All Scripture is God-breathed (Part 1)

I am going to write something in this post (and others to follow) that may be concerning to people who knew me mostly from some part of the first 30 years of my Christian life (1977–2007) and/or during the first 25 years I spent working in Christian ministry (1979–2004). It may not surprise you if you either do not know me or have only known me since 2004. A little background may help you understand better what follows.

In high school and throughout various university endeavours I excelled in math and science, but did not do quite as well in literature courses. I love the precision of math and science. I love laws that make sense. I love theses that were proven. In my nursing training, I so enjoyed my study of human anatomy that I took more anatomy courses than required. Why? Yes, the human body is an amazing creation, but even more so for me, it is a concrete and mostly consistent creation. You can see and even touch (yes, I studied cadavers), a radial artery or a sciatic nerve or a sphenoid sinus. I enjoy things are clear, consistent and, relatively speaking, not up for debate.

In giving up atheism for Christianity, I know one of the concepts that attracted me, and helped solidify my newly found faith, had to do with the inspiration of the Bible as it shared with me based on passages like 2 Timothy 3:16–17, Hebrews 4:12–13, etc. The Bible is God's inspired word. God's revelation is complete and inerrant in every way. What it says, it means and what it means always has been and always will be truth. If anyone ever points out any errors or inconsistencies in any biblical book or between biblical books, the problem is not the text, it is the human interpreters who have either sincerely misunderstood the scriptures or are purposely misrepresenting the scriptures. For about three decades, I camped on that concept, strengthened my foundational understandings of that teaching and both privately and publicly defended the Bible as the inspired, and thus completely inerrant, and final, word of God.

Yet, there were certain things that the Bible said that I could not defend under that banner. So, for the most part, I ignored those parts of scripture in my teaching and personal reading and study. I just hoped that no one would ask me to preach or teach from those parts of the Bible or ask me personally questions about what I believed those passages meant. Yet, in spite of all my efforts to hide away, there were times when I was called to defend my understanding of inspiration in light of what others saw as historical and/or moral inconsistencies or outright contradictions. My response was usually some kind of pat answer that I had read, written by some conservative Christian scholar, but which I really either did not understand or did not actually believe.

Then, in 2005, I put myself in a situation where I knew I was going to have to deal, one way or another, with the growing cognitive dissonance I was experiencing. I opted to continue my "biblical" education by attending a secular university, where I took courses in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Archaeology and the Bible, Greek, Roman and Near Eastern Religion, Ancient Ethnicities, etc. If I had attended one of the local conservative Christian seminaries, I know I would have 'agreed' with most of what I was taught and would have my personal convictions confirmed, but I would not have been forced to deal with my cognitive dissonance. Even after I received my BA in Classics, I began digging deeper into courses at the university and then applied for the MA in Religious Studies program, with a focus on Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism. And I am so grateful that I made those choices.

Gradually my cognitive dissonance, related to the Bible, is being resolved - not easily or comfortably and not without intellectual and emotional struggle. You see, I no longer define the inspiration of the Bible as inerrant and thus without inconsistency and/or contradiction. I no longer have to defend the Bible, nor God, because I now believe he knew exactly what he was doing in allowing the Bible to be written the way it was and to come to us the way it did. I can read it for what it is, not for what I wanted or needed it to be.

What has this got to do with understanding violence as portrayed in the Hebrew Bible? Everything - which I will try to explain in future posts. However, if you have read this far, I wanted to give you fair warning. I want to be open and vulnerable in sharing my thoughts with you. If you hold to the idea that inspiration of scripture means that every word is historically accurate and morally consistent, then if you choose to read future posts, you will encounter some ideas you will not agree with - it will be a rough road ahead.  However, if you persevere, you might just find some answers to the cognitive dissonance you are experiencing when it comes to the portrayal of violence, commanded and condoned by Israel's God. And even if you do not, you will at least understand better how others, like me, have resolved this issue (and others).

I will end this post with some words of encouragement taken directly from Peter Enn's book, The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It, pp. 236–244:

• The Bible is God's Word.
• The Bible is not, never has been, and never will be the center of the Christian faith.
• The Bible is not a weapon.
• An unsettled faith is a maturing faith.
• Let go of fear.
• Branch out.
• Take a page or two out of Judaism.
• Don't expect more from the Bible than you would of Jesus.
• If we let the Bible be the Bible, on its own terms - on God's terms - we will see this in-fleshing God at work.
• If we come to the Bible and read it this way, in true humility, rather than defending our version of it, we will find God as he wants to be found.