What is the Bible? A New Paradigm to Consider
I was raised to revere the Bible as the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of God. It was in some ways a rule book, teaching us what to do and not do. It was like a constitution to live by. It was a reference book or owner’s manual to understand God and man. But there were problems with this approach. There are contradictions, that despite attempts to reconcile, don’t seem to be resolvable. There are portions of scripture that leave me wondering if they are examples for what I should do, or should not do! Now, after quite some time and effort to consider this, listening to many varied voices of authority, I am trying on a new paradigm. I am approaching the Bible more like a carefully curated anthology of writings, by people, about people and their relationship to God. They represent humans’ understanding of God and the world from a human perspective at a given point in time and place....