First of all, I have to say that right now, I am venting and feeling frustrated. So, take this post with the knowledge that I am just frustrated.
Have "Holy books" been a help to humanity? In fact it seems like they are becoming more dangerous every day. And in spite of all our modern knowledge holy books continue to cause hatred and wars today.
Is the bible "The inspired word of God"? With that claim comes the obvious conclusion that the bible must be "perfect." That the bible must be far more perfect than any mere human minds could possibly have made it. Not only would the Bible be perfect in itself, but it would be equally plain and understandable to every human mind, and every person would understand it exactly the same. Which is not the case. You may think I am asking or expecting too much of us to believe that God would write, or inspire, a book that mankind could not agree upon. A book that has caused endless wars, persecutions, torture, bigotry and hatred. A book that is so unintelligible that not only do "non-believers" reject it, but those who believe it to be the true word of God cannot agree upon its interpretation. There are hundreds of different Christian sects in the United States alone, and that does not include the countless thousands of private individuals who have their own, personal, interpretations of the bible. Your church, my church, former churches I've been to. Little man made hole in the wall churches, Catholic, Seventh Day, Pentecostal. And everyone one thinks their interpretation is correct, or closer to the truth than any other. There are many versions of the Christian Bible and there are many conflicting interpretations of each version. Not only by the ordinary Christian believers and clergymen, but by those scholars who have spent their entire lives studying the scriptures. How can such confusion be word of God?
THERE...I have vented.
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Lamentation 3:24 The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.
I believe that the bible is the "perfect" word of God and is easily understandable to anybody...provided that they read the WHOLE book(and not use it as a political weapon) AND try to understand the culture and times that it was written in (I don't think that the commands for us to use regarding slavery, the stoning of women, and the not eating of ham sandwiches God wants us to keep anymore). As we read the bible, the Holy Spirit opens our understanding to what God was trying to say through the various authors. God is NEVER the "author of confusion". The rifts between churches and denominations come from people trying to use God to do THEIR will, instead of the other way around. The various translations of scripture are made in order to try to get people from various age groups and cultures and beliefs to read the bible for themselves...to get them to see the wonderful love that God has for them. The "hateful" comments that are in scripture actually help to prove it to be inerrant because true love motivates us to hate sin and evil. Unfortunately, there are some who use this book as "fodder" in their own personal "holy war" against anyone different from them. These will never go to heaven because they never had a real relationship with Christ to begin with ("Depart from me...for I never KNEW ye."); they just wanted a religious "WMD" to drop on the heads of those they hated, as well as to control the ones that they "loved" (as if love was EVER about controlling others). Wars are made by their hate and greediness for money and power; personal faith NEVER gives birth to these things because "the weapons of OUR 'warfare' are not 'carnal'...but are to the pulling down of mental 'strongholds' of sin...to bring each and every one of OUR thoughts under the loving, powerful message of Christ." (the new "TaterHead" translation)
