In his brief, useful book Can We Trust the Old Testament? Bible scholar William Neil writes, "The first thing . . . that we must learn is how to ask the right questions of the Bible . . . ." Then he goes on to explain: "It is of little moment whether Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees or from Haran, and the Bible gives us no clear information, but it is vital, as the author of Hebrews saw, to recognize him as the prototype of all who venture into the unknown future trusting only in God." Can We Trust the Old Testament? (New York: The Seabury Press, 1979), p. 120.
For decades now, Christian Scientists have been finding that Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy enables them to do just what this passage suggests: to ask the right questions of the Bible, to find out what is really there. This isn't a matter of believing someone's private interpretation of the Bible at all. It means going back to the Word of the Scriptures with a renewed capacity to hear what it has really been saying all along.
What does the Bible say to us today? If it were only a collection of myths and beautiful stories of great aesthetic worth, it would have little living meaning. If it were a mere historical record of bygone events that were glorious and inspiring in their time, it could not decisively affect our lives today. The real question that people are asking of the Bible is "What is the enduring meaning of these events? What do they point to that is true today that can feed our spiritual hunger and so nourish humanity as nothing else can?"
