Why Give Reverence to the Bible?
Ken left a comment on my earlier response to Sam Harris' best selling book, Letter to a Christian Nation.
He asks me, if I don't follow the fundamentalists and believe the Bible to be "literally" true in all its parts, why bother give it respect and reverence. This is a question posed not just by Sam Harris or Ken, but by conservative Christians themselves.
First of all, I affirm Scripture to be Word of God, but with Karl Barth, I assume a three-fold nature of the Word of God, that includes the Bible but isn't limited to the Bible. Barth teaches, at least as I understand him, that the Word of God preeminent is Jesus, who embodies God's revelation. Scripture serves as Word of God in the sense that it gives witness to this revelation. The third element of the Word of God is the Proclaimed Word, which rooted in Scripture also gives witness to God's self-revelation in Jesus. Though I read the Bible critically, and therefore don't take Genesis to be a scientific or historic statement, I find in Genesis a divine word worthy of respect and honor. That word is simply this: That which exists, exists at the behest of God the Creator, who has deemed all that exists to be good. With this in mind, I feel called to treat my fellow human beings with due respect, for like me, they too are created in God's image. And we could go on, but I think this is a good start.
There are challenges that can be made to my understanding -- but I find in Scripture a word that leads to transformation and gives hope. I don't believe this is irrational, though it's not simply rational either. It is an issue of faith, faith that what we experience is bigger than we are. And, that all that exists is good and worthy of respect.
I hope to revisit this issue from time to time, especially after I read Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion.
Your very criticism about the book seem, at least to me, quite well addressed by Harris. You are probably among the minority of Christians who read the Bible with a "critical" eye. You are in effect a liberal Christian. But Sam makes the point that the fundamentalists are right -- you either believe the Bible is the word of God, or you don't. And if you don't, then why do you treat it with respect and reverence?
He asks me, if I don't follow the fundamentalists and believe the Bible to be "literally" true in all its parts, why bother give it respect and reverence. This is a question posed not just by Sam Harris or Ken, but by conservative Christians themselves.
First of all, I affirm Scripture to be Word of God, but with Karl Barth, I assume a three-fold nature of the Word of God, that includes the Bible but isn't limited to the Bible. Barth teaches, at least as I understand him, that the Word of God preeminent is Jesus, who embodies God's revelation. Scripture serves as Word of God in the sense that it gives witness to this revelation. The third element of the Word of God is the Proclaimed Word, which rooted in Scripture also gives witness to God's self-revelation in Jesus. Though I read the Bible critically, and therefore don't take Genesis to be a scientific or historic statement, I find in Genesis a divine word worthy of respect and honor. That word is simply this: That which exists, exists at the behest of God the Creator, who has deemed all that exists to be good. With this in mind, I feel called to treat my fellow human beings with due respect, for like me, they too are created in God's image. And we could go on, but I think this is a good start.
There are challenges that can be made to my understanding -- but I find in Scripture a word that leads to transformation and gives hope. I don't believe this is irrational, though it's not simply rational either. It is an issue of faith, faith that what we experience is bigger than we are. And, that all that exists is good and worthy of respect.
I hope to revisit this issue from time to time, especially after I read Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion.
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