One of the best tools for studying the Bible is the historical-critical method. The idea is to understand as much of the literary and historical context as you can so you can arrive at what the authors probably meant when they wrote their works. The Catholic Church officially calls this an "indispensable" method for Biblical study.
It is the arch enemy of Biblical fundamentalism. Fundamentalists will often pick up the Bible, open it up to a random page, read it, then immediately come to an understanding without any complimentary study. They believe all you need is the Word by itself, and even in an empty room the Spirit will guide you to a right interpretation. The problem with fundamentalism is that it does not take seriously the humanity of the Bible and its authors. Even among many Catholics today, there is a strong movement to see the Bible as a means of personal reflection and dispose of the HC method, despite the Church's stance.
The historical-critical method is not meant to be used by itself to come to a full theological understanding--that is a more complex task of faith, community as well as study. But the HC methoc is essential if we are to do the best we can to honestly and critically understand what the authors are saying to us.
Two good examples of this came out of my recent class on the Synoptic Gospels & Acts.
The Good Samaritan
We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. A man (probably Jewish) is seriously injured and lying by a roadside. Some pass by but do not help. The Good Samaritan arrives, does some emergency field dressings, and even buys the guy a stay at a hotel. It is a wonderful story of helping a stranger. And we can even intuit from this story that being a Samaritan makes the one man different than the others, so there is some sense of helping people from different ethnic backgrounds.
With a serious historical study, we can learn through other texts and archaeology that the Jews and Samaritans absolutely hated each other. While the Jews revered their own temple in Jerusalem, they destroyed the one the Samaritans had at Mount Gerizim. This was a bitter, bitter relationship. Yet, it was the Samaritan who helps the wounded man, not the others who were probably of closer ethnicity and faith as the man by the road.
You can still walk away from this story with a generally good understanding of it even if you know nothing of the conflict between the Jews and Samaritans. But doesn't it add a whole new dimension knowing this historical fact? The kind of love Jesus is talking about isn't just between random strangers, but even among the strongest of enemies. In modern terms, that would be like a Jew helping a Palestinian or the English helping the Irish in Northern Ireland.
"At the Feet"
The historical-critical method does not just enhance our understanding--it can prevent errors, as well:
In Luke's story of Mary and Martha, he shows that Mary is "at the feet" of Jesus, listening intently and absorbed in his words (Luke 10:38-42). Reading this with 21st century eyes and in standard American English, it is easy to think that the term "at the feet" is somewhat derogatory. Dogs are generally the ones at your feet, or perhaps kids. There is a clear meaning of submission with the expression the way we are accustomed to it. It might be easy to see Mary as a second-class citizen from this.
However, a proper analysis of 1st century usage reveals that "at the feet" was a euphemism for discipleship itself. It was a privileged place to be. Jesus was a man talking to crowds that numbered in the thousands, in a world without microphones, recording devices or even much writing, and she was the one with a front-row seat--sensing his breath, his every movement, his emotional responses in intimate detail. She was there to catch every word that fell from his mouth. There is a sense of immediacy--she was right there with him. There is closeness and even perhaps imitation--she was emulating him.
In The Life of Brian, there is a comical scene where onlookers totally misunderstand the Sermon on the Mount, because they are too far away from Jesus to hear him properly--to them, he sounds like the teacher in the Peanuts movies. That was the reality of the 1st century, but Mary did not have to struggle with that. "At the feet" is still a lower position in the sense of being a student or follower, but it is not second-rate, at all. In fact, Mary being "at the feet" could imply she was the star pupil, the first among equals--much like the beloved disciple in John's gospel who was "reclining by his side" (John 13:23)--right at the breast--and heart--of Jesus.
Alas
So there you have two great examples of why it is not only enriching but also crucial to know as much about the history and literary context of the Bible stories as we can. Without that, we run the risk of totally missing critical details or even getting a story completely wrong. We can never be guaranteed 100% accuracy in this--for all we know, the Bible is full of inside jokes we'll never get or even notice. This is why it is problematic to get caught up in individual details and not on the overall direction the Scriptures point to. If you read a particular line too literally, how do you know you're not missing something really big? The best way to deal with this is to take the scriptures as a whole and know that you're not going to take every word literally.
You can argue that the Spirit won't let you interpret a passage in error. But it seems to me that the Spirit respects our humanity as well, and if we are bound and determined to be stubborn about it then Spirit will let us be as wrong as rain--as evidenced by numerous people of faith who have been plain ole wrong throughout the ages. The best we can do is to humbly and continually challenge our assumptions and study more and more.
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