“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray. ‘ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.” –Desmond Tutu
Colonialism, as students of history know full well, was rampant with the European powers for five-hundred years. It is the practice of acquiring political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting its people and resources. The practice of colonialism is rooted in a belief that the colonial power doing the control over another nation or people group is better, more advanced, and civilized. Looking down on cultures and societies much different than themselves, colonialism has the idea that its force is benevolent – that the backward people need a strong injection of western culture, ideas, and ways.
Colonialism is a peculiar kind of idolatry which exalts and imposes national practices and groupthink as the highest good. A thin layer of religion overlays colonialism so that it has a more respectable look to it for outsiders. For example, consider the papal bull of 1493 from Pope Alexander VI in reference to Spanish exploration: “In our times let the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself.”
The same mentality underlies many adherents to the Bible today. It masquerades as godliness but is full of dead men’s bones. As with most idolatrous behavior, it goes undetected by those who practice it. The insidious practice I am referring to is what Bob and I call “biblical colonialism.”
What we mean by biblical colonialism is an approach to conquering the Bible with the intent of taking that conquered territory and imposing it on others. Stated another way, it is coming at Holy Scripture to determine the right interpretation and defend that interpretation to the point of holy war. Armed with the “plain teaching of Scripture,” biblical colonialists sail the seas [of the internet] to overthrow pagan barbarians who have the wrong view of the Bible.
The Bible itself, then, inevitably becomes elevated to the level of deity: Father, Son, and Holy Scripture. The Spirit of God is unceremoniously replaced with the colonizing persons authoritative truth of the Bible. And they will not be dissuaded even by the true and blessed Holy Spirit to change their position. They will die for it, or, at least, go on (un)holy campaigns and wage battle after battle defending their (idolatrous) behavior. It is, as colonialists believe, the biblical high ground.
Bob says biblical colonialism smells like the modernist impulse to have answers for everything. It has the odor of sheer rationalist thought which has left in its wake a draining of all mystery; the belief that every biblical problem can be answered; the compulsion to understand every cultural, social, and political issue through the Enlightenment lens of sheer objective knowledge.
“When we refer to ‘the biblical approach to economics’ or the biblical response to politics’ or ‘biblical womanhood,’ we’re using the Bible as a weapon disguised as an adjective.” ―
To reframe this, biblical colonialism is the aggressive attempt to simplify the Bible so that it serves my need to have clear black and white answers for every issue. It is to try and master the Bible, instead of putting oneself in the humble position of being mastered by the Scripture. It is this conviction of certainty about their interpretation of the Bible which leaves so many women feeling oppressed; the LGBTQ community bereft of kindness and justice; and, the younger generations from institutional church life.
Biblical colonialism, much like the nineteenth-century version of carving up Africa for Europe’s pride, is the height of hubris. It takes a lot of misguided gumption to think that when we get beyond the core cardinal doctrines of the faith as expressed in historic Christianity that we can colonize the Bible and conquer it so that our interpretations are firmly in control. It is to value hermeneutics over love; to esteem interpretation over grace; to seek conquered territory over hospitality.
Perhaps alongside the commonly identified idols of money, power, and sex we must also include the Bible itself. After all, Holy Scripture is the revelation of God – God himself resides everywhere. To treat it otherwise is to miss its central message of redemption in Christ, and the great focus on the person and work of Jesus. Just as Native Americans were forced onto reservations and their children sent to white schools to become civilized – so, biblical colonialism attempts to herd people into interpretations of selected Bible verses that are ancillary to people knowing Christ.
If Bob and I are “right,” the only real posture to adopt for biblical colonialists is to prostrate before the God who is jealous for his Name to be set apart as the only one to be worshiped and adored. There is a great need for repentance – mostly for us who claim to know Christ and serve him. Rather than belly-aching about how the world should be serving the interests of Christianity, we have desperate need to come back to the ancient practice of seeing the Church as the continuing presence of Christ on earth and serving the world’s people. Only then will we reverse biblical colonialism and spread the good news of new life in Christ.
