Is The Bible Really The Word Of God?
By Mike Edwards
We often hear claims that the Bible is “THE WORD OF GOD.” A perfect, loving God can’t lie, so one may assume that all the Bible claims about God is true. But the Bible can’t be the definitive word about God since subject to interpretation (different scholarly views of the same passages). Besides, we can’t prove God controlled if the writers always accurately portrayed God.
The truth is we can’t prove God inspired the Bible
The biggest proof often given to suggest God inspired perfect thoughts written down is because the Bible claims that to be so (i.e. 2 Tim 2:16). But this passage has several different interpretations. Anyway, a Book isn’t proven to be inspired because it claims to be inspired. Those who claim God’s inspired the Bible would not accept the Koran to be divinely inspired because it makes such claims. It seems fair to ask if divine inspiration is so important and God is that controlling, why didn’t God preserve original manuscripts to remove doubts of editorial errors?
Even if God controlled everything written in the Bible . . .
Even if we could prove the writers of the Bible always understood God perfectly, we can’t claim our interpretations are perfect. The truth is biblical scholars who have a deep respect for Scriptures don’t agree what God believes about many moral values. See here. See here. See here. Gays are often condemned, women’s leadership roles are limited despite their gifts, and it is suggested a fiery torturous afterlife awaits infidels — all in God’s name. Extremists often will advocate killing infidels in this life because they believe their Holy Book is inspired by God and of course their interpretation is the right one.
So, how do we know what God is like?
Over half the people born into this world didn’t have a Bible. Were they all clueless what a loving God would be like? If we can question if writers always understood God perfectly, we can naturally wonder if God’s actions would ever violate our moral intuitions of a loving God. See here. If a loving Creator exists, which is the only God worth believing it, it is only intuitive that a Creator loves the ways their creations ought to love one another. We all seem to know the question we ought to ask ourselves — am I loving others perfectly? Self-evident morals aren’t hidden in any Holy Book. We all have an inborn sense of good and evil. Our moral intuitions, unless you are a terrorist, aren’t the enemy!
Why bother to read the Bible if can’t prove God approved all written?
It doesn’t matter if you believe the Bible is inspired. You still must interpret the Bible and you may be right or possibly wrong. Uncertainty is a fact of life unless my son or son-in laws mistreat women! The Bible is God’s story beginning with Israel and culminating with the life of Jesus that we don’t possess in other documents. God may have inspired/encouraged the writers to write but didn’t necessarily approve of everything written about God. Enjoy what God is trying to reveal to you about your Creator and how to treat others. Insights contrary to how you know you ought to love your neighbor may be amiss. A Book must not replace our relationship with God and common moral sense. Questioning the Bible may lead to knowing God better!
Is The Bible Really The Word Of God?
Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com
