the time, actually forged the supposed long lost document. Their agenda was to reform the religious practices of Judah, centralize the worship in Jerusalem as a way of unifying the Judean and Israelite people in the wake of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians a century prior, and also to limit the power of the king by making him subject to the Deuteronomic Law. The truth lies in the representation of the communal religious story, as well as in a historical accounting that meshes with other historical knowledge of that period. It makes sense – helping to explain the difference between the Levitical and Deuteronmic law as well as the strong emphasis on social justice in Deuteronomy. There is not so much a moral of the story here as a solving a puzzle feeling.
Finally (for my purposes at least) there is the feminist interpretation. Instead of dwelling on the power plays of influential families in Judah, or on the heroic acts of a King, this interpretation focuses on Huldah. A lost gem of scripture she was the prophetess who interpreted the books of law to Josiah and delivered the word of the Lord to him. Amongst all in Judah, she was the only one faithful enough to the mandates of God to continue in the study of and devotion to scripture. And she’s a woman. Take that all you complementarians – here’s the prime example of women in the Bible not only preaching and teaching men (the King and high Priest at that!), but doing so in a major way. She’s more than a hero, she’s a symbol of hope for all us women seeking to break free of the church’s silencing and oppression of our sex. Historically true because it has to be in order for the precedent setting to work. But also true in the message of hope it conveys to women.
This is where gets messy. I see the truth in all three interpretations (and I am sure more exist as well). I don’t automatically assume that the Bible just couldn’t be actually representing historical facts. But neither do I dogmatically insist that such is always the case. The story is true whether that truth rests in its historicity or in its power as a cultural narrative. I wouldn’t really care except that I want to claim Huldah’s story and point to her as an historical precedent for women’s leadership in the church. I don’t want her to just be a manipulated (or manipulative) pawn in some ancient power play – I want her to be genuine. I want this interpretation to work.
And so I wrestle with truths. Amongst equally valid options do I simply choose the story that makes the most sense in my worldview? Or do I sacrifice resonating meaning for scholarship or theological camps?
Truth in the end is all about choice.
But more importantly – faith.