We can believe the bible is inspired without believing every word comes from God.
Every word in the Bible is a human word, written by a human, and only by men, to boot.
Inspiration does not mean that God spoke to a secretary and said put down this word, dictating.
If this were so,then God could not be an all knowing God because the bible has errors and contradictions
God's message in the Bible comes to us in a human envelope. written down by a human who was subject to the errors of his time and culture. For examplel every writer of the bible believed the earth was flat and was teh center of teh universe adn the sun moved around the earth. In some instances the bible says so about those "facts."
Therefore it is up to us to examinie the human cultural envelop in which the message arrives. Only then can we determine what was the intent of the message.
Meditate
on this:” religious literalism is a form of hidden idolatry”
e.g.
we are choosing some word or words to guarantee our way to God.
or
our own righteousness. We thereby invest God’s power and light
in
a human word for our comfort and security.
Take for example, "My concept or belief about God is better than your belief," could nnever arise from this mystery we call God. In doing this we are transferring the holiness due to God alone to this word, this belief, making it a necessary avenue for another. We have thereby introduced a hidden idolatry into our belief system. We have stepped into the easy Darkness of SNOBBERY (SEE NEXT POST) and are unknowingly participating in evil.
“Idols are jealous of one another.”
Next week:
“Idols are jealous of one another.”
Next week:
Are you a secret snob?
Then you are huma..
We all do it.
Paschal, March 24, 2014.
s the Bible literally inspired by God? Depends on what you mean by God.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Bible was inspired by the creative power and imagination, the knowledge,
the experiences, the wisdom and the biases of the writers. A traditional Catholic theological
principle says that God deals with his creatures according to their nature. And another says
that all we posit about is God by way of analogy - and that all analogies limp... that leaves
the field wide open!
I also strongly believe that the writers - and we - are the incarnation of the divine.
Just what or who the divine is I'll leave to theologians, philosophers, mystics, scientists,
artists, historians, writers, archeologists, linguists and others to fight over. If they indulge in
rational, logical, scientific arguments they are already on the wrong track and will never prove
or disprove the existence of the divine. That is totally beside the point. To quote T.S. Elliot:
"That's not it; that is not it at all."
Perhaps God is not a being, perhaps God does not exist; i.e., rather beyond being, existence.
perhaps God is a process, the process of becoming, the process of becoming who we are...
Perhaps God is the experience of one's innermost self.
Some mystics share that to become human is to become divine. I for one believe it!
Long ago, in a passed life, at a meeting of local clergy (I was the token Catholic), a reverend
declared, "I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me." I thought I'd puke.
Today, I rather believe him. The Bible has the power to change lives, to inspire us toward becoming divine
--sent by a friend, Greg Guiteras, by email....