A Fresh Perspective - January 5, 2007
When Billy Graham was asked by Newsweek magazine if he thinks heaven is closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, or secular people he said: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't . . . I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe that the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have."
This mark's a huge change in perspective for this famous evangelist. He popularized the phrase, "The Bible says," and yet there is a striking omission of this phrase in his response to Newsweek. He doesn't quote the Bible chapter and verse. Could Graham at this stage of his life be developing a different perspective on how Christians use the Bible?
How we read the Bible will greatly influence and shape what we believe as well as the way we practice our Christian faith. When understood literally as a direct word from God the Bible has been used as much for evil as for good. The Bible has been quoted to support slavery, to justify oppressive governments, to keep women in abusive marriages and in subjugation to men.
One does not have to take the Bible literally to be a good Christian. A growing number of Christians today take the Bible seriously as their foundational document; a book that gives shape to their identity and way of life, but they do not believe everything in it comes from God. They see the Bible as a human response to God, not a direct word from God.
For these Christians the Bible is not infallible or inerrant, but the result of a process of interpretation as communities of faith sought to make sense of their redemptive experience of God. For these Christians God speaks indirectly through the Bible. They understand the Bible to be a collection of interpretations as people of faith passed on their faith experience and understanding of God through a variety of literary ways: story, myth, historical narrative, law, psalms, proverbs, poetry, parables, prophetic oracles, gospels, letters, sermons, and apocalyptic visions.
In light of the way these Christians "see" the Bible it is simply not sufficient to quote chapter and verse as if that settled all questions and stopped all honest inquiry.
To read more about this way of understanding the Bible read my essay entitled, "Taking the Bible Seriously, But Not Literally" on our church's website (www.ibcfrankfort.com). Click on "Senior Pastor's Column" to access it.
Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (www.ibcfrankfort.com); he welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net. Look for "A Fresh Perspective" every Friday.