The Bible

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galilee
The Bible What do we make of it?
2
X
Theologian ?
Neither of us claim to be theologians. What we
both bring to this exploration are 80 years or
so, between us, of serious searching for truth
and meaning and it in that spirit that we offer
the following thoughts.
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My journey with scripture to date has been one
from From outer to inner authority From
superstition and fear to trust From believing to
experiencing From knowing about to just
knowing From certainty to being comfortable with
uncertainty From puzzlement to excitement
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If you aint got no questions then you aint on
the ride
From the Martyn Joseph album Whoever it was that
brought me here..
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The core issues as I see them today
Views about scripture are many and varied and I
have chosen to portray them as points on a
spectrum. This is just one way of thinking about
the issues. It will work for some people and not
for others.
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So what is the Bible?
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The Bible
A collection of ancient documents, written over
an extended period, in worlds very different from
our own
Human product the words of man
Divine product the words of God
Collected together for a variety of reasons
spiritual, social, religious, political,
recording oral tradition There may be equally
valuable writings outside the canon and written
since it Useful scriptures may have been left
out of the bible (e.g. because they were
explicitly written by women) It reflects an
evolving understanding of God
Collected together under the direction guidance
of God. The 66 books have a status
well above anything else written before or
after. Its view of God is static
the picture understanding of God in the OT is
the same as that in the NT
8
And how do we think of the relationship between
man and God that gives rise to the written
scriptures?
9
God discloses himself Connaitre Jesus loves
me this I know Our experience of God is
essentially intuitive (Christians interpret this
experience within a biblical framework) The
emphasis is on experiencing God and living in
tune with this experience. This tends to lead to
a more inclusive approach.
God discloses information about himself
Savoir For the Bible tells me so Our experience
of God is based upon hearing believing
propositions, statements of truth etc The
emphasis is on believing doctrines formulated on
the basis of what is written. This tends to lead
to a more exclusive approach.
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A masterpiece of classical literature exploring
mans developing understanding of himself, his
place in the world, his religious beliefs etc
God dictates the words to man man holds the pen
but God writes
God communicates truth about himself to man and
oversees the writing down of this in such a way
that ensures it conveys what God wants
conveyed sometimes this is seen as accurate
historically, scientifically etc
Men who have had life changing experiences of the
real God seek to communicate this experience and
their ( the community's) understanding of it and
its implications for their community, in a
specific cultural and historical context
11

• The two extremes
• The Bible is no different from other books
• The Bible is inerrant lets explore

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The Word of God

• Most Christians regard the Bible as the Word of
  God (in some sense).
• Exercise - Look through theses verses, which
  mention the word of God or your word. What
  are they referring to? In which of these verses
  does the word of God mean the Bible?

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1KI 825 2CH 616 "Now LORD, God of Israel,
keep for your servant David my father the
promises you made to him when you said, You
shall never fail to have a man to sit before me
on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are
careful in all they do to walk before me as you
have done.' 26 And now, O God of Israel, let your
word that you promised your servant David my
father come true. 1KI 1222 But this word of God
came to Shemaiah the man of God 23 "Say to
Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the
whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the
rest of the people, 24 This is what the LORD
says Do not go up to fight against your
brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of
you, for this is my doing.' " So they obeyed the
word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD
had ordered. 1CH 173 That night the word of God
came to Nathan PS 1199 How can a young man keep
his way pure? By living according to your
word. PS 11911 I have hidden your word in my
heart that I might not sin against you. PS
11917 Do good to your servant, and I will live
I will obey your word. PS 11925 28 I am laid
low in the dust preserve my life according to
your word.
14
PS 11937 Turn my eyes away from worthless
things preserve my life according to your
word. PS 11941 May your unfailing love come to
me, O LORD, your salvation according to your
promise 42 then I will answer the one who taunts
me, for I trust in your word. PS 11949
Remember your word to your servant, for you have
given me hope. PS 11965 Do good to your servant
according to your word, O LORD. PS 11967 Before
I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey
your word. PS 1382 I will bow down toward your
holy temple and will praise your name for
your love and your faithfulness, for you have
exalted above all things your name and your
word. PR 305 "Every word of God is flawless he
is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
15
MT 153 Jesus replied, "And why do you break the
command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4
For God said, Honor your father and mother' and
Anyone who curses his father or mother must be
put to death.' 5 But you say that if a man says
to his father or mother, Whatever help you might
otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted
to God,' 6 he is not to honor his father' with
it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake
of your tradition. LK 31 In the fifteenth year
of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius
Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of
Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea
and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of
Abilene-- 2 during the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of
Zechariah in the desert. LK 51 One day as Jesus
was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the
people crowding around him and listening to the
word of God, LK 1127 As Jesus was saying these
things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed
is the mother who gave you birth and nursed
you. 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those
who hear the word of God and obey it. JN 852
At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you
are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the
prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your
word, he will never taste death. 53 Are you
greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so
did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"
16
JN 176 "I have revealed you to those whom you
gave me out of the world. They were yours you
gave them to me and they have obeyed your
word..14 I have given them your word and the
world has hated them, for they are not of the
world any more than I am of the world. 15 My
prayer is not that you take them out of the world
but that you protect them from the evil one. 16
They are not of the world, even as I am not of
it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth your word is
truth. AC 427 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate
met together with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel in this city to conspire against your holy
servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did
what your power and will had decided beforehand
should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their
threats and enable your servants to speak your
word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your
hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and
wonders through the name of your holy servant
Jesus." 31 After they prayed, the place where
they were meeting was shaken. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of
God boldly. AC 62 So the Twelve gathered all
the disciples together and said, "It would not be
right for us to neglect the ministry of the word
of God in order to wait on tables. AC 67 So the
word of God spread. The number of disciples in
Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number
of priests became obedient to the faith. AC 814
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria
had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and
John to them.
17
AC 111 The apostles and the brothers throughout
Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received
the word of God. AC 1224 But the word of God
continued to increase and spread. AC 135 When
they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word
of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with
them as their helper. AC 136 They traveled
through the whole island until they came to
Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and
false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an
attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The
proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas
and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of
God. AC 1346 Then Paul and Barnabas answered
them boldly "We had to speak the word of God to
you first. Since you reject it and do not
consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we
now turn to the Gentiles. AC 1713 When the Jews
in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching
the word of God at Berea, they went there too AC
1811 So Paul stayed for a year and a half,
teaching them the word of God. 2 COR 217 Unlike
so many, we do not peddle the word of God for
profit.
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EPH 617 Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. PHIL 114 Because of my chains, most of the
brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to
speak the word of God more courageously and
fearlessly. COL 125 I have become its servant
by the commission God gave me to present to you
the word of God in its fullness 1TH 213 And we
also thank God continually because, when you
received the word of God, which you heard from
us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but
as it actually is, the word of God, which is at
work in you who believe. TIT 23 Likewise, teach
the older women to be reverent in the way they
live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much
wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can
train the younger women to love their husbands
and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure,
to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject
to their husbands, so that no one will malign the
word of God. HEB 412 For the word of God is
living and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart.
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HEB 64 It is impossible for those who have once
been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly
gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and
the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall
away, to be brought back to repentance 1 PET
123 For you have been born again, not of
perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the
living and enduring word of God. 1JN 214 I
write to you, young men, because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you, and you have
overcome the evil one. REV 11 The revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his
servants what must soon take place. He made it
known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2
who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ. REV 19 I, John, your brother and
companion in the suffering and kingdom and
patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on
the island of Patmos because of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus.
20
REV 69 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw
under the altar the souls of those who had been
slain because of the word of God and the
testimony they had maintained. REV 1913 He is
dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name
is the Word of God. REV 204 And I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded because of their
testimony for Jesus and because of the word of
God.
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The Word of God

• When the Bible writers refer to the word of
  God, they do not mean the Bible.
• If they do want to refer to the Bible, what do
  they call it?
• Scripture (which referred to Old Testament
  writings the New Testament did not even exist)

22
A key scripture, often quoted as supporting
inerrancy, is found in 2 Timothy. But what does
it actually say? That it is useful. And what
were the scriptures that it referred to?
Certainly not the New Testament, which had not
been written collected together.
23
2 Timothy 3
14 But as for you, continue in what you have
learned and have become convinced of, because you
know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how
from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture
is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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2 Timothy 3
14 But as for you, continue in what you have
learned and have become convinced of, because you
know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how
from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture
is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 references to Scripture in this passage
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2 Timothy 3
14 But as for you, continue in what you have
learned and have become convinced of, because you
know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how
from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture
is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The first is its use in leading Timothy to faith.
26
2 Timothy 3
14 But as for you, continue in what you have
learned and have become convinced of, because you
know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how
from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture
is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The second is its use as Timothys equipment
tools of his trade.
27
2 Timothy 3 - 4
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 41
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
will judge the living and the dead, and in view
of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this
charge 2 Preach the Word be prepared in
season and out of season correct, rebuke and
encourage--with great patience and careful
instruction.
What was Timothys task, as a man of God?
28
2 Timothy 3 - 4
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 41
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
will judge the living and the dead, and in view
of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this
charge 2 Preach the Word be prepared in
season and out of season correct, rebuke and
encourage--with great patience and careful
instruction.
The job description in 42 is what the Bible is
useful for in 316.
29
2 Timothy 3 - 4
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 41
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
will judge the living and the dead, and in view
of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this
charge 2 Preach the Word be prepared in
season and out of season correct, rebuke and
encourage--with great patience and careful
instruction.
30
So where did the idea of inerrancy arise
from? And when?
31
The idea of inerrancy

• The 18th Century Enlightenment
• Rationalism gave birth to
• 19th Century European Liberalism
• The bible is just like any other book led to
• 20th Century American reaction
• The Fundamentals (Published 1910-1915)

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The Fundamentals

• The irreducible minimum of Christian faith
• Inerrancy of the Bible
• Virgin birth and divinity of Jesus Christ
• His vicarious atoning death
• His bodily resurrection
• His imminent return and millenial reign
• Published in 12 volumes of essays, distributed
  free of charge to 3 million Christian workers.

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The Fundamentals

• The irreducible minimum of Christian faith
• Inerrancy of the Bible
• Virgin birth and divinity of Jesus Christ
• His vicarious atoning death
• His bodily resurrection
• His imminent return and millenial reign

Questions Which of these doctrines are part of
the Creeds? Which find support in the Bible
itself?
34
The Fundamentals

• The irreducible minimum of Christian faith
• Inerrancy of the Bible
• Virgin birth and divinity of Jesus Christ
• His vicarious atoning death
• His bodily resurrection
• His imminent return and millenial reign

Answers Probably all of them in some form,
except for inerrancy!
35
One of the key problems of the idea of inerrancy
is that it takes only one clear error to bring
the whole building tumbling down. So lets look
at just a few of the discrepancies in the New
Testament.
36
MT 211 As they approached Jerusalem and came to
Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two
disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village
ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey
tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and
bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to
you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he
will send them right away." 4 This took place to
fulfill what was spoken through the prophet 5
"Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your king
comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' " 6 The
disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed
them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt,
placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on
them. The writer of the gospel interprets the
words of the prophet to mean there were two
animals although that is not what the prophet
says.
37
MT 2029 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving
Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind
men were sitting by the roadside, and when they
heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted,
"Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" LK
1835 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man
was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he
heard the crowd going by, he asked what was
happening. 37 They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by." LK 1838 He called out,
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
This seems to be a discrepancy. Nothing hangs on
it, EXCEPT the doctrine of inerrancy. There may
be a way around the problem, but if you face
enough of them, you inevitably conclude that the
doctrine of inerrancy is itself a millstone.
38
MT 2335 And so upon you will come all the
righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from
the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of
Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered
between the temple and the altar. 2CH 2420 Then
the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of
Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people
and said, "This is what God says Why do you
disobey the LORD's commands? You will not
prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he
has forsaken you.' " 21 But they plotted against
him, and by order of the king they stoned him to
death in the courtyard of the LORD's temple. 22
King Joash did not remember the kindness
Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him but
killed his son, who said as he lay dying, "May
the LORD see this and call you to account. ZEC
11 In the eighth month of the second year of
Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet
Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of
Iddo The writer of the gospel has mixed up
the two Zechariahs.
39
MK 12 It is written in Isaiah the prophet
"I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way" MAL 31 "See, I
will send my messenger, who will prepare the way
before me. The writer of the gospel mixed up
his prophets
40
MK 225 He answered, "Have you never read what
David did when he and his companions were hungry
and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high
priest, he entered the house of God and ate the
consecrated bread, which is lawful only for
priests to eat. And he also gave some to his
companions. 1SA 212 David answered Ahimelech
the priest, "The king charged me with a certain
matter and said to me, No one is to know
anything about your mission and your
instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to
meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do
you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread,
or whatever you can find." 4 But the priest
answered David, "There is some consecrated bread
here. The writer of the gospel mixes up the
names of the priests
41

• There are lots of discrepancies of this sort.
• Do any of these minor errors matter?
• Only if we wish to claim that the Bible is
  without error.
• Doesnt honesty force us to conclude
• That the doctrine of inerrancy is a late
  invention, supported neither by scripture nor by
  tradition
• That the doctrine is impossible to believe with
  integrity
• That it is not a high view of scripture at all,
  but one which brings the bible into disrepute?

42
So is the Bible the pure word of God?
43
There is no divine light The bible has no greater
status than other pieces of classic literature A
likely conclusion if we dont recognise
experience of God as real
The divine light is pure God wrote it and as God
cannot lie it is true, accurate and authoritative
in every respect God says it I believe
it! Requires that we ignore the apparent
discrepancies and are prepared to treat all
scriptures equally
The divine light is pure (ish) Because God has
overseen the writing, the teachings of the bible
are authoritative, although they may need to be
distinguished from the authors assumptions
(which derive from culture etc)
44
Is the writer of Genesis teaching that the world
was created in 7 days? Or is he teaching that the
world has its origins in God while, in the
process, assuming that the world was not very
old? In Philemon is Paul teaching that slavery is
acceptable? Or is Paul teaching that a Christian
master might be called to be a brother even to
his slave while appearing to assume that slavery
is acceptable. In Romans 1 is Paul teaching that
same sex intercourse is wrong? Or is he teaching
about the relationship between human
responsibility, the failure to worship the true
God, and ethical faults and in the process
assuming, as a Jew in the first century would
have, that same sex intercourse is a good example
of sin?
45
There is no divine light The bible has no greater
status than other pieces of classic literature A
likely conclusion if we dont recognise
experience of God as real
The divine light is pure God wrote it and as God
cannot lie it is true, accurate and authoritative
in every respect God says it I believe
it! Requires that we ignore the apparent
discrepancies and are prepared to treat all
scriptures equally
The divine light is pure (ish) Because God has
overseen the writing, the teachings of the bible
are authoritative, although they may need to be
distinguished from the authors assumptions
(which derive from culture etc)
The divine light is distorted by the human
personality context through which it flows But
it is still visible because the authors knew, by
experience, the truth about which they wrote
46
Look at the next slide and decide what the doctor
says to the patient!
47
(No Transcript)
48
Did you think the doctor was the man or the
woman? Why? You see we bring to all of our
experiences and interpretations a wealth of
presuppositions our own maps of the world. We
cannot do otherwise. So how can the Bible writers
not also be influenced by the world in which they
write?
49
Culture is an influence but as God has overseen
the writing it will be historically and
scientifically reliable, if not totally accurate
if it describes something as having happened
it must have happened, if it attributes a saying
to God, God must have said it, if it makes a
value judgement it must be valid.
50
For example
Joshua 10 The sun stood still in the middle of
the sky and did not go down for about a whole
day. (It must have happened) Deuteronomy We
utterly destroyed the men, women and children of
every city..as the Lord God commanded us. (God
must have said it) Romans For this reason God
gave them over to degrading passions for their
women exchanged that which is natural for that
which is unnatural.(the value judgement must be
valid)
51
Man wrote it so it is subject to all manner of
human factors - e.g. mistakes, spin,
elaboration over time, author purpose (sometimes
spiritual, sometimes political) - reflects his
culture, myths understanding of the world
Culture is an influence but as God has overseen
the writing it will be historically and
scientifically reliable, if not totally accurate
if it describes something as having happened
it must have happened, if it attributes a saying
to God, God must have said it, if it makes a
value judgement it must be valid.
There is a need to distinguish the writers
purpose message from the writers assumptions
(influenced by culture etc) and from the
historical story (may be inaccurate) from the
stories metaphors used.
52
The influence of the writers (and the hearers)
culture
Lets explore.
53
Should we obey the bible?

• Mark 1615
• Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
  all creation.
• Romans 1616
• Greet one another with a holy kiss.
• Exercise Bible interpretation

54
Some parts of the bible are exhortation they
tell the readers explicitly how to behave. This
is where we meet the main issue of hermeneutics
can instructions given in bible times be applied
directly today, or were they only relevant for
the original readers? Are these exhortations
Biblical Absolutes or Cultural Relatives? In
practice, we all make this kind of decision,
mostly by common sense, whether we realise it or
not. The trouble with common sense is that
it isnt common. Christians dont all reach the
same decisions about which commands are biblical
absolutes and which are culturally relative.
What do you think about these?
55
(No Transcript)
56
How was the New Testament influenced by the male
dominated culture that it was written within?

• Household codes
• Husbands love your wives
• Wives be subject to your husbands
• Slaves be subject to your masters
• State
• Political figures were all men
• Church
• Women to be silent in the church
• Women to cover their heads when praying or
  prophesying

57
The limitations of language and the role of
story metaphor..

• God is always more than we can possibly conceive
• Our experience of God is essentially intuitive
  and as such is distorted as soon as we seek to
  convey it in words
• When we seek to convey this in words we can only
  ever use examples from our experience to try to
  create appropriate pictures metaphors
• Often these will be culturally influenced (e.g.
  God as father - male dominance, temple
  sacrifice) though not always (e.g. body of
  Christ)
• What metaphors might we use today? (e.g. ICT
  repentance is like changing the operating system
  so we can run new software)

58
The limitations of language and the role of
story metaphor..

• Even with metaphors we will always be trying to
  describe the 3D in 2D terms (another metaphor!!)
• We do not believe metaphors they are not true,
  but they can communicate truth.
• Literalising metaphors often leads to nonsense
  (e.g. Jesus as Light of the World is not
  literal. Nor is the term Son of God literal
  when applied to the nation of Israel, or to the
  king of Israel, or even to Jesus).
• Metaphors may be helpful or unhelpful, depending
  on the experience of the hearer or reader (e.g.
  Jesus as a sacrifice may work for 1st century
  Jews but not for 21st century folk)

59
Story Metaphor or Fact and does it matter?!
60
How much of the Bible is actually story and
metaphor being used to communicate truth? Are the
creation narratives of Genesis historically
accurate, or poems designed to convey insights
into the nature of God and the human
condition? Is the book of Job historical or an
ancient story used to explore important issues
around suffering? Was Jonah really swallowed by
an enormous fish? Did Joshua really stop the
earth from turning? Are the accounts of Jesus
birth historically accurate or stories used by
the writers to make particular points? And does
it really matter?
61
Narrative sections of the bible can be valuable
without being historically accurate we have
seen this with the gospel discrepancies. Some
narrative sections are clearly not historical
e.g. the parables. The difference of order of the
material in the synoptic gospels makes it
impossible to think of the gospels as
chronologically accurate. This does not detract
from the value of the gospel material, but it
does detract from the idea of inerrancy. The
discrepancies between Gen 1 and Gen 2 make it
impossible to think of them both as historically
accurate accounts. Insistence on historicity is
as much a blind alley as inerrancy. The book of
Job is clearly not a historically accurate record
for example, the setting of the book is
ancient, well before the iron age, but Job
appears to know about iron. The problems
disappear if we allow narrative to be used for
things other than history. The fact that a piece
of writing is in story form does not mean that it
is history, or even that it is necessarily based
on history.
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The very kind of truth we are often demanding (of
Scripture) was, in my opinion, never even
envisaged by the ancients.
C.S.Lewis
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A high view of Scripture is one you can stand
under with integrity. Understanding comes from
standing under. A spiritual journey is one of
increasing honesty (truth). To value the Bible as
Scripture is not the same as ascribing to it
attributes which it neither has, nor claims to
have.
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G D
GOD draws us to Himself.
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G D
Sometimes He uses means of grace, such as the
Bible.
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G D
If all your reading of the Bible is not leading
you to a living relationship with the living
Christ, of whom the book speaks from beginning to
end, you are wasting your time. Alf Schultes
Sometimes this goes wrong, and we end up fighting
the wrong battles.
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Reading list
For those wishing to read a little more around
these issues the following are a few books that
we have found stimulating Reading the Bible
again for the first time Marcus Borg This
explores many of the issues from the perspective
of the left of centre column of the spectrum. The
meaning of Jesus NT Wright and Marcus Borg A
debate between two scholars who respect one
another deeply exploring the left and right of
centre columns of the spectrum. Fundamentalism
James Barr Escaping from Fundamentalism James
Barr Good introductions to the questions that
must be faced if one adopts a position at the far
right end of the spectrum. These may be difficult
to track down. C.S. Lewis on scripture Michael
Christensen An old classic that still has much to
contribute to the discussion. Struggling with
scripture Walter Brueggmann, William C Placher,
Brian K Blount A thin book well worth reading as
a short but scholarly exploration of the middle
ground.
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A New Kind of Christian Brian McLaren The first
of a series of three novels exploring the middle
ground. Rescuing the bible from fundamentalism
John Shelby Spong Its style is sometimes less
than conciliatory but it explores many of the
difficulties effectively. Essentials a
liberal-evangelical dialogue David Edwards and
John Stott A debate between the left and right of
centre. God a guide for the perplexed Keith
Ward Not directly about the bible but a useful
exploration of thinking about God and the place
of metaphor. What is Truth Peter Vardy Again not
specifically about the bible but a useful
exploration of what is meant by truth which has
implications for some of our thinking about the
bible. Other books that have been recommended to
us The Bible Makes Sense Walter Brueggemann How
to Read the Bible for All its Worth Gordon Fee
and Douglas Stuart The Bible as Word of God in a
Postmodern World Terence Fretheim and Karlfried
Froelich Truth is stranger than it used to be
biblical faith in a post-modern world Richard
Middleton and Brian Walsh  Beyond Liberalism and
Fundamentalism Nancey Murphy
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On with the journey!