Allow me to further expound upon my recently-adopted belief that the Bible is not inerrant. Thanks to my fundamental evangelical Christian upbringing, just about all my acquaintances today are of the opinion that the belief in the Bible as God’s exclusive and perfect Word is a vital part of being Christians; indeed, not long ago I would have dismissed without question those who engaged in such heretical views as “not TRUE Christians.” But honestly, where does God ever say you have to believe in the complete and exclusive authority of the Bible to get to heaven?
Like I said in my earlier post on this subject, the reason I returned to Christianity was because I came to the profound realization that one could in fact be a Christian and yet not be required to believe that the Bible is perfect, that moreover there is even quite a thriving community of “true Christians” who reject the Bible’s inerrancy. I honestly don’t believe that I am less genuine in my faith or that God views me as less of a Christian on account of this newest development in my beliefs – especially since, I have already stated, this is the most real my faith has ever been to me as a person.
Furthermore, at the risk of sounding flippant, if I ever came to believe again that the Bible was NOT written by mere mortal men and thus much of its inspiration was lost in translation, I’m pretty sure I would have zero desire to remain a Christian - period. The angst-filled God of the Bible and particularly that of the Old Testament is, I hope, nothing but the ideas of the authors’ flawed interpretations of who God is. Seriously, if the Bible is in fact an accurate depiction of who God is, WHO would be okay worshipping such a God? His cruelty is much more bountiful than his love in the Old Testament. Since the Bible was written by all men and the culture at that time favored men far more than women, I’d rather believe that God was not blatantly sexist but that the writers’ perspectives were clouded by their times and cultures. Christians proclaim that God is not sexist and that it is only our human perception which might make it appear so, but I’m sorry, anyone who would favor masculinity in Israel the way the Bible portrays God does is sexist – God or not. I hate how God gets away with so much because he’s “God,” like sexism and genocide. It’s the epitome of irony to me how he can commit such “unchristian” behavior and yet come across to Christians as being perfect. What? How exactly does that work? If that God, the same who had those boys who made fun of Elisha mauled by bears, comes across as capricious and cruel, well, that is our lack of understanding, and who are we to question God? We need to accept it with blind faith.
Only God himself seems to encourage self-examination on our part, asking questions rather than trying to get rid of our doubts with blind faith.
I am perfectly aware that I could be accused of “creating God in my own image,” as the stepfather used to say, but, as I said, I am not an isolated case. There are plenty of intelligent, earnest Christians who do not accept the Bible’s perfection, who maintain that “the Word was God” and NOT exclusively to be found in the Bible. Please do not be “concerned” for me, as that is implying that you are right and I am wrong and on a heretical bent. God has not, I confess, bequeathed me with the absolute truth, but nor has he done so for you. Anyone who knows me knows that I am by nature an analytical person who does my research, so please, please, respect where I am at.
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