How many times have I heard it? "It's not in there. The Bible doesn't say that." Most of the time I can point to the places that it actually does say that, but sometimes it is not in there. Is that a problem? It depends on who you're talking to.
"The Bible never, ever once uses the word 'Trinity' in describing God. That was made up." That's true. You won't find that word. Does that mean it's not in there? Absolutely not. The Scriptures are full of texts that demand the conclusion that God is a Trinity -- a single God of three personas. Over and over again, Old and New Testament, the Three-In-One is present.
"The Bible never claims to be infallible." No, indeed, you will never find the phrase, "The Bible is infallible." You will find the claim that God breathed it (2 Tim 2:16-17). I suppose, depending on the reliability of your God, that might allow for errors. You will read Jesus's words to God, "Your word is truth." (John 17:17) Depending on that fallible God and, therefore, His fallible Son, that might allow for errors. You will find God's word declared over and over as reliable, trustworthy, inviolable, wise ... but, I suppose, "and fallible" might fit if you disregard ... you know ... the word of God. Does the Bible claim to be infallible? Not in so many words. But God is infallible and the Bible claims to be God's word. I think the logic is unavoidable ... not a matter of opinion.
There are certainly many more things that we get from the Bible that are not, word for word, in there. They are rational. They are consistent with the text and context. They make sense. There are, however, things that are not in there that many commonly accept and can't figure out why you don't. The "marginalized" does not appear in the pages of Scripture. There is no conversation about child abuse. Oh, and, as it turns out, Easter isn't in there, either. "Wait ... what??!" Maybe the translators of the King James Bible had some antisemitic tendencies because the word translated "Easter" (only once) is actually "Passover."
What am I saying? I'm not saying that the Bible has nothing to say about the "marginalized" or that child abuse is okay or that there is no Easter. I'm saying that the clear truths of Scripture are found in what it says and not in a purely literal fashion. The Bible clearly speaks of a Trinity without using the word. Scripture clearly declares itself as God's actual word without demanding the precise phrase. God's word clearly tells us to care for the poor and for children without the need to use our current phrasing. Rather than denying clear biblical truth because the specific words we're looking for aren't in there, perhaps we should see what is in there and learn from it.
3 comments:
It's almost like the notion of coming up with one term that stands in for a complex concept is something that is never acceptable.
It's amazing to watch people who live and die by the fact that the Bible shouldn't be interpreted literally, start to apply an unrealistically, woodenly, literal standard when they find it beneficial to do so.
It is interesting when they do that ... and then they get upset when you interpret it literally ... and then they try to tell you what you should believe taking it literally.
It can be confusing to figure out when they're literal and when they aren't.
Of course they also confuse the fact that literally interpreting things like parables doesn't mean interpreting them as if they are factual. It's amazing how easily the word literal is twisted around when it is applied to scripture.
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