The Bible #3: Not a Book Club [EP-78]
The Bible is a confusing book, without a doubt. There are simple truths that can be easily distilled from the New Testament (God is love, Jesus died to heal the world, we can know God through the Spirit, etc.), but it is ultimately a book that came into being 2,000+ years ago. This series explores the "why," "what," and "how" questions about the Scriptures. This isn’t so we can become filled with more information alone, but so that we can step into our own unique place in the story of God.Please Note: There is a podcast version of this series available as well.
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The Bible is not the foundation of our faith. It is not why Christianity exists.There, I said it. There’s more to the story, but we need to keep this clear.So often we confuse our sacred book as the sacred center of our faith.It’s not. Not even close.I have little desire to degrade Holy Scripture. I believe the Bible is holy, set apart for an important purpose. But decentering the Bible is certainly something I’m passionate about.Here’s what I’m not saying:
- I’m not saying that the Bible isn’t inspired by God’s Spirit.
- I’m not saying that the Bible isn’t our ultimate guide for how we practice our faith as followers of Jesus.
- I’m not saying that the Bible isn’t trustworthy.
- I’m not saying that the Bible shouldn’t be at the center of our teaching content within the church.
- I’m not saying that the earliest generations of Christians had no interest in studying the New Testament documents that they had access to, of course they did.
- I’m not saying that the Bible isn’t transformational for the lives of individual people who read it. It’s transformational in my own life with God.
- I’m not saying that the core beliefs we hold, which the Bible gives witness to, are relative or need updating (I affirm every bullet point of the Apostles’ Creed, including the bodily resurrection of Jesus).
I’m saying that the Bible is not the point but does its job best when it points to the Point. Jesus is the Point. Jesus walked out of a grave in a resurrected body and launched new creation into the world. The Bible could never accomplish such feat.
