To those done with religion but not God and my kids (Click FOLLOW for future Posts; See ABOUT/USING THIS SITE tab to navigate Site)

The word infallible is confusing or unknown by those who didn’t grow up in the church. Did the biblical writers always understand God perfectly from the beginning rather than growing in knowledge? How would God control the minds and words of the writers anyway? This may explain violent warfare actions in God’s name as writers thought it was sacrilegious to not speak of God as almighty and controlling.  Regardless, literature requires interpretations meaning we could be wrong about the original intent of the author, so we must read the Bible with an open-mind.

Violence is often justified when assuming the Bible is infallible.

The possibility of an infallible Book has led down the slippery slope of assuming interpretations are infallible. Fallible books can’t hide behind supposed infallible interpretations. Literature always requires interpretation and we could be wrong. Scholars don’t agree what the Bible says about gender roles, homosexuality, etc. Not questioning if writers always understood God perfectly or assuming our interpretations are infallible has led to justifying slavery, killing infidels, and other atrocities. Supposed biblical commands must stand side by side with our moral consciences.

People may reject God for the wrong reasons when assuming the Bible in infallible.

Moses claims God approved during war killing boys and non-virgin women but saving virgins for yourselves (Num. 31:18). The Bible is used to claim God condemns gays when they can no more choose who they love than straights can. Besides, it is often not acknowledged the Bible can be defended to not condemn monogamous gay or straight relationships. When God is portrayed as less than perfectly moral or unloving, understandably this can lead to atheism or rejecting God.

We declare God more mysterious than relational when assuming the Bible is infallible.

God sometimes is said to be a mystery beyond human comprehension because one’s interpretations clashes with even their own moral intuitions. This makes God mysterious, not knowable. Scriptures claiming God is not evil is nonsensical if evil sometimes is good. We can’t claim to know good from evil in God’s eyes if evil is sometimes good. How can we be perfect like God (Mt. 5:48), unless God created us to know good from evil? When we rationalize certain biblical passages, we don’t question and stop learning from God.

We read looking for the right interpretation at the expense of love when assuming the Bible is infallible.

We must prioritize love over the right interpretation because interpretations could be wrong. It isn’t godless to approach Scriptures openly questioning with the aim to love others like we want to be loved. Different opinions can stand side by side as we continually evaluate the most loving approach, rather than forcing our opinions on others in the name of God. Jesus didn’t always answer questions directly because He sought to change hearts which influences solving problems with the interests of others in mind.

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