Taking the Bible Seriously

Next Sunday, February 8, we study the second session of "Living the Questions." The title is "Taking the Bible Seriously," and if it had a subtile it would say, "but not literally".

This session is a thoughtful look at the a bit of the history of the Bible with some focus on how it's possible for different groups to view the Bible from different perspectives and arrive at very differing conclusions. We all know how much controversy spins around the Bible and how easy it is to draw completely opposing interpretations. This is nothing new. Sometime around 1800, William Blake wrote,

"Both read the Bible day and night, but thou readst black where I read white."

No doubt the debate on the "truth" of the Bible traces back to the original compliation of texts in the late 4th century. Today, there's probably as much strength of contention around the Bible as ever.

We've all seen the bumper-sticker that boasts, "God said it, I believe it, That settles it." Unfortunately, many use their conviction in the literal truth of the Bible as a weapon. The holy book has been used to justify slavery, white supremacy, war, the oppression of women, the exclusion of gays and a host of other evils. Much of this continues today, and there seems to be a relationship between the degree of literalism and the extent of Biblical abuse.

Literalists use a curious circular argument based on 2 Timothy 3:16 that reads, "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” They hold that the Bible is perfect and without error, therefore it must be the word of God, and because it is the word of God, it must be perfect and without error. And if this argument is not maddening enough, they quickly defend the point that if even the smallest point of the Bible is discounted, the whole thing should be pitched. Such dogmatic adherence to ancient scripture invites distortions and leaves the literalist, to paraphrase John Shelby Spong, hysterically defending the indefensible, while the critic is left thinking the word of God is merely irrational and meaningless.

Hopefully, there is middle ground on which we can find wisdom, truth, virtue and communion in the Bible, without having to put our brains into a intellectual vapor-lock. Dr. Harrell Beck wrote, “The Bible is NOT the word of God – but the word of God is in the Bible.” Please join us as we seek evidence of what that means.

If you are interested in the handout, just send me an email asking for one:
david.roane @ gmail.com (no spaces)