The other day, I asked a woman if she went to church. She responded, “I’m a Bible-believing Christian!” It was an innocent question with an unexpectedly strong response.
Jesus taught me to ask a question when answering a question (he asked 307 questions), so I asked, “What do you believe about the Bible?” Here’s how the rest of our conversation went:
Her: “It’s the Word of God, written by God.”
Me: “Which God? The Jewish God? The Muslim God? The Christian God? My God?”
Her: “The Christian God, of course.”
Me: “I see! But remember, Jesus was born, lived, and died a Jew. He never heard the word ‘Christian.’ Why wasn’t it Jesus’s Jewish God who wrote the Bible?”
Her: “Why are you asking me all these silly questions?”
Me: “I am simply trying to understand what a ‘Bible-believing Christian’ believes. Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?”
Her: “I guess not.”
Me: “First, was God a man or a woman?”
Her: “God is neither male nor female but a Spirit.”
Me: “Oh, so it wasn’t God who wrote the Bible but a Spirit, with a capital S?”
Her: “Yes, Spirit with a capital S.”
Me: “When did this Spirit start writing the Bible?”
Her: “The Spirit was really forty men who were chosen by God to write down His words. The Bible was written over about 1,600 years in three different languages.”
Me: “I’m sorry to appear so dense, but we started with God as the author, then Spirit, but now I’m hearing that it was men who wrote the Bible. Right?”
Her: “Yes, but men who were told by God what to write.”
Me: “Hm! I think I’m back to where I started. Anyway, in what language did God dictate the Bible?”
Her: “The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek, and the first English translation was in the eighth century CE. [I had never heard that before.] But the best translation is the English King James version, written in 1611 CE.”
Me: “Interesting! That was over four hundred years ago, in a different world with lots of thees, thous, and –ths. Here’s my last question: I have found that the Bible contains many contradictions and is full of inaccuracies and misinformation, but when I share this with Bible-believing Christians, they tell me that the Bible is inerrant and not contradictory. Have you ever heard that?”
Her: “Yes, I have, but my answer is that what appears as contradictions are not really contradictions but instead are taken out of context. The Bible contains only truthful revelations from God.”
I had heard enough. The woman made no sense to me primarily because I am not a Bible-believing Christian. I am a Follower of Jesus. I have studied the Bible seriously for sixty-three years. I know that it contains religious history (versus historical history), is full of contradictions representing different points of view, and was written entirely by Jews or Jewish converts.
I also know that Gentiles who read the Bible literally miss so many of the great Truths that are found within the stories themselves.
I don’t consider the Bible sacred! The only sacred thing to me is Creation and my fellow human beings, whom I have to love unconditionally, forgive unsparingly, and care for to the best of my abilities.
Peace Love Joy Hope
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Oh yeah, Words are Truly Tools of Thought…for those who think.
Thanks Bill I share your thoughts.