Bible
when i was a kid, small, wee little person, child, youth, knee-high to a grasshopper, i heard about the bible. my mom read it to me. there were crazy stories about people with these weird and amazing and ridiculous lives, and they had a crazy god. at some point it turned into something else. teachers at church started trying to prove the bible to us. it seemed like if they could prove it to be the ultimate authority on all things then their goal as teachers would be met (i dont think that if they ever really did have undisputable proof...like god standing in the room to verify it...i would have necessarily read the bible any more often than i did). i think they just wanted us to be good christians, but turning the bible into a boring authoritative textbook was not the answer.
molly and i are reading this book about how we tend to miss the point as a church. brian mclauren says that, "in the future we'll present the bible less like evidence in a court case and more like works of art in an art gallery. the bible will become valuable not for what it proves, but for what it reveals."
the bible is not a textbook. and i will keep telling myself this until i believe it. its art, poetry, a masterpiece, god's story, our story. there's joy and pain and love and life. not a textbook. i miss the stories. i remember back before we started trying to prove every last verse of it. i remember the crazy god in it. he's still the same. and i am a part of his story. we are part of his story. this life he's writing for us is crazy and amazing and ridiculous.
Posted in: on Thursday, April 06, 2006 at at 11:59 PM
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I am agreeing wholeheartedly. We, as a society have moved from a very modern, rationalistic approach to faith, to more postmodern view that embraces mystery and usually judges things based on how they "feel". With this trend, I think we will begin to view the bible as a portal through which to view God rather than a rule book for life.
it's such a great freakin' book...and I haven't even scratched the suface yet....
kevin! i'm reading the same book! ok i just started it about 10 pages ago... let me know what you think!
My new, relevant mind wants to completely embrace this. And I think I do. But part of me (the old school part) hopes we can pursue this art without forgetting what the Bible does tell us.
Art is the product of an author. Interpret the art and get into the mind of the artist. But sometimes I think I have the right to judge art. If so, is that okay? I think that the Bible can withstand it; I think God gave us these brains to use them and appreciate his creation and story with a beauty that evidence cannot convey.
I agree that we should not look at the bible the same way we look at a textbook, that would be a tragedy. But it is something that must be studied. But not studied to prove. As you say, it is our story, so we must know it more and more. It is a guide of sorts, the path we are to live.
Thanks for bringing up this great idea, and I hope we can challenge each other to get the most out of this wonderful book!