By Matthew Schmid
Introduction:
Reflecting on America and the Bible’s status as a cultural icon has resurrected feelings that I thought were dead inside me. Connecting biblical iconography with my trauma connected to coming out has torn the scab off wounds that might not have fully healed. However, doing so has allowed me to reflect deeper and mend those areas in my heart. My treatment is an open hermeneutical approach to the Bible, allowing me to look beyond its fundamental facade of my youth.
In this short post, we will explore and examine the pitfalls of the most critical assumptions of cultural biblical iconography and the damage and trauma these issues have left on many people. Hopefully, by deliberate reexamination, removing the veil of the Bible’s religious eminence, and investigating claims of universal answers, others will also overcome some religious trauma left in their lives.
The Bible as a Cultural Icon Definition
While this was not part of my paper, I want the readers to understand what I mean by the Bible as a Cultural Icon. So, to help, I asked ChatGPT, and it did not disappoint:
The Bible stands as an enduring cultural icon, woven into the fabric of human history and thought. Its pages, spanning millennia of stories, laws, poetry, and prophecies, have profoundly influenced art, literature, politics, and morality across the globe. As a religious text, it serves as the cornerstone for millions of believers, shaping their faith, rituals, and worldview. Yet, its significance transcends religious boundaries, serving as a touchstone for ethical debates, philosophical inquiry, and the exploration of human existence. Whether revered as divine revelation or studied as a literary masterpiece, the Bible’s enduring impact resonates through the ages, reflecting the complexity and richness of human experience.
Biblical Icon Assumption #1: God’s Word is Easily Accessible:
In his book The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, Christian Smith highlights there are biblical-based books to supposedly “fix” everything. Many would be surprised to hear anyone say the Bible is not easily accessible. Yet, in a culture flooded with biblical consumerism, many still struggle to understand the Bible. One fundamentalist belief is that anyone can pick up the Bible and pull meaning from the text. However, this simply isn’t true, and the danger of this assumption is when someone picks up the text to make sense of it and cannot. At that point, trauma is stamped in that person’s heart, causing them to believe they are the problem.
The Bible’s supposed accessibility demands a nuanced reflection on its consequences. The question emerges: Does this biblical accessibility foster a genuine understanding or merely perpetuate surface-level acceptance of what leaders teach people to believe? Additionally, what are the results of people believing the Bible is accessible to everyone and anyone can understand it clearly?
Biblical Icon Assumption #2: God’s Textbook for the World:
Another stance of those viewing the Bible as a cultural icon is the idea that it is God’s textbook for the world. In his book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Tim Alberta mentions that many have heard the saying, “B.I.B.L.E.” or God’s “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” However, when people come to the Bible for instruction, they often feel more perplexed than before they opened it. Once again, another seed for trauma is planted in this person, with the feeling, “If everyone else is getting this, why can’t I?”
Trauma is only one of many reasons why this should prompt a thoughtful examination of such claims. Not only does labeling the Bible as God’s ultimate guide risk sidelining alternative perspectives in a world teeming with diverse belief systems, but there are just too many underlying issues with this approach. Problems include the biblical lack of harmony throughout the pages, numerous unreconcilable contradictions, and a lack of original texts, all of which lead to a problematic justification of this claim! It stirs the question, how can a single text encapsulate the richness of global cultural and philosophical diversity, and what implications does this have for pluralism and coexistence?
Biblical Icon Assumption #3: Rule Book for Living:
The thought that the Bible contains God’s rule book for living is closely associated with God’s textbook for the world perspective. The Bible’s characterization as a rule book for living demands an introspective look. The lasting effects of this stance are vast. Countries like the United States and many Western societies are built on regulations based on ancient Judo-Christian Levitical laws. These laws are no longer fit to properly govern a modern society where verifiable scientific evidence should hold more weight than a page from an unknown antiquated author. We see this manifesting today on many issues, from Trans rights and other LGBTQIA+ issues to protecting women’s productive rights!
Rooted in ancient contexts, these commandments demand a fresh hermeneutical approach focused through a new lens to align with modern-day values that harmonize with science. The classic biblical iconic view’s rigidity of this rule book inhibits progress and inclusivity. The thought that it serves as a timeless guide adapting to the evolving ethical landscape has left religious trauma on many and even cost the lives of others through short-sighted, religiously fundamental regulations.
Biblical Icon Assumption #4: It Tells the Story of Who God Is:
Delving into the Bible as a culturally iconic narrative, we are promised to learn the character of God. However, as someone who reads the Bible, I find it easy to ask how these narratives could ever constructively shape our understanding of the divine. Just a snapshot of the Old and New Testament presents a bipolar God that is impossible to reconcile.
The stories woven throughout scripture by multiple authors over thousands of years have been subject to interpretation and manipulation. Additionally, many passages promote slavery, genocide, and several other atrocities, yet it is often called “God’s Book of Love.” These and numerous conflicting divine characteristics found in the Scriptures leave a person with a bewildering idea of who God might be. Taking the text at face value without a solid hermeneutical approach can easily lead to the presentation of a split-personality God and a book with minimal uniformity in content.
The traumatic effects of this ideology on culture are evident. We have countless Christian groups ranging from loving to hate-filled who all genuinely believe they are living out the character of God. Examining the biblical narrative, it is easy to recognize how people could pull polar opposite characteristics of who God is and what he desires. For those healing from religious trauma, it is essential to re-evaluate the image of God.
Biblical Icon Assumption #5: Black-and-White Certainty:
Another fundamental cultural biblical iconic view is that the Bible holds black-and-white certainty on issues without room for gray. In doing so, they ignore the ambiguities of many problems and push for a biblical stance of absolutes on many topics not clearly addressed in scripture.
A Bible with black-and-white certainty necessitates a critical lens in a world characterized by a colorful landscape of diverse people. In The Rise and Fall Of The Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book, Timothy Beal says, “We might even go so far as to say that the Bible kills itself. It deconstructs itself. Reading it undermines the iconic idea of it as a univocal, divinely authored book and our desire to attach to it as such.” Without this critical processing, looking at the Bible through the black-and-white lens can foster intellectual rigidity, inhibiting open conversations on ethics and morality.
Biblical Icon Assumption #6: One Way to Interpret the Text:
Another pitfall of the Bible being a cultural icon is that it prohibits the fluid nature of interpretation. Of course, the fundamental adopters see only one way to interpret and one absolute truth. They feel that the absence of a singular, definitive interpretation challenges the notion of the Bible as an unequivocal guide.
Not to mention that the Bibles we have available today have been translated and transliterated so frequently and carelessly that many sections no longer resemble what the original authors were trying to pen. This has led to ideology and denominational biases creeping into the narrative of what the Bible says on many issues. Unfortunately, their “interpretations” are not based on early manuscripts and have allowed traditional fundamentalist beliefs to replace the text’s true meaning.
Reflection and Conclusion:
The social imagination that stems from seeing the Bible as a cultural icon is dangerous. Politicians have deceitfully used scripture to manipulate voters who have been taught to revere tradition and what the Bible says over everything. In summary of the first few chapters of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Tim Alberta explains that biblicism and a culture built on these iconic beliefs is part of what fuels religious, national, and biblical idolatry. These views do not foster a genuine understanding of Jesus or God. Those adopting these beliefs are deceived by society and essentially breaking commands to which they bow.
Personally, I see how the Bible as a cultural icon and the ideology that comes with it significantly added to my trauma as I came out. After reading scripture, I quickly realized that God loved all people, including LGBTQIA+. When I would share my thoughts in my trusted religious circles, I was told my dangerous assertions and beliefs were a “slippery slope” that could cause my foundation in the Bible to crumble. I can now say that was just what I needed!
Many people hold religious trauma from the Bible being framed as a cultural icon. When the Bible is viewed through this fundamental lens, it lacks diversity and inclusivity, and it closes the door to include those genuinely hungry to discover this sacred text. It welcomes hardline teaching that has the ability to damage people instead of allowing the pages to heal.
Reflecting critically on the Bible as a cultural icon summons us to confront the obscurities that motivate its influence. In doing so, we can help heal the trauma left on those who do not fit into the fundamentalist biblical mold. Removing the book from its iconic platform opens the door to a more nuanced understanding of its impact on culture, morality, and human experience. In this ongoing journey of reflection, we discover that questioning assumptions is not a rejection but an invitation to explore the profound layers of meaning embedded in its pages and find healing instead of pain.
Bibliography:
This work was edited with the assistance of Grammarly Premium to help identify spelling, grammar, and sentence structure errors.
Alberta, Tim. The kingdom, the power, and the glory: American evangelicals in an age of extremism. New York, NY: Harper, Harper-Collins Publishers. Kindle Edition, 2023. Ch. 1-3.
Beal, Timothy K. The rise and fall of the Bible: The unexpected history of an accidental book. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition, 2012. P. 79.
Smith, Christian. Bible made Impossible why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2014. Intro. – Ch. 1.