I used to think it was easy to understand the Bible. There was no mystery, just straightforward text that explained how I could avoid hell and what very specific actions I could not take. Though I was taught early on that the only “true” version was the King James Version, as I got older, I no longer embraced this belief. Though, as a “true” Christian, I of course knew, that the NIV was translated by heathens (and men who sit while pissing), but found other versions to be sufficient. Towards the end of my Christian life, I regularly read the English Standard Version.
Not that I had any idea which version was “best” or divine. I’m no Bible scholar, not even close. To me, it was the message that mattered and I believed most versions conveyed the message I was taught to believe. But, I only believed the Bible said what I was taught to believe because I read it with the presupposition that it in fact contained the beliefs I was taught to believe were already in it (got that?).
I approached the Bible with ideas and beliefs already instilled in me about what it should say, taught to me by preachers who were also taught what it should say by their preachers, who were taught the same by their preachers, and so on…
Moving Beyond Faith…
So, there finally came a point when I wanted to know what the Bible really said. I wanted to be able to read the Bible with absolutely no bias. I started asking questions and those questions were met with ridicule and accusations. Yes, accusations. I was accused of supposedly implying it was impossible to extract (my implication apparently denied the art of hermeneutics) meaning (or, the “true” meaning) from the Bible by asking an honest question.
What question brought on this attack?
Questioning the Reliability of The “Word of God”
I wanted to know how we can know what the authors of the Bible were really trying to say. I didn’t want to know what people thought it said or what their doctrine taught it said. I wanted to know how this could be done when we don’t have access to the original manuscripts of the Bible. Before my beliefs changed, I had no clue about how the Bible was translated or compiled or how certain books used to be considered part of the cannon. And though my knowledge is not even close to scholarly, I’ve learned through scholarly means. I shifted my reading from Christian Inspiration based material to more academic reading. This led me to an author by the name of Bart Ehrman.
Ehrman introduced me to all sorts of information I never knew growing up in the church. Things I felt like I should know. Things that made me look at the Bible in a whole different light. His books were not the tipping point towards my unbelief, but they sure were a path to a different perspective.
My Faith in Unbelief
I finally got to a point where I decided I did not believe the Bible was the inerrant, infallible Word of God. I eventually ended up where I am now, not believing that Jesus was the Saviour of the universe, because, in all honesty, who really knew who this man was?
I never knew how to fully represent my views about the Bible… until now. It’s very simple and may seem stupid, but it was like a revelation from God to me.
My Attempt at Connecting the Dots
Me and a co-worker were bored at work. She decided that she would make a nice little connect the dots puzzle for me. So, she went to work and handed me the scrap piece of paper when she was finished. She said, “it’s a name.” So I looked down, and all I saw was this:
No guidance. No obvious letters that might be formed. No real pattern to follow. Just a paper full of random dots.
Coincidentally, it turned out to be her name (how creative), but I didn’t get very far on my own. She knew exactly what she wanted me to see. She knew exactly what she wanted the dots to create and what message she wanted me to receive (although, I did already know her name).
And while we have more to go on than just random dots, I don’t feel like basing my life on an ancient document that most can’t agree to what it says.
What do you think about the Bible? Do you think it’s the inerrant, infallible Word of God? Do you think it was inspired by God? Do you think you should live your life based on its teachings?
Let me know in the comments…
I’ve known you half my life and I’ve loved you like the brother I was never fortunate enough to grow up with. We’ve laughed together and we’ve cried together. I get it. I really do. You’ve lost hope in everything you have ever believed in. You refuse to be told what to do or what to believe and now you are searching for your own truths. I commend you on that. But, my problem lies here. How can you post this and encourage the world to read it? Do you know how many people look up to you? Have you any idea what you are doing? Does it not bother you to think that maybe you are wrong and in your search for truth that you may alter someone else’s thoughts or beliefs. You said it yourself you were raised your whole life to believe a certain way and that was the only way. Then you began to read authors who are blatantly agnostic or atheist. Bart Ehram? Really? I assume if I were to bathe myself in anything then in time I should begin to demonstrate the attributes of that thing. The search for enlightenment doesn’t have to be a path of destruction. I know what I believe. And not because that’s what my parents told me or because of some prayer I prayed one day when frightened with the thought of Hell. Faith is in things unseen. I’m not sure my next breath will come, but I have faith that it will and faith that if it doesn’t my faith shall be become seen. I’ve stood aside for some time now and I feel this is what I need to say. I don’t condemn you. I love you. I encourage you to follow your path to self enlightenment, but in the process don’t plant seeds that you yourself are not even sure will grow. You know where I am and you know I will always be here for you. Take care.
Phillip,
I have not lost all hope in everything I’ve ever believed in… I’m sorry if that is what this post conveys. My beliefs have changed, and I definitely went through a time of hopelessness. I don’t claim to not have hope… or faith. I do not have faith in the Bible, however.
As for reading, though Ehrman introduced me to the subject of looking at the Bible with less faith and more evidence, I did not “bathe” myself in one perspective and faithfully believe in it. I read both perspectives. I listen to debates where both aspects of the subject are discussed. My decision to not believe the Bible is divine did not happen overnight.
As for my influence, I never asked to be held accountable for what others believe. Actually, I don’t think it was my “influence” that affected anyone, I think it was peoples’ ideas about who they thought I was.
I write about these things because it helps me and I’m interested in it. Writing helps me discover things about myself. My “search for enlightenment” is not a path of destruction for me… and that’s who I’m searching for… myself.
P.S. I love you too. We must hang out soon…
No one asks to be held accountable for influencing the actions or thoughts of others. It’s something that we most often times have no influence over. For example, my son. He looks at me like I control the world. And to him, I do. I feed him, I clothe him, I take care of him, and I tuck him in at night. I’m all he knows. I’m his dad. If I do something, intentionally or not, he’s watching me. In time he will realize I’m not in control of the world, but I hope he always looks to me for questions that arise in his life. Because I will always want what is best for him.
I said all that to say this, our actions, whether directly or indirectly, influence other peoples’ lives. That’s heavy I know, but it is a fact. You do, however, have a choice. You can care or choose not to care. That’s your right, but that doesn’t make it right.
I hope with all my heart you find what you are looking for. But if you are looking for some fairy tale ending where everyone lives happily ever after I’m afraid you will be disappointed. I’m not saying that you are, but that’s life. As for looking at the Bible with less faith and more evidence. The Bible is a book of faith. The best way to understand the true meaning of a book is to ask the author. Not always such an easy task, but with the Bible the author is Omnipresent and always willing to open it’s truths to those who seek them. I can manipulate almost any text and make it be what I want it to mean, but that is not necessarily what the author intended. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know most of the questions. You know me. You know where I have been and seen it first hand. You’ve seen my battles, my defeats, and my victories. It’s taken me a long time to get where I am. It has been no easy road. I don’t want in any way to belittle you or your beautiful gift of writing, because I’ve been a fan for as long as I’ve known you. I know what I believe, but not everyone who reads this does. Be careful. Every action has a reaction.
I know you. I know Kenny and if you say I don’t I’ll be shattered, because I have memories of times that in no way could have been a lie. We’re family and always will be. Friends are the family we choose.
For some the Bible is a book of faith. To me, it’s a book that was written a long time ago that I appreciate as much as I appreciate any piece of literature that helps me live my life. I can read certain parts of the Bible and take from it important truths that apply to my life. I can do that with a lot of books. I believe god inspired the Bible as much as god inspired any book ever written.
That’s what I wanted this post to be about… the Bible. Because it is important to me and it’s obviously had a broad influence on history and culture.
My influence on people is a by-product of my honesty. I’ve chosen, in my life, now, to be honest. That’s what this entire blog is about. Whether my influence is “right” or “wrong” is up for debate, as is anyone’s influence on anyone else…
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An honest search for truth is a good path to be on; one that is filled with potholes. I am one that went on the same search as a young man. My conclusion is different; I do believe that Jesus is God. I believe that he made that claim and that it was understood by those around him that he made that claim. I do trust the reliability of the Bible as a historical document and as a guide to faith and practice. Finally, I believe that Jesus died and rose, based on the evidence I have studied.
One of the things that makes the search more difficult in today’s world is the whole question of truth. In the past, there was generally a presupposition that absolute truth exists. No such presupposition exists today, which makes the search much broader and the possibilities almost endless.
If you have not already, perhaps you could begin with the question, “Does absolute truth exist?” If you conclude that it does not, then I would suggest that you go ahead and end your search for truth. After all, if no truth exists, that is the end of the matter. It seems to me that the only way to pursue a quest for truth must begin with the presupposition that absolute truth exists. With that presupposition, you can begin to examine the evidence, keep what is true and discard what is false.
One last thing, Christianity, I believe, stands or falls on Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. If he did that, that is the best proof that he is God. If he did not, Christianity is a sham and another false religion.
I offer these things to assist your search and to narrow it to something manageable. Best wishes from a fellow searcher.
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An Armchair historian’s perspective:
Hey Kenny, unlike Phillip I haven’t known you half my life. In fact, we’ve never met, but I am an old friend of Shaun’s. I’ve been reading your site for a while now and I appreciate you letting others see your thoughts. I find your honesty refreshing, even though I hold an entirely different ontological perspective.
Let me take a moment to give my background before I engage in the dialogue. I was also raised in a traditional baptist church. It wasn’t King James only, but it had it’s own ignorant/fundamentalist leanings. I got to college and had a lot of similar doubts as you. It’s been a long bumpy road for me, but I now hold tightly to verbal plenary inerrancy. I’m not a great scholar but I do have a bachelors degree in history (so I’m familiar with old documents) and I’m a heavy reader.
First of all, I’m glad you have decided not to believe the Bible simply because you’ve been taught to by preachers who were taught by other preachers and so on. It’s far too heavy of a book to take at face value without investigation. The Bible itself applauds the Bereans for testing Paul’s gospel and claims instead of just believing it blindly. They believed because they investigated it (Acts 17:10-15). So thanks for not wanting to have blind faith. I actually no longer believe a lot of things I was taught in the traditional church either, much of it really is based more on tradition than the Bible. I think that’s the big danger of being so enamored with tradition, eventually the line between tradition and truth gets blurred.
I’ve now said a lot without saying anything at all, so I’ll move on. I wanted to leave you with a couple thoughts. 1 – Instead of looking at the Bible as how to avoid hell and how to live (or even being about people at all) try looking at it as God’s revelation of himself. I find that this allows you to approach the Bible with far less bias. 2 – Since you’re reading scholarly works rather than inspirational (to me inspirational = annoying and overly emotional), I have a couple authors I hope you will consider. The first is Wayne Grudem. He wrote a 1,300 page Systematic Theology that I hope to wade through soon. He did a teaching on the entire book to his church in Arizona a few years ago and you can download the podcast for free. He addresses the reliability of the Biblical canon and inerrancy very early on. It’s both scholarly and accessible. I have benefited from it heavily. The second author is N.T. Wright. He holds some theological positions that I disagree with, but he is the foremost expert on the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection. He wrote a 700 page book on the topic, and I think you can get a smaller version of the same book if you don’t feel like reading that much.
There is far more I would love to talk about, but some of your musings are a bit ethereal and I’m not sure what your specific questions are. If you and Shaun have the time, I would love to meet up for a coffee or a beer and talk about the Bible and Jesus from as unbiased of a perspective as I can have. If either of you are interested send me an email and we’ll talk. Happy searching, and thanks for your honesty.
Hey Dan, sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you.
I really appreciate what you contribute to this blog, along with your dad (Shaun told me who he was).
I’d like to comment on your suggestions:
“Instead of looking at the Bible as how to avoid hell and how to live (or even being about people at all) try looking at it as God’s revelation of himself.”
I’ve done this. I did this for most of my Christian life. And to me, especially now, it does not prove the Bible divine. I do enjoy reading the Bible now and learning about it, but it is no more the revelation of God to me than any other work of literature (which, is a whole different story, because some books do seem divine to me, in a sense).
I’ve heard of both authors you’ve mentioned and I’ve only read/listened to N.T. Wright. He’s a great author and I respect him a lot. I actually, just recently listened to a debate with him and Bart Ehrman about the problem of evil.
I’ll definitely take a look at them more closely and read some Grudem. I remember seeing his 1,300 page book and always meaning to read it, as a Christian, but always procrastinated because it seemed like such a daunting task. I’ll check out that podcast also.
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hey kenny,
I want to encourage you to spend as much time reading Dan Wallace (he usually beat Ehrman in debates “like everyone else does”) as you do Ehrman. If you are honest with yourself your views will probably change. By the way, what is hard to understand in the Bible?
love ya,
Jamie
Jamie,
I would like to answer your question, “what is hard to understand in the Bible?” by asking another question: What isn’t hard to understand in the Bible? If the Bible were as easy to understand as your question seems to say that it is then there would be no room for separate denominations, no questions to be asked, and certainly no need for our little blog here. There are many ways to interpret what the Bible says, which is why so many people, including a countless amount of preachers, priests, ministers, missionaries and what have you, have so many different ideas as to what Christianity is and why there are so many different lines drawn between denominations and even individual churches within the same denomination. There are verses that Biblical scholars, people who spend their life learning about the Bible, still don’t know how to interpret. Sure, the Bible stories that children grow up on are pretty cut and dry, but what about the words that Jesus spoke? What about the letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Colossians, and so on? I don’t know exactly what these guys meant, much less exactly how the words they spoke apply directly 100% to my own life. The Bible is up for broad interpretation and I don’t know if anyone will ever capture the true essence and understanding of what it all means.
Shaun,
I don’t know you, but I know Kenny and Jamie.
The Bible is hard to understand, especially for those who have not been enlightened by the spirit of God. In order to be enlightened one must first come to faith and acceptance of forgiveness of our sins or (sinful state) for what Jesus did for us on the cross in a simple child like manner. Meaning children just believe they don’t complicate it. Then the Holy Spirit will help us to understand the hidden mysteries of his word.
I can attest to this, for I have experienced this for myself.
Faith and understanding of God’s word is a journey, that can take many years to understand fully. That is why, when we are first born again we start out as babes in our experience and knowledge of God. It is through prayerful study of the Bible that God reveals himself to us. And through this revealing we grow from babes into a mature Christian that nothing can shake us from our faith in Jesus Christ.
And yes, we do need to proceed from the milk of the word, such as the bible stories that we children grew up learning over and over in Sunday School. And I think that the church should start to teach students more of the meat of the word at the middle school age. I believe this would help prevent young adults from falling away from the faith, and help them to battle with questions of evolution and atheism. My prayer for you is that you find what you are searching for and if you are searching to find truth ask God to reveal his truth to you. If you ask in all earnestness he will reveal himself to you.
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Shaun,
Thanks for your comments.
You said “f the Bible were as easy to understand as your question seems to say that it is then there would be no room for separate denominations, no questions to be asked, and certainly no need for our little blog here. ”
First, most denominations agree on the essentials of the faith. I would guess a Methodist and a Baptist agree on 95% or more of the essentials of the faith. The non-essentials they disagree on. And I personally feel denominations are a good thing for the Kingdom.
Also you said, “there are many ways to interpret the Bible”… really. I don’t think any Bible scholar would agree with that statement. There are some parts and doctrines of the Bible up for debate. But most of it is fairly simple to interpret.
You also said “What about the letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Colossians, and so on? I don’t know exactly what these guys meant,”
What part of Colossians is hard to understand, could you give an example?
Also what scholarly books in favor of the Bible have you read and what do you disagree with?
Dear my friend Kenny King,
It’s been so long since we used to study God’s Word in Spivey’s class or go to church with April Brown on Wednesday nights. Wow how time flies. Anyway , I’m just dropping you a note to tell you I love you, I’m praying to OUR WONDERFUL SAVIOR AND LORD JESUS CHRIST that you will come back to the WAY! God Bless you brother!
Love Adam
Hey Adam,
Time sure does fly. I can’t say whether you’ll pray for me or not, but love is a different thing altogether. I’m not doubting your ability to love, but, the person I am now isn’t the person I was then. I don’t believe in Christianity for many reasons and I came to disbelieve through a deep, difficult, painful process. I’m not looking for a way back. I’m looking for truth in my life. I feel as though you think my journey may not be worth it because you think you hold the truth and I don’t have it. If you want to take the time to know where I am now and how I got here, then you can tell me you love me. For now, though I don’t ask you to, you can pray for me, but it’s not going to change much.
Good to hear from you
Big guy I love you whether your Christian, muslim,buddist, atheist, agnostic, devil worshiper,hindu,roman catholic,or whatever. Your still Kenny King. I went on a journey some time ago and it made me and is still making me who I am. Man made Christianity was taking over Jesus Christ Christianity in my life. Jesus simply said Feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit those in jail, and James went on to say pure religion was to visit orphans and widows. When I started doing that I knew that was truley following Christ. Before that people were telling me I had to listen to gospell only, King James Bible only, and all that other man made crap that drives me crazy. So enough about me. I would love to know where your at now and how you got there, so lay it on me. By the way is that Phillip Love commenting on here?
Love Adam