Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My thoughts on the Bible

I have heard several people say before that they believe in God and they believe in the bible, but they don't believe everything that is in the bible. That is a statement that bothers me,
but I've never known how to reply to it. I have given it a lot of thought lately and here are my thoughts about that.
Technically, I guess that is probably a true statement. The book was written a long time ago, it has been interpreted in many different languages and many things have changed since it was written. If you try hard enough, you can probably make the bible say about anything you want it to. However, I believe in a God that knew each of us before we were formed in our mothers' wombs. I believe God knew what would be written in the bible and how long it would be in existance. If I believe in that God, then doesn't He have the power to make His word - all of His word - as relevant today as it was when it was first written? I believe that if someone truly wants to read and hear God's word, then that is exactly what they will get when they go to the bible. I believe that if you humbly pray before reading in the bible and ask God to show you what He wants you to see, that is what will happen. I believe He can use anything and everything that is in it to guide our lives. I think it is a very dangerous thing to pick and choose from it what you believe or what you don't believe. I believe God has the power to use His word to talk to us in many different ways. He knows what we need when we go to the bible and He is willing to give that to us if we ask Him.
So while I guess I understand what is being said in that statement, I have to say that I totally disagree. If you were to fact-check, maybe not every detail would be correct. But maybe that is why there are so many different translations - because people are individuals and what speaks to me may not speak to you. I believe with my whole heart that everything that is in that book is true, real and relevant. I believe everything we need to know about how to live our lives today, in these times, and in times to come is in that book. Those are my thoughts and beliefs.