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{"id":4232,"date":"2008-05-22T00:20:23","date_gmt":"2008-05-22T05:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2008\/05\/22\/our-reasonable-faith-8\/"},"modified":"2010-09-11T09:02:14","modified_gmt":"2010-09-11T14:02:14","slug":"our-reasonable-faith-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/05\/22\/our-reasonable-faith-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Reasonable Faith 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This series and this post are by RJS; and we are glad Scot is back \u2013 because the challenges confronting us in this chapter are up his alley not mine.<\/em>
\nCome on, many ask us today, you can\u2019t really take the Bible literally\u2014Can you? This is the important question addressed in Chapter 7 of Tim Keller\u2019s book The Reason for God<\/a> $\"\"$ although this is not really the question answered in the chapter. A better formulation and a more important question is: You can\u2019t take the Bible seriously\u2014Can you?
\n
\nConsider the Bible, especially the New Testament: How can we trust this two thousand year old book? Isn\u2019t it a politically motivated collection of early texts designed to enhance the power and prestige of the Roman emperor and the Church hierarchy? Isn\u2019t it full of error and uncertainty \u2013 so that we cannot even know what Jesus said or taught with any confidence?
\nAfter all, we are told, there are more textual variants than words in the text\u2026the early church suppressed the true diversity of early Christianity for its own benefit\u2026The Gospel of Judas provides important new insight into the early church understanding of the crucifixion\u2026Jesus was married and we have the tomb and ossuaries to prove it\u2026Matthew didn\u2019t really write Matthew\u2026John didn\u2019t really write John\u2026Peter didn\u2019t really write Peter\u2026Paul didn\u2019t really write half of the letters attributed to him\u2026many of the documents were written 100 or more years after the fact\u2026we can reconstruct a Q gospel and a gospel of the cross providing better insight into the early church and historical events before mythology and legend took over\u2026the New Testament is culturally bound, repressive, and not a valid guide for the 21st century\u2026women are oppressed\u2026slavery is supported \u2014 you name it. We see the news, watch the documentaries, read the books.
\nThe answer, of course, is that it perfectly reasonable to take the Bible seriously. One need not check one\u2019s brains at the door to do so. Keller has some of the usual discussion and good list of resources. I am not going to address more specific questions about why we can take the Bible seriously here \u2013 but with Scot back in town I am sure he will be willing to discuss any questions folks might have.
\nI have a personal reflection though \u2014 this has been a question that I have pondered and studied extensively. One of the biggest issues for me was a doctrine of scripture that seemed to pit faith and reason in mortal combat. But this need not be. We must be able to take the Bible seriously \u2013 but quite honestly faith does not really demand any more than that. When it comes right down to it I believe the Bible is inspired and authoritative because I am a Christian \u2013 I am not a Christian because I believe the Bible is inspired and authoritative. Even more importantly I have come to the realization that we must let the Bible be the book it is and let the book we have, preserved by God, for us, through the work of the Spirit in the church, define what it means for the Bible to be inspired and authoritative. We get into big trouble when we first define what the Bible must be and then try to make it fit our mold, our mode thinking. This, I think, has been a major problem in much of Protestant, especially evangelical, Christianity.
\nOff that soap box and on to another issue. In his book Keller also suggests that nonchristians considering the gospel should not worry about the hard texts (like 1 Tim 2:11-15 for example) and the intramural squabbles of the church. Christians disagree over these texts, so nonchristians should ignore them and look at the whole message \u2013 the core doctrine. Is the Gospel of Jesus attractive and viable? If so worry about the details later. In particular he sidesteps the issues of the role of women or oppression of women in this fashion.
\nOk \u2013 I have a few of questions here:
\nWhat is your understanding of the nature of scripture?
\nHow important is our theology or doctrine of scripture to the Christian faith?
\nand \u2026
\nIs it right to brush the hard questions under the rug initially \u2014 or will this only lead to problems later on?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"