on 29 March 2021
Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
It’s not about us!
The logic of the catechism so far tells us life is about glorifying and enjoying God and we find how to do that in the Bible. So the answer to what is the big point of the bible is pretty obvious: it’s about God.
This answer gives us great help when we come to the bible and try to understand it. We have questions such as: What is it about? What am I to get out of this passage? Well, the first rule of interpretation needs to be: what does this teach me about God?
Once we’ve worked that out, we move on to the next question which is what does God require of me? The bible is not a self help manual. It’s not fortune cookie wisdom and inspirational thoughts to get us through the day. At its heart the bible is a revelation of who God is. And because God is God, he makes demands upon us.
This answer also gives us a rough outline of the Catechism. Q1-38 are teaching us what we are to believe concerning God and from Q39-107 we are being shown what duties God requires of us all.