Is the Bible the Word of God?.. In short NO.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh..."
Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Bible is a collection of inspired writings that bear witness to the promises made by God and the fulfillment of them through Jesus Christ. In essence, the Bible is not the Word of God, it reveals the Word of God, Jesus Christ.
It is an eschatological witness proclaiming the hope of the promised new creation and rebirth of the cosmos. It is a theology of hope, not of fear.
It is not the final word, containing all of the ultimate truths for all times and all peoples. It is, however, certainly the foundation of the faith and of theology itself. It is the starting point, a means to begin the dialogue, but not a box to contain it.
We are to engage in an open dialogue with the scripture text. It is then that we may begin to gaze into God's history and the unfinished process of creation. Since history is not complete, neither can the scriptures be the complete or final word.
Conservative and fundamentalist attempts to view it is inerrant or infallible are merely means to control the texts and the truth of God, attempting to control God's history.
"A quotation of the Bible is not enough to guarantee the truth of what is said" (Moltmann)
The texts by themselves are not the 'matter of scripture'. Verses used out of context are dangerous.
The Bible becomes the Word of God when it is proclaimed by a human in truth and simultaneously received through the Spirit of God.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh..."
Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Bible is a collection of inspired writings that bear witness to the promises made by God and the fulfillment of them through Jesus Christ. In essence, the Bible is not the Word of God, it reveals the Word of God, Jesus Christ.
It is an eschatological witness proclaiming the hope of the promised new creation and rebirth of the cosmos. It is a theology of hope, not of fear.
It is not the final word, containing all of the ultimate truths for all times and all peoples. It is, however, certainly the foundation of the faith and of theology itself. It is the starting point, a means to begin the dialogue, but not a box to contain it.
We are to engage in an open dialogue with the scripture text. It is then that we may begin to gaze into God's history and the unfinished process of creation. Since history is not complete, neither can the scriptures be the complete or final word.
Conservative and fundamentalist attempts to view it is inerrant or infallible are merely means to control the texts and the truth of God, attempting to control God's history.
"A quotation of the Bible is not enough to guarantee the truth of what is said" (Moltmann)
The texts by themselves are not the 'matter of scripture'. Verses used out of context are dangerous.
The Bible becomes the Word of God when it is proclaimed by a human in truth and simultaneously received through the Spirit of God.
