Unity has a long and rich tradition of metaphysical interpretation of the Bible. From our earliest version of the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary published in 1913 to The Revealing Word in 1959, metaphysics has been Unity's primary method for studying and interpreting the Bible. As Bible scholars and students today, we have methods of study available that make metaphysical interpretation even more valuable.
The focus of scholars and academics for the past several decades has been the historical-critical method of study. The historical-critical method asks questions like “Who wrote the Bible?” “When was it written?” “What were the perceptions, thoughts and feelings of the writers?”
These are questions that we explore together in the Scriptural Studies classes I teach to ministerial students at Unity Institute. They are questions that have not usually been asked in previous Bible studies, when the focus was on the stories and their interpretations, without much thought as to who the writers were and why they wrote the stories. However, that approach to the Bible is changing, thanks to scholarly information we now have that was not available in previous generations.
Armed with consciousness studies first undertaken in the 20th century and anthropological and archaeological information that has only been made widely available in the past 25 to 35 years, we are now seeing the Bible in a very new way. We can more clearly see the picture of the evolution of spiritual consciousness and the evolution in our perception of God.
In You Shall Be as Gods, published in 1966, author Erich Fromm expressed his ideas about the evolution of the perception of God in the Bible. “The Old Testament,” he said “is the document depicting the evolution of a small, primitive nation … to the final unification of all men, in the complete freedom of each individual.”
Like Fromm, Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore was a man ahead of his time in many ways. Echoing Fromm's thoughts, Fillmore wrote in his book Mysteries of Genesis: “The Bible veils in its history the march of man from innocence and ignorance … to a measure of sophistication and understanding.”
Other New Thought writers such as Judge Thomas Troward, in his book Bible Mystery and Meaning, recognize the evolutionary nature of the Bible: “The Bible is found not to be a mere collection of old-world fables or unintelligible dogmas but a statement of great universal laws … for the entire Bible is based upon the principle of Evolution.”
However, in order to see the results of evolution, one must look at events over a period of time. When the Hebrew Bible was canonized around 367 B.C. there was no concept of evolution. Therefore there was no thought given to placing the writings in the time they were written. The writers were reflecting the predominant thinking of the people of their times. However, without knowing the perceptions, thoughts and feelings of the writers of the various books, it is difficult, if not impossible, to see evolution. Scholars today have been able to determine when the various books of the Bible were written, making it possible to see how perceptions have changed.
One of the best examples is in the book of Genesis. The story of the Garden of Eden found in Chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis is placed after the creation story in Chapter 1 (which was actually written 300 to 400 years later). And such a difference in the perceptions of God! The first writer portrayed an anthropomorphic God who walked around in the Garden of Eden not knowing where man was and having to ask (Gen. 3:9). Chapter 1 of Genesis (which, remember, was written later) tells of a transcendent God who spoke and the world came into being. It is easy to see how humankind's perceptions changed.
There is a marked change in the thinking between the earlier writers and the later writers of the Old Testament. One is able to discern how the period of time known as the Axial Age, from 800 B.C. to 200 A.D., during which Hebrew prophets and other great spiritual leaders lived, is reflected in the writings. The perception of God changed from a jealous, angry god to a god of justice and mercy. This can be clearly seen in the two different accounts of what we know as the Ten Commandments. The first was written when the concept of ethics and morality did not exist in the majority of the thinking of people at that time (Ex. 20). The later version was written 300 to 400 years later (Ex. 34). Conspicuous by its absence in the first version are the moral and ethical commandments. Instead there are commandments to obey tribal laws.
Having the knowledge of different thinking at different times helps us in our exploration of Biblical interpretation as well. Being able to trace the evolution of consciousness provides a new dimension to the metaphysical interpretation process. The tools we have traditionally used are more valuable; they have a new edge to them as we continue to examine the stories and the passages in light of the thinking of their times and of our own evolution. The process of interpretation continues to be an examination of what the Bible means for humankind collectively. We can focus on how we have evolved as humankind as each new level of understanding brings us to a newer awareness of who we are in the world and who we are becoming in the future.
As far as we know, the Hebrew people were the first to attempt to write their history. What we have come to understand is that the predominant consciousness of the times when the early chapters of the Bible were written was cyclical—“what goes around comes around … why write down your history?” By writing down their history they were putting forth the idea that there was a future ahead and that their God was in it. The writer of the Book of Jeremiah expressed that idea: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans … to give you a future with hope” (Jer. 29:11).
And the thought is reiterated in the writings of the New Testament. The writer of 1 John stated it this way: “Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.” (1 Jn. 3:2 and Paul in his letter to the Corinthians stated “And all of us …
We are indebted to the scholars who have continued to explore the writings of the Bible in order for us to see how far we have come in our understanding of it. Any search for hidden meanings is made easier when we realize that the only hidden meanings are those obscured by the way the Bible was edited and redacted. We are also indebted to those who have continued to search for deeper meanings through allegorical and metaphysical translations. And we can incorporate their thinking into our individual exploration of spiritual consciousness as well as the exploration of the spiritual consciousness of humankind as a collective.
In our Unity Institute Scriptural Studies classes, we are explorers. In our exploration of the Christian Bible we continue to look for the balance between tradition and evolution, staying open to the guidance of Spirit in all that we explore. The process has involved releasing much of what we have been taught or told the Bible was and becoming more and more aware of what it is, a picture of our individual and collective evolution. And in that awareness, it can become of greater value and inspiration.
Note: All Bible quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.
