Stumbling Over Scripture

When believers begin to entertain honest doubts or difficult questions, the most controversial area for them to question is the Bible. You may argue against all kinds of beliefs and authorities within the church and, providing you give a chapter-and-verse justification for your views, you have a chance of being heard. Question the Bible, however, and you will face opposition based on deep fears and will be labelled liberal or unbelieving so that your views can be discounted. Particularly for people who come from an evangelical background, any slight questions and doubts tend to be suppressed to avoid the conflict which is foreseen. So the writings of earnest men of God in old times have become a stumbling block to people of today in their equally earnest searchings after spiritual truth.

Debates about the Bible easily become polarised into arguments between extremes. The two sides of the debate declare that either the book is verbally inspired, totally reliable and completely sacrosanct or it is a human production, of suspect authenticity and a subject for critical scrutiny. If you have small areas of doubt you may be tempted to hide them to avoid being caught in the crossfire. The arguments can also become very technical and filled with impressive, but probably unhelpful, jargon. We don't have to live at either of the extremes because this is a matter of life, not law. Law is always concerned with black or white, right or wrong, in or out; and it draws a very fine line between what is acceptable and what is "illegal". But life accommodates enormous variety whilst still being fully alive. I can understand how the views have become polarised as the result of religious wars, political connections with particular interpretations, and the relation of doctrine to admittance into fellowship for so many Christian groups and sects. If you risk losing face, or friends or if in extreme cases, you put your very life at risk by voicing uncertainties, then you are likely to shout your orthodoxy in a voice loud enough (you hope) to persuade even yourself. People have tried that in every generation but, in their hearts, they knew they were deceiving themselves.

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