Should the Bible be an Idol?

One thing that often creates the largest divide between a fundamentalist and a non-fundamentalist Christian is how each respectively approaches the bible. The former, see the bible as an infallible book, written by God using men as passive conduits, superseding their humanness altogether, creating a perfect construct devoid of error or contradiction, mirroring the absolute perfection of God. The latter, see the book as an indispensable tool for faith and practice, but there is an understanding that men wrote scriptures about God, rather than God writing about Himself. There is the notion that the bible contains the word of God in numerous and variegated ways, but is not in its entirety, the word of God. 

I can relate to the fundamentalist position. It was something that was taught to me from a very early age and an assumption that permeated my time as a fundamentalist pastor. I can remember vividly making statements that essentially equated the Bible with God, with virtually no distinction between the two. In retrospect, I now realize that what I was doing was essentially making an idol out the bible and elevating it to a position that it was never intended to be in.  

Recently, I finished reading a book entitled, A Layman's Introduction to Religious Existentialism, by Eugene B. Borowitz. In the book, Borowitz introduces the reader to a number of famous religious thinkers, categorized as religious existentialist. Among them is the well known and prolific, Karl Barth. In the chapter dealing with Barth's existentialist thought, he addressed Barth's approach toward the Christian scriptures. The following is an excerpt from this description: 

The Christian and and the Poor

I have been greatly troubled over the past several months by much of the propaganda propagated by the religious right, epitomized by groups such as the Tea Party, as it relates to the Obama administration and its social agenda. Especially in the arena of health care reform, the hostility has permeated every facet of the debate. Words such as communist and socialism, Marxist, etc, have been hurled around venomously with little regard for truth or reality. 

This debate has really brought into focus the divide between what the scriptures teach and what many in our society assume is God's position. There is this very unfortunate assumption that God is somehow the author and architect of free enterprise and capitalism. After all, God only helps those who help themselves and if someone is not a part of the proper social or economic class, then it's obvious that they are deficient in some way. Why should we give up our hard earned money to fund food stamp programs or provide Medicaid for impoverished children? Why should we care about the millions of Americans who can't afford health insurance and suffer without access to basic health care services? Let them get a job and work, this is the American way! Anyone who has gumption and who is willing to work can achieve success in our society, right?

Obviously, this is not true. Success is an American illusion for many people. Much of our political and economic structure really does help the rich get richer and keeps the poor in their place. It reminds me of a passage in the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus 13:23,24:

The rich person speaks and all are silent; they extol to the clouds what he says. The poor person speaks and they say, "Who is this fellow?" And should he stumble, they even push him down. Riches are good if they are free from sin; poverty is evil only in the opinion of the ungodly." 

New Blog!

This post is to announce the beginning of a new blog I've started entitled The Lectionary Pulpit. I got the idea a while back and started the blog but have only recently begun working it. 


The site is based upon the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). My goal is to construct and publish at least one sermon a week based upon one of the weekly readings. Additionally, I hope to be able to add ideas and resources related to the other weekly readings. 

I know this concept is not new. There are allot of blogs and resources on the Net devoted to the lectionary, so there will be nothing novel about what I do there. However, for me, the lectionary is a rather new concept and I have been enriched by my exposure to it. I just want to pass along what I am discovering as I use the RCL in my personal devotions and in sermon construction. 

I was not raised in a tradition that used anything remotely similar to a lectionary. Once I was exposed to it, I immediately began to understand its value. Many pastors tend to concentrate on the same religious themes and scriptural passages in their preaching and teaching. Following something like the RCL helps to resolve this by forcing the minister to consider passages they would not normally choose. The minister is intellectually and spiritually stretched and the congregation is exposed to a broader (and hopefully more balanced) sampling of scriptural truth. I am sure there are negatives associated with it as well, but from where I am sitting, if used properlly, the positives win.


Lastly, if anyone reading this uses the lectionary in their devotions or sermon preparation and would like to help me in this endeavor by publishing your own sermons or thoughts on the weekly readings, please let me know. I would love for this to become a collaborative project with multiple authors. I would just need a sampling of your work and then I could add you as an author on the blog. 


I look forward to hearing from potential authors as well as reading your comments to the post made there. God bless you!

 

For Clergy, Losing Faith Can Be an Occupational Hazard

For Clergy, Losing Faith Can Be an Occupational Hazard

I lost my faith while in ministry in a fundamentalist pentecostal denomination. And, I can say that it was definitely an occupational hazzard. I can so relate to the minister that said he had to put food on his table. It really is a horrible predictiment.

You can't have my Bible!

My recent post have been very biblical, mainly because I love scripture. The narrative speaks to me and gives credence to my faith. As it relates to my faith, I could care less if you can prove that Jesus actually did this or said that, or if an Old Testament story is a product of years of revision, pieced together from multiple sources making its historical reliability dubious at best, etc. While these endeavors have their place in responsible scholarship, my faith abides in a completely different realm. I am mythed by those who absolutely have to believe that the dots and lines of what we have today as scripture is inerrant and infallible and all those catch words that apply to the logic. If Jesus did not walk water then the bible is a fraud and God is dead.... 

To me, the bible is a narrative, a collection of stories that come to us as the products of a sacred community who have held these stories in the highest regard-- to tell us what God means to them. In this, I find a sense of belonging as I find my place within this very sacred community of people who believe that God is and that this God is intimately involved in human affairs.