I used to think that all Christians believed reading the Bible was essential to being Christian. But over the years I've discovered that Christians vary widely on the Bible's importance.
There are many beliefs about the Bible among Christians. But all the various beliefs can fit into four attitudes.
They are:
- We don’t respect the Bible.
- We respect the Bible, sort of.
- We respect the Bible and use it to justify what we believe.
- We respect the Bible as God’s very words.
Attitude 1: We don't respect the Bible
These type of believers are usually in the progressive Christian camp. For them the Bible is unimportant to faith since the earliest disciples didn't have Bibles. Some would even say it contains error, since it was written by men and it is subjective in nature. According to them, we are free to interpret it according to values such as love, personal freedom, and working to make the world a better place.
Some of them believe the Bible’s okay for some things but not for modern issues or perspectives. They believe since current culture is more advanced technologically and socially, beliefs need to adjust accordingly to remain relevant. The Bible needs to be interpreted according to current social norms.
These believers would object to being viewed as disrespecting the Bible. In their minds they respect the Bible's intent as long as it is interpreted "correctly" according to their values. It's not authoritative as the final word on how everyone should live, view God, and understand judgment. But, it is useful as the final word to battle "Bible worshippers". In other words, the Bible can be used as a means to win arguments with religious people who disagree with them. And it can be used to support their underlying values.
This attitude puts every individual's healthy conscious as their guide and not Scripture (the Bible). But, an individual's conscious is only healthy if it supports their interpretations and popular culture.
Next we'll look at the attitude: We respect the Bible, sort of.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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