It may come as a surprise to some people but Christians are not the only ones who read the Bible and not everyone who reads the Bible reads it the same way or through the same lens – far from it actually.

Jews read the Bible – primarily what Christians call the Old Testament – but they read it through the lens that the Messiah has yet to come. Mormon’s read the Bible but they read it through the lens of the Book of Mormon. Muslims read the Bible but they read it through the lens of the Koran. Secular scholars read the Bible but they read it as something to be analyzed, inspected, critiqued, and dissected with the tools of their particular field of study – literature, history, archeology, anthropology, etc. According to the Biblical book of Matthew, chapter 5, even the devil reads the Bible and can supply the biblical proof texts to support his point of view.

So given that there are so many ways to read the Bible or so many lenses through which to view and understand it, how do you read the Bible like a Christian? – through the lens of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ of course. The Jesus who taught a bunch of “Bible” (Torah) believing people, “You have heard it was said (or written in elsewhere in the Bible/Torah) ‘eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’ but I tell you…”* The same Jesus who said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill (or make them complete, perfect them, make them perfect)”

A Christian reads the Bible and asks, “How does what I am reading relate to the life, teachings, and person of Jesus Christ?” A Christian reads the Bible through the lens of Jesus.

So, go on. Give it a try. Read the Bible like a Christian.

*Parenthetical material added by Nathan Dean.