Why I Love the Bible

Someone asked me the other day why I "love the Bible".  I get that a lot.  A while ago someone (who was quite angry at me) said, "how can you love a book that depicts so much hate and paints God as such an angry being?"

And I get that, right?

It's much easier to be an advocate for ...

Women.

LGBTQ people.

Racial Justice.

Etc.

... when you don't align yourself with a book that is very often used to silence women, exclude LGBTQ people, and justify racial injustices.

Sigh.

Layered on top of that are all of the very complicated stories of God ordering genocide, turning people into pillars of salt, moving the hearts of Emperors to war, celebrating the slaughter of tribes.

"How can you possibly love a book a like that?"

It's a good question and one that I've thought a lot about, and it all comes down to how I see the Bible.

I used to see the Bible as the "inerrant Word of God", meaning that everything that it says is 100% true - it's true, it's historical, and the things that it says God did and said ... those are the things God did and said.

"What about him killing people?"

"What about the passages of genocide and war?"

"What about slavery?"

"What about ... ?"

"Ahhh", I would say, "God's ways are not our ways!  Have some faith, my friend.  Those things seem to be an abomination to us, but God has his reasons.  God is sovereign and we are not and so on this side of heaven, we will never know.  But once we die and enter the pearly gates, it'll all make sense.  All you need to do it believe it, and believe God is good."

That was my answer, and it helped me sleep at night.  

Nowadays, though, I've abandoned those ideas.  I no longer think the Bible is the inerrant word of God and I find those passages about God's anger and wrath to be very, very, very problematic.  I also think my answer was pretty lame.  

Can I follow a God who killed people?

Can I follow a God who had any reason at all to command genocide?

Can I follow a God who is so exclusive of other people?

Can I follow a God who at one time was OK with slavery?

Can I follow a God whose "word" (the Bible) is so unclear that it has been used by countless people and leaders and tribes to justify the most horrific of actions?

... My answer to all of those things is "NO, I cannot".  

As I've deconstructed my faith, a very big part of that deconstruction was the Bible and how I view it, understand it, and use it.  

What is the Bible?  

For me, it's a collection of letters and stories that span the course of thousands and thousands of years and when put together they do little more than paint a picture of what it looks like for human beings to grow in their understanding of the Divine.  

Did God command genocide in the book of Numbers?  No.  But, I think, the people who wrote those stories ASSUMED he did.  Why?  Because that was the common idea in the culture of their day, that the "Gods" were warlords who fought on the side of their people and so (to them) it made perfect sense that their God would command them to go and conquer a foreign land, killing everyone in the process.  

But then through the prophets we get glimpses of people seeing a more inclusive God who will welcomes "all the people's of the earth" into his presence, right?

And then in Jesus we see a picture of a God who tells people "you have heard it said by Moses, but I say to you" ... and then goes on to say things things like "turn the other cheek", "pray for your enemies", and even forgive your enemies when they nail you to a cross and shed your blood.  

In this way, the Bible reflects my own journey ... right?  It reflects a progression of understanding ... an evolution of sorts.  

Back in the day, I saw God as a vengeful and wrathful God who would incinerate all of the unbelievers in the fiery pits of hell.  I believed 100% in hellfire and brimstone and as much as it made me uncomfortable, it's the narrative I aligned myself with.

We are sinners.

God is mad at sin.

Someone needs to pay.

Jesus did.

Believe that and go to heaven.

Don't believe it and go to hell.

But then I started to ask some questions and that narrative began to unravel and now I see Jesus and the cross and God in a totally different way.  Much like the writers of the Bible, my thoughts have evolved and grown and changed.

And so the Bible ... I don't see it as a book telling me what to believe about God or a book that even records historical events about God as much as a book that is filled with the messy stories of messy humans who are walking the beautiful path of life, trying to understand what it looks like to walk with an invisible God.  

As a messy human.

With a messy story.

Trying to figure out the same.

... The book speaks to me in wonderful ways and so I love it deeply.  

That doesn't mean you have to, though.  Right?  The Bible and Jesus is MY metaphor to make sense of my life.  For other people it may be another holy text, no holy text at all, or even Harry Potter.  Who knows.  

You do you.  I believe we're all on the same journey and I believe that all the great stories of the world can accompany us as we make our way.  

Much love.

• Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE