Trust God, Not the Bible

Here is a larger excerpt from the blog post from which the quote comes:

Here’s a common issue that comes up in classes, when I am out speaking, or when I get emails and comments on blog posts I write:

Pete, you’re talking about all these historical problems, tensions, contradictions in the Bible–basically the messiness of the Bible. So how can we now trust the Bible? I mean, how can such a messed up book be our faithful standard and authoritative guide for faith and life?

Here is my point in all of this: It is precisely how the Bible behaves that tells us that maybe these questions—though genuine and heartfelt—are missing the mark.

These questions presume something of the Bible that my pointing out of historical problems, etc., supposedly “takes away.” That presumption is that a book worthy of being called “sacred scripture” or “God’s word” would not behave these ways but instead be consistent, historically accurate, etc.

I reject that presumption because the Bible so clearly doesn’t behave that way. It bears these marks of messiness.

Maybe the Bible isn’t something that should be the object of our trust. Maybe—as the Bible repeatedly says—the object of our trust is God.

And God and the Bible aren’t the same thing.