Worshipping a Book.

Here are three very prominent, evangelical churches describing the Bible:

“We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God–breathed (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12,13).”

“The Bible is God’s word to all men. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105,160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5)”

“We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that men were moved by the Spirit of God to write the very words of Scripture. Therefore, we believe the Bible is without error. … By obedience to the Word of God and daily yielding to the Spirit of God, every believer should mature and be conformed to the image of Christ.”

(I appreciate the last church not swarming me with obviously out of context proof texts. Also, take a note of the first one: VERBALLY. Does that mean OUT LOUD? This development kind of blows my mind.)

These three churches represent the heartbeat of evangelical thinking. Local church pastors look to these churches for signals and then turn and convey those ideas down to their congregations. Moreover, our modern technology has allowed people all over the globe to sit under their tutelage and guidance – to be a long-distance community member in a way.

These three statements of faith are powerful. They hold sway and articulate a point of view held by many.

When I began my graduate studies, I wanted to study ethics in a way that would use the Bible as the primary foundation of all ethical norms in order to be more ecumenical and be able to build bridges theologically. I wanted to “speak their language” as I once did when I was amongst their ranks. But two classes in, I realized I could no longer do this and would never want to. Why? Because the Bible is not what they say it is, at least not the way they mean it. And I don’t want to participate in the game of building a false god to defend my agenda like these three descriptions do.

All three refer to the infallibility of the Bible, the idea that it is without error. I have heard this line my entire life growing up in the evangelical community. But if you work hard enough, you can make the Bible say just about anything you want concerning how we should behave now. The Bible isn't a script for our lives that we either choose to follow or not as time marches on. It is a narrative of the past documenting the journey others took trying to figure out what was good and true and right for their lives in those particular contexts. It’s an historical narrative, not an ethical treatise, not a book on canon law.

What troubles me so much about those three paragraphs and the general idea behind them is that they do very little to demonstrate the difficulty and complexity in deciphering where our faith fits into deciding how we live our modern lives as democratic citizens in a pluralistic society.* If you and I personally believe this about the Bible and orient our personal life towards that belief, what does that mean for how we write laws with constitutional limits? How do we coerce another human as an equal citizen based on a belief in the inerrancy of a holy text to which they don’t subscribe? And most importantly, how do we as Christians presume to tell someone else which parts of the Bible are not subject to cultural differences (homosexuality) but others are (slavery)? Who gets to be the final authority on the Bible’s interpretation?

What these statements of faith fail to recognize is that the Bible isn’t self-interpreting. We, as humans, have to translate it, read it, and interpret it, which can lead people in a million different directions. Mother Theresa vs. Pope Urban II. The preferential option for the poor vs. the Crusades. Westboro Baptist Church vs. the Confessing Church.

Even if we conceded that the Bible was inspired by God, is inerrant, and is the ultimate authority on how humans should live their lives, that would not automatically lead to the conclusion that God wants us to build a society that coerces people to live that way. Why? Because despite our good intentions and our certainty, we might unknowingly be Pope Urban II or Westboro Baptist instead of Mother Theresa. Those who led the Crusades (as well as those who followed them) all thought they were doing the right thing. They weren’t. So we made a society that tries to protect us from that happening again. And that’s a very good thing!

So do we just throw the Bible out, then? How do we look at the Bible in a productive, nuanced way that helps us understand how we live our lives and how we create a good society?

My pastor used to say something that has stuck with me for many years. In speaking about his mission despite his own imperfections, he would say, “God hits straight with a crooked stick.” Over the years, I have heard a phrase over and over again, “God spoke to me through what you said.” In my life, I have felt like I brushed up against the divine in situations we would call anything BUT perfect, inerrant, or inspired. At funerals, in hospitals, in moments of absolute despair, in poverty, in hell on earth. Yet, God was there. And I felt in tune with her presence and will.

Since when did God start requiring perfection to do his work? After all, even the Garden of Eden was merely “good,” not perfect.

There is a subtle beauty in the story of the Bible, a perfection if you will, that has nothing to do with its historical accuracy or its inerrancy. It is a narrative, a play, and it invites us to participate (These are ideas put forward by N.T. Wright, by the way.) The Bible is a story of humanity, throughout history, attempting to discern who God is and what he wants for us as individuals and as his creation. And in that story, we find God attempting to meet with the authors and protagonists in meaningful ways. And the story invites us to continue that journey and to continue meeting God, seeing her in her creation and finding the best way to reconcile back to her.

The PURPOSE of the Bible is perfect, even if its words aren't always. The content of the Bible outlines the journey over history of our spiritual ancestors trying to discern who God is. It is messy. And scattered. And contradictory. Just like you and I are. As Walt Whitman says, “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.” We are crooked sticks and so is the Bible, but that doesn't mean it can’t fulfill the purpose of a perfect creator.

Historical accuracy is not a prerequisite for something being true.

Let’s think about the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is this beautiful and compelling story told by Jesus about a young boy who takes his inheritance early, squanders it away, finds himself living a life that he knows could be better, humble returns to his father expecting to be scolded, and instead finds a father who celebrates his return with mercy and love. Has anyone ever contemplated whether that story ACTUALLY happened? Was there ever really a prodigal son and his father and the jealous brother? Probably not.

The reason why this story rings so true to most everyone who reads it is because we can find ourselves within that story, probably even more than one character. Not because we think it happened but because it still happens! There has probably been a moment in our life when we felt like the prodigal son deeply in need of mercy; or the jealous brother who is scandalized by radical love; or maybe even the father, put in a position where we can forgive and celebrate reconciliation or not. This narrative is bold!

Some people might say, “Well Jesus told that parable AS A parable. No one expects it to have happened. The history in the Bible is different. It was told as fact.” Says who? How do you know that? We presume Jesus told that story in order to express a profound truth to the listeners about the character of God, his mission, and our place in it. Isn’t it possible that the authors of Job were doing the same thing? Or the historians who logged the stories of the conquest of Canaan? Or even the early church when they were developing the canon they wanted to forever tell the story of Jesus’ life and death?

Let’s go a bit deeper. What if Jesus never actually told the Prodigal Son story? Does that matter? Does that wipe away the deep truth that we find in that story? Do we think, if Jesus didn’t actually tell it, that God is less like the father figure? Do we find ourselves less in that story? Not me. And I wager to bet many people who really sit down and think about it would say the same thing. We connect with that story. It has meaning that is independent of whether or not it actually happened or even if some later editor included in the Bible. It is powerfully true and remains that way.

The Bible is not a book with God’s fingerprints all through it. It is a book with God’s presence written through it and human fingerprints trying to discern that presence. Sometimes, it comes out skewed as when God supposedly frees people from slavery only to permit them to enslave other people; or when God forbids human sacrifice but then Jephthah vows to offer God a sacrifice for a victory in battle – and God accepts.

And it is not a book whose ultimate authority is easily transmuted into our modern context. This is why we have situations like modern Christians thinking divorce should be legal (and even necessary) despite the Bible clearly saying God hates it. Or how Paul can say women shouldn't wear jewels and braid their hair but if we were to go to 99% of Sunday morning services around the country we would find no one following that teaching despite their belief that God inspired it. Or how public prayer is never shamed despite Jesus’ teaching against it. Or how U.S. soldiers are overwhelmingly Christians despite Jesus’ teaching on “turning the other cheek.”

Figuring out how we live our life in our modern context (be reconciled to God) is much more complex than simply reading what our spiritual forebearers did and replicating it without any critical thought. It’s never that simple. It requires deep thought, study, and conversation.

But, the Bible is a book. We need to let it be just that.

It wasn't written by God. It was written about God. And about us, as a human race, trying to see her and be reconciled to her.

Most importantly, it is not God. It is a human product subject to human error and interpretation.

When we can all admit that freely, we can get to the tough work of actually conversing where the Bible and its teachings fit into our modern lives and our modern society. Otherwise, we end up making the Bible and God into something they simply are not.

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*They are also troubling for reasons of caricaturing who God is. She becomes the dominant interpretation of the Bible which is itself the dominant interpretation from history. It gives very little room for discovery and experience.