With every promise I would ever need

*The discussion below is based on the thoughts of the author and does not reflect the beliefs of the entire world.

One of the things we have been discussing of late is in regards to the Bible.  Now, I firmly believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God.  No doubt about it.  However, I do not believe that the Bible is inerrant.  My thoughts behind this are both simple and complicated.

What I know about the Bible, other than it being the inspired word of God, is that it was written by people and I haven't met a person yet that is inerrant.  I believe that the Bible is a wonderful collection of true stories about people's relationships with God, especially the Old Testament.  The OT combines history with how people related to God in that time.  Today, all believers could very well write a chapter in a book about our relationship with our Creator.  I have MANY stories I could tell about how God has worked in my life and I could and in some instances, have put them down on paper.  Would the writings be perfect?  No.  There are often some parts of a story that may be hearsay, or there could be a part of it where I believe I know exactly what God was trying to tell me, but it is my interpretation. 

A chief example of this can be found in asking the question "How did Judas die?"  The Bible gives two separate accounts:

Matthew 27:5-8 says, "So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself." The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day." Acts 1:18-19 says, "With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood." Which is correct? Did Judas hang himself or did he fall? Did Judas buy the field or did the priests buy the field?

Judas hung himself in the potters field (Matthew 27:5) and then after his body decayed and bloated, evidently the rope broke and he burst into pieces on the land of the potters field (Acts 1:18-19). Acts 1:18-19 presumes Judas' hanging...as a man falling down in a field does not result in his body bursting open. Only decomposition and a fall from a height could cause a body to burst open. When Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver down, the priests took the money and used it to buy the potter's field (Matthew 27:7), not knowing that Judas was going to hang himself there. Judas may not have purchased the field himself, but it was the money Judas received for betraying Jesus that purchased the field.

There are a lot of assumptions here.  Maybe he did hang himself, the rope broke and he burst into pieces on a rock, but we don't know for certain.  Quite possibly two authors had different information about it.  Maybe one actually witnessed something and the other heard the gossip from someone else and wrote it down as he heard it.  We have no way of knowing.  What I do believe is that Judas was overcome with guilt for betraying his Lord and took his own life.  Basically, that is the most important part, but the example shows that those who wrote the Bible could be fallible.  God is perfect.  People are not.

The other thing we've been talking about is when in reading the Bible there are people who take every single word literally.  Now, they may be right, but my thoughts on this are that we are limiting ourselves if that is the only way we chose to read it.

The writers in Biblical times could not have imagined the state the world is in today nor how far we've come (some of it to our own detriment).  They could not have imagined fast cars and highways and airplanes because they did not yet exist.  But there were certain things that did exist in that time that no longer exist today (again, folks, my opinions).  Women were treated at a much lower standard than men were.  It was acceptable to have slaves.  These are only two examples, but both show a sign of the times.  It's the way things were back then and the authors knew of nothing else and even if God had described to them some of the things that would one day be in existence, do you really think they could have truly imagined it?  Probably not. 

So if I were to read the Bible and take everything at absolute literal value, then I should never talk to people about God in church.  I should be silent.  But here is where my relationship with God comes into play.  The God I know and love I truly don't think would mind one iota if I were to introduce someone to Him.  God would have to do the calling, but I am capable of an introduction, or of answering questions a visitor might have about God. 

There are female ministers out there who have a wonderful spiritual gift of being able to preach the Gospel.  I believe that is a gift that only God could give and in many cases, He chose to give it to a woman and she would be doing a disservice to Him to not use it to further God's kingdom.  There is also a common sense element for me.  Do I really think God would care whether or not a man or a woman preaches the Gospel to bring more people to Him?  Wouldn't God find it much more important that people are brought to Him?

My other problem with taking every word literally is that it limits us in using God's word for today's world.  I believe that there are hundreds of things in the Bible that are relevant for my life today, despite the fact that the words were written hundreds of years ago.  I think that in many ways if we read every word the way it was literally meant by an author who lived in a different place in time, we are just reading a story.  But if we read those words and ask God to give us what He wants to give us from those words, it opens up endless possibilities.  Maybe Joseph being thrown into a pit by those he loves is today me, who has been thrown into a pit by a situation that I have gotten myself into.  Or Thomas doubting Jesus is a friend who is struggling with trusting in God for her life?  I would just so much rather read the Bible with an open heart instead of with a narrow view. 

Many people may not agree with me, but that's okay.  If I believe that the Bible is timeless, then isn't it a valid thought that God could show one hundred people the same verse and each person would get something different out of it, depending on where they are in their lives and what they are going through in that moment? 

I vote yes.