What Ender’s Game Taught Me about Bible Study

I’ve been waiting for this weekend for 13 years.

I first read Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card in 2000, when a friend gave it to me as a spontaneous gift. “This book is so good,” he said, “that I couldn’t wait until a holiday to give it to you.” He commissioned me to read it pronto, because that’s what friends do. This book is that good.

Now, after years of empty threats, Hollywood has finally produced the tale for the big screen. It’s now playing in a theater near you.

I plan to see it tomorrow, so I can’t yet comment on the film. I’m sure it will not meet my expectations. But it’s exciting nonetheless, and I can tell you how it has improved my study of the Bible.

Ender’s Game taught me that children are usually smarter than we expect. Young children can handle much more than we think they can, so we should begin teaching them to study the Bible early. I’ve already written on this topic, so I’ll leave it there for now.

Ender’s Game also taught me that different people can have wildly different perspectives on the same set of facts. Duh. You probably learned that lesson long before I did.

Though Ender’s Game tells the story through the perspective of Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, Card wrote a parallel novel called Ender’s Shadow which tells the same story through the eyes of a different character. Despite knowing the climax and resolution of Ender’s Game, I find myself on the edge of my seat when I read Ender’s Shadow. The change in perspective makes the story fresh and suspenseful. According to comments from the author in 2010, the screenplay fuses both perspectives from these two books for a richly unraveled story.

What does this have to do with Bible study?

It shows me the need for studying the Bible with other people. My perspective may be quite good (at least I usually think so), but I also need others’ perspectives to fully understand the Scripture.

“Other people” might include people in my church of any maturity level. They might include skilled interpreters who wrote books or commentaries to help. They might include saints from the past who wrestled with the text long before I did.

Though we should fight to understand the main point of a passage, we should always hold our summary of that point loosely unless the biblical author stated it explicitly. For example, the main point of John’s Gospel is non-negotiable: “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, ESV). But my main point for Luke 2—God sent Jesus to be born so he might save the lowly and rule them graciously; this brings him highest glory—is negotiable. If you have a better idea, driven by the text, I’d like to hear it.

I need your perspective, and you need mine. Let’s help each other.

I’m not saying that everyone’s perspective is equally true or valid. I’m not suggesting that truth is relative. I’m proposing that “the body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Cor 12:14). Within the church we need diversity of not only functions but also personalities and perspectives.

Vern Poythress has written at length on the value of multiple perspectives in theology. For more information, check out his book.

And if you don’t have time to read Poythress’s book, then go to see “Ender’s Game” this weekend. I commend it highly.

Question: how have you found multiple perspectives helpful in your Bible study?

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