Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Answers?


I suppose if one begins a blog with a list of questions... then one should go back and re-examine those questions from time to time... so I have chosen this question:


 Is the bible inerrant? 

To yammer about...


I have been using  Common Book of Prayer A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals as a tool for spending time with God... I love it... I am the sort of person who wants to pray prayers that are already written... mixed in with my own prayers and confessions... I want to be told what parts of the bible to read... otherwise I become overwhelmed and don't read any of it...


I find peace and comfort and closeness in liturgy... It gives me goosebumps the ways that scripture connects and intertwines...


But I don't think that the bible as a whole is a completely literal and factual book... I've just lost some of you as readers... I may have even lost some friends in real life at this point... but I hope those of you who have stayed will join with me in loving one another even if we disagree.


34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35


What!!! did I just go spouting scripture?  Didn't I just say I don't think the bible is true? Not exactly... lets clarify... I believe that there are parts of the bible that are not intended to be taken literally... and there are other parts that I don't know what I think... and parts that I believe are quite accurate accounts.


For instance...


I don't believe that the story of Job actually happened... the style in which it was written is that of a 3 part play... it doesn't make sense for a loving God to make a deal with the devil and ruin his beloved child's life... I believe it was a story written to illustrate the God is God and He is powerful.


I don't know what to think about a 7 day creation... or the age of the Earth... or whether or not dinosaurs walked among humans... there is some pretty convincing evidence on both sides... but I also don't really care that much... it's not critical to my faith or my salvation to know how old the Earth is or how long it took to make it.  I know that I was created... I know that my Creator loves me... and I am pretty sure that He is working in my life for good.

I believe that the gospels are quite accurate... I believe that Jesus was as kind and loving as He was portrayed by the writers... I believe the miracles He performed actually happened... I believe He was born in Bethlehem, turned water into wine... healed the sick... raised the dead... calmed storms... etc... and died to save the world on Calvary...

So there you go... a snippet of what is happening in my Christian reconstruction.




 

5 comments:

  1. I like that you asked the question, even though disagree with you. :) The thing for me with some of the harder to believe aspects of the Bible isn't so much are the true, but *could* they be true?

    As in...do I believe that God could have used Job to illustrate a point because He needed to? Yes. Do I believe that He could be loving and just in light of that belief? Yes. Partially because IF He did use Job as an illustration, that does not mean it was unloving, even though we perceive it that way. Does that make sense?

    But, I absolutely leave it open that Job could have been an illustration, that is ok. Believing that the Bible could be more stories to prove a point that ultimately leads us to truth,(that God is the alpha and omega, all things came to be through Him and that He sent His Son to die for our sins) doesn't mean we don't believe the Bible isn't all true...Does that make sense?

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    1. Thanks Claire for your response... I find your point refreshing... Could Job have happened? I suppose it could have... and I also hope to hold things in an open hand... but I really have a hard time seeing God as loving and just if it did. I don't really think that God tells us to love others but has a different definition of love than we do...
      I would hope that God does not play mind games like that.

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    2. One of my friends, who has walked through cancer with her husband, says that she can't wait to get to heaven and get to sit with God and get the FULL PICTURE. To know what he was thinking, feeling, and doing in those instances where we wonder what the heck He could have been doing, how cool that will be!

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  2. I love that you're asking these questions, loving the bible and yet being willing to hold these texts in open palms and examine them for what they are, what they were for the first listeners/readers and what they can be for us.

    I'm reading a book at the moment called "Inspiration and Incarnation" by Peter Enns. He raises many of these questions - how do we hold firmly to the belief that this is the word of God, without being scared to address issues around history, accurancy, authorship, etc. which are being raised by modern science, archaeology and history. It's fascinating so far...

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  3. Thanks Fiona... I will add that book to my Pinterest book list...

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