I'm interested in truth & what it means for individuals & humanity. This re-vamped blog is dedicated to truth and honest questions about faith in Jesus Christ. It is an effort to engage in authentic dialogue among Christians, Atheists and all points in between. Posts that do not honor legitimate discussion may be removed at my discretion. That doesn't mean that you can't disagree, but it DOES mean that you can't be a jerk. Welcome to the discussion.
In my experience, the Christian community is usually very passionate about declaring that the Bible is God's "perfect word." I am tempted to affirm this in general, but what exactly does "perfect" mean? Is it perfect in terms of faith and practice or perfect in historical and scientific facticity or all of the above? Is the Bible God's exact thoughts, systematically downloaded to the minds (and pens) of the human hands that perfectly transmitted it to vellum, parchment and papyrus? Are the words themselves perfect, or is it the meaning behind them, or is it the relationship they can engender, or is it the author behind the authors? If it was the words themselves, WHICH words were perfect: the Hebrew? the Greek? the Aramaic or my personal favorite, the American English? If God could get the original documents perfect, then why not my English translations too? And was the human perspective, creativity and situational context totally removed from what was written or is what was written partially influenced by those same factors? And what of texts that seem to contradict or negate what other texts say? Does having the allegedly perfect text mean that any of us understands it perfectly? If not, then why does it matter in the first place? And why is it that we say the texts are "perfect" or inerrant to begin with? Does the Bible even claim to be perfect? Is it logical to assume that nothing in the Bible is true if we were to establish even a single error's presence? Would discovering an error in the text ruin our relationship with Christ or his power in our lives? What is the foundation of our faith built upon anyway? Is it a book or is the Living God? By defending or attacking the Bible, are we defending or attacking the wrong thing?
I have found that it is usually better to start by asking questions than to begin with what we presume are unassailable conclusions. If you've spent much time on this blog, then you can see that I don't usually follow my own question-asking advice. But be that as it may, I hope that this particular thread will benefit by the host of questions I've offered above.
Let's talk: What do you think about the notion of biblical inerrancy?
My embraced concept is that God's Holy Spirit is my (and our) teacher in coming to know the things of God. We capture these truths and ideas through scripture, but I believe He gives us eyes to see His truths, if we pursue Him in the many ways we understand .... reading and meditating on those words printed in the versions of the Bible we have (laymen like me seldom become acquainted with those early languages) .... of our leading lives seeking to be obedient to His ways .... as we take the time to spend in prayer .... as we are real about physical and financial stewardship that we practice ... do we begin our giving with a tithe ... or is a tithe of our income a goal we hope to reach some prosperous day ... in talking to others about God .... and in regular corporate worship.
I think that debating issues, such as the inerrancy question you propose, is expending our spiritual attentions on things which end up deflecting us from fulfilling whatever it is that God's primary purpose for our individual lives is. It is what it is, as someone said (don't quote me).
I can appreciate your fidelity to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and indeed I affirm it, but what happens when different Christians come to different conclusions yet both believe that they are following / responding to the Holy Spirit? Our church and world are full of such examples and disputes among Christians, and the very meaning and interpretation of the Bible is usually at the center of all such disagreements. You suggest that debating issues of inerrancy “[expends] our spiritual attentions on things which end up deflecting us from fulfilling whatever it is that God's primary purpose for our individual lives is,” but DA, how can we understand what those purposes for our lives are without wrestling with the biblical text and its meaning? I freely acknowledge that my faith and devotion is centered on Christ, not a book, but I also cannot fail to recognize that since its compilation, it is the Bible that God has used as a normative communication tool to tell us about himself. Surely we can have friendly and spirited disagreements about what the Bible means without ruining God’s purpose for our lives. If not, then we are all in deep trouble indeed.
So perhaps we should not only view our relationship with God in terms of the individual, but also in terms of the community. We are called to be the church, not isolated and disparate theologians after all. Yes, the Bible “is what it is,” but this doesn’t mean that it always interprets itself or that any of us understand it perfectly. We must be in conversation with one another as well as God as we approach the Bible and let it shape our perspective. I don’t know of any other healthy or viable option.
Thanks for the discussion. Don’t hesitate to comment here or anywhere else either. -CL
Please keep in mind that comments which do not honor the spirit of legitimate dialogue may be removed at any time and without notification. You are free to disagree passionately, but not inappropriately. -CL
In my experience, the Christian community is usually very passionate about declaring that the Bible is God's "perfect word." I am tempted to affirm this in general, but what exactly does "perfect" mean? Is it perfect in terms of faith and practice or perfect in historical and scientific facticity or all of the above? Is the Bible God's exact thoughts, systematically downloaded to the minds (and pens) of the human hands that perfectly transmitted it to vellum, parchment and papyrus? Are the words themselves perfect, or is it the meaning behind them, or is it the relationship they can engender, or is it the author behind the authors? If it was the words themselves, WHICH words were perfect: the Hebrew? the Greek? the Aramaic or my personal favorite, the American English? If God could get the original documents perfect, then why not my English translations too? And was the human perspective, creativity and situational context totally removed from what was written or is what was written partially influenced by those same factors? And what of texts that seem to contradict or negate what other texts say? Does having the allegedly perfect text mean that any of us understands it perfectly? If not, then why does it matter in the first place? And why is it that we say the texts are "perfect" or inerrant to begin with? Does the Bible even claim to be perfect? Is it logical to assume that nothing in the Bible is true if we were to establish even a single error's presence? Would discovering an error in the text ruin our relationship with Christ or his power in our lives? What is the foundation of our faith built upon anyway? Is it a book or is the Living God? By defending or attacking the Bible, are we defending or attacking the wrong thing?
ReplyDeleteI have found that it is usually better to start by asking questions than to begin with what we presume are unassailable conclusions. If you've spent much time on this blog, then you can see that I don't usually follow my own question-asking advice. But be that as it may, I hope that this particular thread will benefit by the host of questions I've offered above.
Let's talk: What do you think about the notion of biblical inerrancy?
-C. Lambeth
My embraced concept is that God's Holy Spirit is my (and our) teacher in coming to know the things of God. We capture these truths and ideas through scripture, but I believe He gives us eyes to see His truths, if we pursue Him in the many ways we understand .... reading and meditating on those words printed in the versions of the Bible we have (laymen like me seldom become acquainted with those early languages) .... of our leading lives seeking to be obedient to His ways .... as we take the time to spend in prayer .... as we are real about physical and financial stewardship that we practice ... do we begin our giving with a tithe ... or is a tithe of our income a goal we hope to reach some prosperous day ... in talking to others about God .... and in regular corporate worship.
ReplyDeleteI think that debating issues, such as the inerrancy question you propose, is expending our spiritual attentions on things which end up deflecting us from fulfilling whatever it is that God's primary purpose for our individual lives is. It is what it is, as someone said (don't quote me).
DA,
ReplyDeleteThank you for typing on the blog!
I can appreciate your fidelity to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and indeed I affirm it, but what happens when different Christians come to different conclusions yet both believe that they are following / responding to the Holy Spirit? Our church and world are full of such examples and disputes among Christians, and the very meaning and interpretation of the Bible is usually at the center of all such disagreements. You suggest that debating issues of inerrancy “[expends] our spiritual attentions on things which end up deflecting us from fulfilling whatever it is that God's primary purpose for our individual lives is,” but DA, how can we understand what those purposes for our lives are without wrestling with the biblical text and its meaning? I freely acknowledge that my faith and devotion is centered on Christ, not a book, but I also cannot fail to recognize that since its compilation, it is the Bible that God has used as a normative communication tool to tell us about himself. Surely we can have friendly and spirited disagreements about what the Bible means without ruining God’s purpose for our lives. If not, then we are all in deep trouble indeed.
So perhaps we should not only view our relationship with God in terms of the individual, but also in terms of the community. We are called to be the church, not isolated and disparate theologians after all. Yes, the Bible “is what it is,” but this doesn’t mean that it always interprets itself or that any of us understand it perfectly. We must be in conversation with one another as well as God as we approach the Bible and let it shape our perspective. I don’t know of any other healthy or viable option.
Thanks for the discussion. Don’t hesitate to comment here or anywhere else either.
-CL