Through a Glass Darkly

Please go back in time and into the minds of the first century Jews and completely understand the culture which Jesus and his disciples grew up in.

Please be inside the minds of the 40 people who wrote the scriptures which we now call 'The Bible' and read them in their original Hebrew and Greek languages, including the books that weren't included in our modern Bible, and ask which are parables and which are historic.


You can't, can you?


Things many Christian believers take for granted are more complicated than they seem.

You can argue your point of view from the translated and re translated Bible 2000 years later that you TRUST in but you can't tell people it's the absolute truth because you can't prove it. You have faith it is just like others have faith in their point of view. You can rattle off verse after verse supporting your views but do they really support them?


Have you ever heard the term 'lost in translation'? why do we think the Bible is exempt?


Why do you think God allowed it to be this way? For the same reason Jesus spoke in parables? Perhaps He wants us to be able to truly search for Him ourselves and think for ourselves and live with mystery over certitude, to be a people who trust Him to speak to our hearts and our souls rather then trust the words and translations of other men. God puts the 'knowledge' of Himself in each of us directly without going through a translator. We need to respect that and not label, proselytize and shun. People's questions about the validity of the Bible will never cease. We need to trust God's ability to reach people in HIS way not our way.


Many Christians have felt that there is something wrong with the formulaic views of 'getting saved' and 'going to hell' and that something doesn't add up. We give a god with these frightening oddities lip service but deep down we can't trust Him. We are not the first nor the last to view Christianity's God as suspect. Books like 'Jesus for the Non Religious' and 'Love Wins' have a voice because they speak to that check in our spirits, that voice that says "wait a second, this can't be right" Many, including myself, have grown up in an church environment that seemed to have all the answers, but didn't allow any questions. What is worse, is that if you managed to voice your questions without getting railroaded and didn't accept the answer given to you, you would get intimidated, scared and guilt tripped into it.


I think Jesus came to abolish religion and we went and made a religion out of Him.

The Bible is a stumbling block when used incorrectly and an idol for many. It is perpetuated as though you have to believe it was written by God, but it is the words of men.

The word of God is alive and lives in us, it is not a set of ancient words on a page. God is not a Christian nor a Jew or Muslim or can be defined by any of our human systems. The truth of God cannot be bound in any human creed in any human book. We honor our traditions and walk through our traditions because they point us toward the mysteries of God, they do not define God.

No matter how much time you spend studying the Bible you are still studying a human response to God. When this gets confused and people begin to claim absolutes about God from the Bible in their own understanding it causes others to throw the baby out with the bath water i.e. God out with the Bible.

And that's just a shame.

One more thought. Jesus... why didn't he just sit down himself and write it all down for us? wouldn't that have saved us all this confusion and arguing? wouldn't that have been a more productive way to spend His time rather then gallivanting around telling stories? ...Personally I think he was pure genius.