The Bible is not a God totem. The Bible is not a rule book for living our lives although much of Christianity has these opinions which I have found to be short sighted. This places me in the minority but to each his own. I have moved through these biblical understandings to another place over the many years God has given me. The Bible has, however, always been the grand love of my life and thinking.
Please give
me the opportunity to explain. The Bible
is first of all ancient literature written by a multitude of ancient
contributors who relate their God understandings and experiences. Yes, there are God inspired understandings
within these pages but they are not all equally inspired by God. Some understandings are, shall we say, ungodly.
I broke with
the traditional interpreters some fifty years ago when reading about the supposedly
God ordained final taking of the promised land under the supposedly God
ordained leadership of Joshua. The Bible praises this genocide in the name of
religion as the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham. The Bible commands the slaughter. Is it any
wonder that Moses, who saw God rescue his people without violence, would have
no part in the genocide. The outer reaches of eternity are reserved for those
who kill in the name of God.
Is it sinful
to ask questions of the Bible? Is it
sinful to disagree with the Bible at some points? Is the Bible not a place to have a
conversation with God? Job had some very
pointed conversations with God, questioning traditional understandings. Mahatma
Gandhi, who preached nonviolence, took a long look at Christianity. I
am guessing but maybe he walked away because of the seeming duplicity in the
Bible. A duplicity that is swept under
the rug by tradition. An honest reader or interpreter must ask questions.
Enough said,
the upside is that the book is alive. The Bible is a hearing instrument. You know, those God messages that are
bombarding our world constantly. We can
hear from eternity through the lives and struggles of the people within these
pages.
Yesterday, I
was fitted with my new ears and I am hearing stuff that I haven’t heard for thirty
years. Stuff like the shuffling of my own feet or the bird songs from my front
porch or the squeak in my chair as I sit at the computer. If we decide to listen, sometimes with the
aid of an instrument, we will hear the eternal words for us, in the Bible or on
the front porch smoking the morning cigar.
G. Goslaw
Landers, Ca
