What are Theological Street Directories?
When I first started driving, I sort of knew how to navigate a few local areas from watching how my parents drove to places throughout my childhood. But if I needed to get somewhere new, or if I needed to tell others how to get around, I had no idea what to do.
Street Directory
Before we had free apps with GPS maps and turn by turn directions built in to our smart phones, we used books called a "Street Directory". These were large books as each page was a smaller part of a map of the whole roadmap of a city. And the back of the Street Directory had an index of all the addresses in your city with which page you'd find it on the map and with coordinates to the address on the page.
The fun part with a Street Directory is that you could easily see the layout of all parts of a city just by flicking through a few pages. But you wouldn't read it from page to page like a book, instead you'd use specific tools to help navigate to new locations. Getting somewhere new involved:
- Using the index of the addresses to find the map coordinates you needed
- Using the map page and coordinates to find the address on the page
- Planning out how to navigate somewhere using those tools
- Memorising the directions enough to avoid pulling out the roadmap every time you got lost picture of a roadmap
All it took was for you to traveled somewhere once and you would be much more confident getting there the next time; eventually you wouldn't need to use the roadmap if you travelled there enough. You'd have an understanding of how to navigate various roads to get somewhere yourself, and even provide instructions to others.
Biblical understandings can be hard to navigate
Many of us recognise that the Bible can be complex to understand, but don't do enough towards learning to study the Bible. Trying to navigate the themes and stories of the Bible can seem daunting, so what can you do?
This is where you can start to use theological "Street Directories". These are tools like books, podcasts, commentaries, surveys, online courses, seminary training, academic articles; there is wealth of resources that can help you navigate the Bible. All of these can be used to help you familiarise yourself with the overall story of the Bible. They can act like the "index" of a Street Directory to help you figure out the best way to get somewhere, but they can also help you learn the larger layout of the Bible and how it all works together.
The more you delve into the world of theological frameworks, the more you start to see various opinions and preferences arise - and thats a good thing! If I encounter an idea that doesn't resonate with me, I treat that like a road on a map that I wouldn't really use. Its good to know that the road is there incase thats a direction someone else is familiar with and you want to understand their point of view, but I wouldn't personally go down that street.
Having multiple streets and roads is safe, as long as the direction is aligned - understanding the order and communion with God, the need for Jesus's lordship in our lives, and how we can be in union with the Spirit to fulfill our calling. Whenever a theology start to move away from that, be careful!
Don't forgot to move
Although you shouldn't replace studying the directions with actually driving around to get somewhere. The best way to familiarise yourself with a location is to just start moving! And its the same principle with the Bible - just start reading as much as you comfortably can and you'll have a much clearer understanding of it all. Don't depend on the street directories, learn the layout and network of themes by reading the whole book.
Find a Bible reading plan that suits you, and join a group to keep you accountable. You don't need to be an academic to read the Bible, just like you don't need to be a Formula 1 racer to drive around your streets. Just start reading!