“The Bible did not simply drop from the sky; it wasn’t dictated word-for-word in a divine session. It was authored by people.”
This is such an important article and needs to be seen by more people. The Bible is not “God breathed” or “dictated by God or angels,” like the Quran or Book of Mormon are claimed to be. The Bible is inspired by God through human authors. I struggled with this for a long time, about 40 years. Then I read the Bible through several times and started studying it in depth. I realized the message is congruent from beginning to end, but the human authors had their bones to pick with enemies and even God. This is not a problem. This is a help because it shows God is big enough to take our complaints.
All God has ever wanted from humans from beginning to end is our love and relationship as well as care for the rest of his creation from nature to our neighbors.
This is the consistent message in both the Old and New Testament.
People get all worried over God’s anger in the Old Testament without realizing how long his patience is. God waits hundreds and even thousands of years trying to tell us the right way to live and the consequences when we don’t. Then we get upset when after those hundreds of years the consequences arrive. To me it is comforting to see how patient God is.
Hi Daryl. I think you have touched on something many people wrestle with. Reading the Bible as a collection of writings that God works through, rather than as a transcript dictated from heaven, actually helps make sense of its remarkable honesty. The biblical authors don't hide their doubts, anger, questions or even arguments with God, and that openness is one of the things that makes Scripture feel so deeply human.
I also appreciate your point about God's patience. When we zoom out and read the whole story, we often find a God who is far slower to anger and far more committed to restoration than many of us first assume. For me, that's one of the great themes that emerges when we read the Bible as a whole rather than focusing on isolated passages.
“The Bible did not simply drop from the sky; it wasn’t dictated word-for-word in a divine session. It was authored by people.”
This is such an important article and needs to be seen by more people. The Bible is not “God breathed” or “dictated by God or angels,” like the Quran or Book of Mormon are claimed to be. The Bible is inspired by God through human authors. I struggled with this for a long time, about 40 years. Then I read the Bible through several times and started studying it in depth. I realized the message is congruent from beginning to end, but the human authors had their bones to pick with enemies and even God. This is not a problem. This is a help because it shows God is big enough to take our complaints.
All God has ever wanted from humans from beginning to end is our love and relationship as well as care for the rest of his creation from nature to our neighbors.
This is the consistent message in both the Old and New Testament.
People get all worried over God’s anger in the Old Testament without realizing how long his patience is. God waits hundreds and even thousands of years trying to tell us the right way to live and the consequences when we don’t. Then we get upset when after those hundreds of years the consequences arrive. To me it is comforting to see how patient God is.
Hi Daryl. I think you have touched on something many people wrestle with. Reading the Bible as a collection of writings that God works through, rather than as a transcript dictated from heaven, actually helps make sense of its remarkable honesty. The biblical authors don't hide their doubts, anger, questions or even arguments with God, and that openness is one of the things that makes Scripture feel so deeply human.
I also appreciate your point about God's patience. When we zoom out and read the whole story, we often find a God who is far slower to anger and far more committed to restoration than many of us first assume. For me, that's one of the great themes that emerges when we read the Bible as a whole rather than focusing on isolated passages.