(The views contained herein do not necessarily reflect the mind of God. Although the author would like to think that they do.)

Since the topic came up on another blog, I have been considering exactly what I believe about the Bible being the "Word of God." The fact that it has been so many days of thinking doesn't mean that this is going to be any more comprehensive and cohesive an explanation, just that I finally had time to sit down and write it out.

The question was asked “Do you think God wrote the Bible?” I don’t think that a giant hand reached down from the clouds with a quill. I understand that it was written by men, men who were tied to their place and time. I don’t have a problem with calling it “The Word of God,” though, despite that. I believe that it ultimately came from God somehow. I know there are inconsistencies and contradictions. And there are things that it makes me uncomfortable to believe are true; things that give me a hard time because I don’t think I believe them myself, but the Book says so and I believe what it says is true, so… where does that leave me?

Re-reading this, it sounds like I’m saying I believe things even though I don’t believe them. Sky said earlier that she gets “annoyed with people who have the audacity to claim to know what God thinks on any subject, actually. He's _God_ (however such a being may be interpreted). Omnipotent and all that. How can mere humans claim to know what he thinks about everything??” The way my husband phrases it is, “I’d be disappointed in a God I could fully understand.” The way this relates is that I have faith that the inconsistencies and things that just seem dead wrong to us come from communication difficulties between God and humans. For example, Jesus said “"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I believe that God is fair and just; but if I take that statement at face value does that mean that everyone who happened to be born in a non-Christian family is destined for Hell? That wouldn’t be fair or just, so I don’t accept that conclusion. Instead, I just assume that God has it worked out fairly, I just don’t understand how, and it’s not up to me to be Heaven’s Gatekeeper.

“bob“ said: “perhaps …it isn't the book that matters but the... study of it? Like a recipe, you can follow the instructions gramme for gramme or you can carefully consider why the ingredients and method is how it is and change it to suit your personal tastes (just as long as you end up making the same thing the recipe was for in the first place)?”

Yes and no. I think you need to do that to some extent, but I don’t think the criteria can be how it suits an individual’s personal taste. I think there is a criteria of truth that is outside of humanity and our perception of it; and that using one’s own preferences instead of “What is true?“ leads to shaky ground. “My marriage is horrible, so that whole ‘adultery thing’ doesn’t apply to me”; “My boss is a jerk and doesn’t pay me enough to put up with him, so it’s OK if I steal an occasional package of printer paper from him.”

There it is. Let the games begin.