Not the same as a cookbook. Yet written to feed you
Sam Harris' cookbook analogy is correct that all texts require interpretation. Nobody simply reads words without interpreting them. If a cookbook says, "Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes," you still need to understand language, context, and intent. However, while the Bible and a cookbook are similar at that basic level, they are fundamentally different in every way that ultimately matters. Lutherans affirm the Bible has a human author and a divine Author A cookbook has only human authors. Scripture has human writers, but also God as its ultimate Author. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). God does not speak apart from the human authors, but through them. Therefore, the meaning of Scripture is not something hidden behind or beyond Isaiah, Matthew, or Paul, but is given precisely in what they wrote. Their words are the vehicle of God’s Word. Interpretation matters, but it is accountable to the text as the very speech of God. The Bible does not mer...
