One of the views concerning Scripture that has been lost but is slowly recovering is the idea, "So above, as below. So below, as above." So what does that mean? It means that Scripture is not merely narratives and cultural history but road maps of the mind written from a particular cultural perspective. The narrative of the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ is not just recounting a history but also detailing a process of how to experience the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension first hand. Characters with very distinct personalities in a particular narrative represent different aspects of ourselves. In the Gospel of John are the Romans, the Pharisees, Judas, Peter, Thomas, Christ, Pilate, etc.

I share this with you because the idea of Scripture being "layered" was a new concept when I was coming back to Christianity. The idea that Scriptures could have multiple meanings simultaneously and that the "history" of the texts was of minor importance was mind blowing, freeing, and has been helpful so I don't get bogged down in the event contradictions because there are contradictions. I encourage all of you in your scripture reading to look deeper than the narrative and see what Scripture says about you. Like Paul did in Galatians 4:21-31, he took scripture and told it how it related to themselves. We can do this too. The idea of taking Scripture as non-literal is nothing new and I don't think this is the only time Paul does this.

Anyway share how Scripture "speaks" to you. Have you ever experienced this? Do you think that things you find in scripture about yourself, applies to just you, to others, or depends on the situation?