(no subject)

[kayre]

gypsyjen asked me this:

How do you cope with the Bible's inconsistency? I assume, based on the way you talk, that you believe along the lines of, "Inspired by God, written by people" (stop me if I'm wrong.) This leads me to...well, shoot, one could say that about just about anything, really. So how does the Bible carry any particular force or weight? And how does all this impact the religion/faith? I'm probably not being very clear here, but I'm hoping you can see the bit I'm trying to understand and 'splain it to me.

Long answer back

Okay... had to ponder this for a while to try to organize words, and I’m still not sure how organized my thoughts will be.

Yes, I do take the “inspired by God, written by people” approach. To take the “God moved the hand” approach means believing in a God who deliberately filled the book with puzzles and contradictions and then demands our blind acceptance, followed by bizarre attempts to make sense of it all.

I do think the Bible has authority within Christianity, but I’m very liberal on at least three points. First, I think other sacred scriptures carry the same authority within their culture, and that the Bible is less meaningful within other cultures. (I don’t, however, think that rejecting Christianity and converting to another culture works terribly well for most who were raised within Christianity-- unless they do the internal work to put to rest their issues with that Christian upbringing. It’s like thinking you’ve dealt with your childhood issues when you move away-- sooner or later you still have to truly deal with them.) Second, I don’t necessarily think the Bible should be set apart from other writings as far as it is. One of the reasons for my degree in Church History is my belief that we make a terrible mistake when we try to discard all the Christian thinking and writing between the first century and the twentieth. Some of it is outdated, yes.. but not all. Third, I read most of the Bible as mythic truth rather than scientific fact, historical fact or systematic theology. (To explain this to my classes, I mention a poem called Footprints in the Sand, and ask if it expresses a truth about God. Then I ask if it really matters to them whether the writer actually had the dream exactly as written, or just thought up the idea themselves.)

Methodist tradition leans less heavily on the Bible than other Protestant denominations-- we value church tradition, personal experience and reason as well, following the lead of John Wesley. A interpretation of the Bible, even one held within church tradition, is subject to reinterpretation if it contradicts reason and experience. This at least helps dialogue within the church rise above two interest groups shouting “But the Bible says....!” at each other (most of the time, anyway).

Far from a complete answer, but I hope it’s an adequate start!