But what about the inerrancy of scripture?
What do you think? Could these guys literally split hairs with their slings?
This is a constant struggle in interpreting scripture. The Bible is literature. Huge sections are written in various forms of poetry (be it epic, acrostic, chiastic, etc...). As such it is full of literary devices: metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, anthropomorphism, repetition (a Hebrew favourite), and so many more, especially if you know the original languages, cultures, and literary characteristics.
So, could these slingers actually split hairs or was it hyperbole (literary exaggeration)? Does Jesus actually want us to hate our families (Luke 14:26)?
Is God really a rock (Deut 32:4)?
I think we need to acknowledge what the Bible is and what it is not.
The Bible is: a series of poems, letters, first person accounts, oral traditions, etc... of how God interacts with His creation. Based on this we can see who God is; God's Character.
The Bible is: a series of poems, letters, first person accounts, oral traditions, etc... of how God interacts with His creation. Based on this we can see who God is; God's Character.
The Bible is not: a science text-book. Some people have taken the idea of inerrancy (there is literally no errors in the Bible, everything is to be taken at word value) way too far by claiming that the "science" in the Bible is inerrant. That's why the church got into trouble with Galileo and Copernicus.
This could really be expanded... but not today. The point is that the Bible's value comes not from the words themselves but the person who those words point to. Behind every word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, chapter, book, and testament lies a God who wants to know us. A holy, awesome, transcendent... and personal God.
The Bible isn't authoritative just because "it's the Bible". It is the character of God that is authoritative. It is because that character is revealed to us in His Word that the Bible has authority to speak into our lives.
3 comments:
Hey Tim B.
Not quite as engaging a topic as Lisa's post slamming the muppets, but nevertheless- thought provoking. ;)
As is often the case with this type of discussion, the semantics become the point of the discussion- so maybe this is just semantics, but I'm wondering about what you DIDN'T say as much as what you did.
Is the Bible not authoritative because of the fact that it is God's revelation to us? Not just that it points to God's character. Because numerous non-biblical songs, messages and books also point to God's character with accuracy, but without authority or inspiration.
What about the Creation Narrative? Does it lose authority because it doesn't jive with modern ideas of science? (now there's a can of worms...)
What about Paul's teaching on church leadership and gender roles- is it authoritative for all time, or does it lose it's authority as we become "enlightened"? (more worms...)
And how about Jesus' teaching on divorce? Now that no fault divorce is the norm in Canada and US and for many of NA Christians it feels right to divorce if it makes us happy (and God wants us happy- that's His job, right?).
Did God REALLY mean we were to share our possessions with the poor as well as lend without thought of getting back?? Or that we were to pursue Justice on behalf of the oppressed? What about in today's economy where we need all of our income to be able to afford the big, new house in the nice neighborhood and the 2 or 3 new, financed, cars and the quads and snowmobiles and boats and cottages and multiple big screen TV's etc. that we cannot afford to share with the poor of the world. (On a side note, if all North American Christians only tithed, and the churches used that money to alleviate the world's food shortages and basic children's medication needs, Christians would feed the entire world and have tens of billions left over for church planting and economic renewal in poor countries.) Ron Sider "Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger".
Isn't the fact that it is God's Word, the God breathed, inspired revelation of God enough to make it authoritative? I think the real issue is that for most Christians God's Word has no place in our hearts- Our feelings and our peers are our authority. I think you are correct that the Bible reveals to us God's character. But beyond that, God also reveals to us the "Prime Directive" (thank you Capt. Picard) for our life and even, in many ways, how that is to be carried out.
And it says nothing in there about not watching the muppets, I might add.
I think that we're pretty much saying the same thing. God's revelation, what He reveals to us, is His character. God has given us guidelines for our lives so that we can be Holy... AS HE IS HOLY. Our "Prime Directive" (not a big ST fan) is to our character to that of Christ. In all that we are we need to emulate God's Messiah. We need to be like God. The only we we can do this is by following His word.
If anyone is interested in this concept YOU MUST READ THIS ARTICLE by NT Writght: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.pdf
As for all of those "worms", I find that most of them can be dealt with by Webb's "Redemptive Movement" model that I talked about in my "We can be going Somewhere" post a couple of weeks back.
Listen, I was not bashing "The Muppets"!! I really do like them. It's just that sometimes they have kid-inappropriate material, that's all.
And I can't think of anything to say about this topic of the Bible except "You Go, Tim!" (and that's not in the going away sense).
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