Handout: Rereading the Bible in a Fragmented World

A Challenge to the Church!

Victor Aguilan, Th.D. | Silliman University

I. The Features of a Fragmented World

We live in an era of “The Great Fragmentation,” where interconnected systems break apart, leading to
division and complexity.
 Geopolitical & Economic: Rivalries (U.S.-China, Russia-Ukraine) foster bloc politics (G7, BRICS), pressuring
smaller nations. “Friend-shoring” and protectionism reshape economies, leaving countries like the
Philippines vulnerable to debt and eroded local industries.
 Social & Cultural: Inequality deepens. In the Philippines, political dynasties dominate, the rich-poor gap
widens, and consumer capitalism erodes national identity. Religion is fractured by prosperity gospels that
commodify faith.
 Ecological: Climate change threatens over 700 Philippine coastal towns. Mining, deforestation, and coal
dependency degrade creation. The poor suffer most, making this a crisis of climate justice.
 Within the Church: Denominations are divided, often mirroring societal fractures. Churches sometimes
align with authoritarianism, consumerism, or racism, betraying their prophetic witness.
II. The Necessity of Rereading Scripture.
Marcus Borg's phrase “reading the Bible again for the first time” highlights the importance of rereading. The
Bible is a dynamic text, revealing new meanings with each generation. Rereading is essential for the Church's
imagination and mission.
1. Every Reading Is Interpretation
Reading the Bible is never neutral, since language, culture, and tradition always shape meaning. Translation
choices and cultural lenses highlight different aspects of the text, while history shows how Scripture has been
used to both liberate and oppress. Faithful interpretation means engaging in dialogue between the text and
the reader, embracing Brueggemann’s view of Scripture as an alternative imagination rooted in covenant and
justice.
2. The Role of the Reader and Community
Scripture was meant to be heard in community, not reduced to private devotion or moral platitudes. Faithful
readers approach the text with humility, while communities—especially the marginalized—bring liberating
insights into interpretation. Rereading together affirms covenantal identity and resists individualism,
embodying a “discipleship of equals.”
3. The Dual Nature of Scripture: Divine and Human
Like Christ, Scripture is both divine and human: historically situated yet continually speaking across time. Its
humanity calls for exegesis in context, while its divinity means God still addresses the Church today.
Brueggemann stresses its dialogical richness, reminding us to avoid both rigid fundamentalism and
reductionist skepticism.
4. Exegesis and Hermeneutics: Then and Now
Faithful rereading requires exegesis (what it meant “then and there”) and hermeneutics (what it means “here
and now”). Exegesis protects against distortion, while hermeneutics ensures relevance, creating a necessary
tension between past and present. In the Philippines, grassroots communities embodied this by rereading
texts like Exodus and Amos in struggles for justice, showing rereading as a dynamic, Spirit-led process.
III. Why Rereading Is Vital in a Fragmented World
Rereading is the lifeblood of the Church’s mission and imagination.
1. The Bible Is Inexhaustible: Its divine-human character means it continually reveals new meanings across
time and cultures (e.g., exiles reread Isaiah for comfort; the early Church reread Psalms in light of Christ).
2. Contexts Change: The pasyon narrative was used by colonizers to teach submission, but peasants reread
it as a promise of victory for the oppressed. Today, we must reread to confront new idols: consumerism,
dynastic politics, and ecological destruction.
3. We Change: A story like David and Goliath speaks differently to a child (courage), an adult (justice), and
an elder (God’s lifelong faithfulness). Crisis leads communities to hear the Beatitudes not as moral advice
but as radical empowerment.
4. It Resists Domestication: Rereading unsettles the Bible’s misuse to defend slavery (Eph. 6:5), dictatorship
(Rom. 13), or exploitation (Mal. 3). It recovers Scripture’s liberating voice through a “hermeneutics of
suspicion” (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza).
5. It Forms Community: Shared rereading, like Ezra’s public reading in Nehemiah 8, sustains communal
memory and identity. It is a sacramental act that shapes us into the Body of Christ.
4. The Role of Theologians & Biblical Scholars
Scholars are not just academics; they are servants of the Word and the Church.
 Servants of the Word: They help the church listen faithfully to God’s revelation. Theology is the church’s
“self-examination” in light of God’s Word (Karl Barth).
 Mediators: They bridge the ancient world of the Bible (“then and there”) and contemporary concerns
(“here and now”), through exegesis and hermeneutics.
 Guardians Against Distortion: They unmask interpretations that justify oppression (slavery, colonialism,
patriarchy) using critical historical and literary tools.
 Nurturers of Imagination: They help communities envision alternative worlds of justice and peace by
reactivating biblical memory and promise (Walter Brueggemann).
 Educators & Public Intellectuals: They teach critical reading skills and speak theological truth into public
debates (e.g., on corruption, extrajudicial killings, climate justice).
 Companions of the Marginalized: They do theology from below, in solidarity with the poor, who are
active subjects of interpretation, not passive objects (Theology of Struggle).
 Witnesses: Their ultimate task is to point to the living God who speaks through Scripture and to confess
Christ crucified and risen.
5. Toward a Church that Reads & Rereads the Bible
To be faithful, the Church must become a community that continually rereads Scripture as a living, disruptive
Word.
 Restore Public Reading: Elevate the spoken Word in liturgy. Public reading is itself an act of proclamation,
shaping the community’s identity (Hughes Oliphant Old).
 Empower Marginalized Interpreters: Practice a “hermeneutics of remembrance” (Fiorenza) that lifts up
voices silenced by patriarchy and colonialism. Read with the poor (Gerald West) in pulong bayan and
basic ecclesial communities to rediscover the Bible’s liberating power.
 Resist Privatized Readings: Recover the Bible’s dangerous, public voice that challenges kings, cries for
justice, and unsettles powers. Reject a “domesticated Bible” that blesses the status quo (Allan Boesak).
 Speak with Prophetic Imagination: Rereading is a prophetic act to lament injustice, dream new futures,
and embody hope. It trains the Church’s imagination to declare another world is possible.
 Reclaim Unity-in-Diversity: Reread together across class, gender, and generation. Ground unity in Christ,
not uniformity. Embrace postcolonial readings that value Global South voices.
 Bear Witness with Creation: Reread ecologically. Stand with creation, defend Indigenous land rights, and
promote sustainability. See ecological justice as central to biblical faith (Larry Rasmussen).
Conclusion
In a fragmented world, rereading the Bible is an act of resistance and hope. It lets God’s Word reform our
imagination, helping us hear the cries of the poor and the groaning of creation. We discover a God who is not
neutral but sides with the oppressed and the earth.
The cross and resurrection remind us fragmentation is not final. God gathers the scattered and brings new
creation. The challenge is clear: will we dare to reread Scripture—not as a museum piece, but as a living
Word that disrupts, liberates, and heals?
We are called to be a fragmented-yet-gathered people—wounded yet walking, scattered yet drawn
together by the Spirit into one body, for the life of the world.