As I grow older it is becoming more and more difficult for me to ‘tolerate’ those who continue to believe God magically dictated the Bible – and in English! L  I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find some who believe God is an “American”>

It makes me sad to hear of those who see the bible as one book instead of a complilation of many books written in different styles and from many different historical perspectives.

I recently read, I believe from Marcus Borg, that the Bible is a “human response to God….rather than seeing God as scriptures ultimate author. The Bible is the response of two ancient communities (Hebrew and early Christian) to their experience of God.” [1]

I decided to post this blog having read the short article by John Pavlovitz, pastor and blogger from Wake Forest, North Carolina, that talks of five things Pavlovitz wishes Christians would admit about the Bible.   A link to his 12/23/14 article:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/5-things-i-wish-christians-would-admit-about-bible

1. The Bible isn’t a magic book. It’s a lot of books.  It’s a library.
2. The Bible isn’t as clear as we’d like it to be. There are a lot of gray areas.
3. The Bible was inspired by God—not dictated by God.
4. We pick and choose the Bible we believe, preach and defend. Or as Pavlovitz says:

“As we mature in our faith, some of us may be able to shake off some of our personal biases and get closer to the true meaning of Scripture. But until then, most of us have our own Bible, made somewhat in our image. There are as many specific individual interpretations of Scripture in history as there have been readers of it.”

5. God is bigger than the Bible.

If all of this interests you pick up the article written by up by John Pavlovitz.   A good book to read:  “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time” by Marcus Borg.

[1]  I had this written in my personal journal, 2/2/15.  Sorry but I didn’t write down a source for this quote.