The Bible as Map

No doubt many children’s talks have been given likening the Bible to a map. I might give one myself one day. Here’s Kevin Vanhoozer arguing that thinking of the Bible as map (or atlas) is a jolly good guide:

… “atlas” catches the irreducible plurality of Scripture, the many ways the theodrama is rendered.The Bible is a literary atlas: a collection of bookmaps that variously render the way, the truth, and the life. Note that… “map[s]” are texts that provide directions. And this is the ultimate purpose of Scripture: to direct us to Christ, the way of truth and life.

Truth is the fit between text and reality, between what is written and what is written about. But maps remind us that there is more than one kind of fit. We can map the same terrain according to a variety of different keys and scales. A road map need not contradict a map that highlights topography, or a map that highlights historical landmarks and points of scenic interest, or a plat of survey that shows where properties begin and end. Each type of map reflects a certain interest.

…there is more than one way to “map” reality. The proof: there is no such thing as a universal all-purpose map. A map is actually an interpretative framework, not a mirror of nature. Maps highlight what they want their readers to know. Some maps tell you about the borders of various countries; others tell you where to find buried treasure. It is one thing to ascribe inerrancy to a map, then, quite another to know how to interpret it. To understand a map, you need to know its conventions. For example, you need to know the scale. You also need to know the key that explains how to read the various symbols used by the cartographer to represent places like rivers and cities. Finally, you need to know the legend, which is a way of imagining the world. The Bible is composed of different kinds of literature, each of which maps the theodrama in a distinctive way.

Yet all the maps are reliable: they correspond—in different ways!—to this or that aspect of what is really the case. They are not only compatible but complement one another. Maps are no good, however, unless you are oriented. The Rule of Faith serves as a kind of compass in this regard, reminding us that all the biblical maps ultimately point in the same “Christotelic” direction. The canon is a unique compass that points not to the north but to the church’s North Star: Jesus Christ, the alpha and omega of the whole theodrama.

Vanhoozer, Kevin J., ‘Lost In Interpretation? Truth, Scripture and Hermeneutics’ JETS 48/1 (March 2005) 89–114 pp103-104

Maybe too many ideas for one short children’s talk and a bit of jargon busting needed, but there’s something to get us on the way there, isn’t there?

“Script” is Vanhoozer’s other big metaphor for Scripture in The Drama of Doctrine: A canonical linguistic approach to Christian theology (Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 2005).