The inspiration of the Bible

Today, religions people read this part of the sacred story that is shared by both Jews and Christians, but more often than not we read it all wrong. The inspiration of the Bible is not found in its tales of supernatural occurrences and transforming miracles, narratives that speak of divine intervention or fulfilled prophecy. Its inspiration lies rather ill those parts of this epic that probe the inner recesses of the human heart and tell us something about who we are, what our values are and what it means to touch the holy. In its pages we listen to the wisdom of the ages even in its dated forms, in search of meaning, transcendence, and ultimately God. This book, which ill tulle carne to be called the Holy Bible, is not the ultimate court of appeal oil all human questions, nor does it contain the final answer in the attempt to discern God's will. It is rather a call to walk in the faith tradition it reflects, to be part of this ongoing story and even to write the next chapter in this ever­ expanding epic so that you and I can also see ourselves as the people of God, always in an exodus from that which binds us, always in exile from the faith of yesterday, always listening for the voice of the holy both in the life of the world and in the depths of our own being. That is what the Bible is, the epic of our life. To try to make it more than that, the source of religious authority or the ultimate definer of truth, is to turn it into being demonic. It is from those who have claimed too much for this literalized Bible that the sins of scripture embedded in its "terrible texts" have emerged. They are texts wrenched out of this epic tale and used to enhance violence, to destroy the holiness of God's world, and to hurt, maim or kill certain of the children of God. The day of using the Bible to claim for your prejudice that it has "the authority of the Word of God" is quite frankly over, and we should give thanks for that fact. The churches of the world must learn that truth or they will die. There is no alternative.

From Bishop John Shelby Spong "The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love" pp. 275-276