What's your view of the Bible?

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria

 I recently watch the wonderful Iranian film called A Separation. In the film a dispute is resolved through the faithfulness of a Muslim woman wo refuses to extort money from her employer by telling the truth.  The issue is intensified because she  is asked to swear on the Koran.  She later says she was afraid that if she lied, bad things might happen to her daughter.  Her husband argued that the sin could fall on him.  But she said, it didn't work like that.

And I mused- "there is a fine line between faith and superstition."

What about the bible?  I read about the first Council of  Bishops in 325AD, iznik, Byzantium (now Türkiye). This was where a loose agreement was made across all Christian groups about the nature of core Christian Theology  (the status of Jesus, and the doctrine of the Trinity. Follow this link for the 'In Our Time' discussion on the doctrine of the Trinity.)  Differences still exist between the Eastern and Western European churches., but to most outsiders, the differences appear trivial. 

Next comes the Council of Hippo 393 AD (Carthage, now in Tunisia.)  Here the contents page of the books of the bible were agreed, based on the conformity to the creed, and belief in  the genuine authority of authorship. This was an important date for deciding what was in and what out.  The cementing of the choice of books was strengthened in 400AD through the publication of the St Jerome Latin Bible.  

When you read the bible a number of significant issues emerge. These are the ones I see.

1) Slavery, and the ownership of people.  Slavery has existed throughout human existence.  It is only relatively recently that we can ague that 'all people are free'.  What is the definition of free?  Today slavery is a taboo.  So how can we define freedom.  Perhaps this comes from being able to take sick leave.  Being free to leave a job without a penalty, The meeting of basic human rights.  Many people today do not have much choice about where they work.  They do not have many choices in life.  So long as they have some basic freedom, they are not slaves.

Why is the bible not clearer about the immorality of owning and controlling people.  We know that slaves should be well treated, but the status quo of the time is not challenged.

2) The place of women.  The council of Nicaea and Hippo did not involve women.  All the book of the bible are assumed to be written my men.  There are quotes from women (for example the Magnificent), but the bible is 'male dominated'. It can be argued that it is a product of it's age, and must be seen in this context.  Agreed, but the inadequacies of those times have therefore been perpetuated.  It can be argues that the bible read through different eyes can challenge the status quo. But surely this is against the flow of history, and highly radical.  Human culture remains dominant. 

3) Sexuality,  So much misery can be traced in the west to anti homosexual sentiment backed up by biblical teaching.  I see the bible as backing a particular position.  It can be used to back contra positions too, and perhaps this is the power of the Bible.  It is not a script for living.  It is a part of the paradox that is life, and things will never be simple on this earth.

The way froward.  

From the start Christians have understood that we have been given the gift of the presence of God to help and to guide us.  The nature of God's presence is goodness, mercy, truth, humility, gentleness.  It is impossible to be hostile to others within the presence of the Lord.  The Sprit of God enables me to see things from different perspectives.  

We are left with a broken, imperfect bible, which like us, can be used to do wonderful things.  When you read the bible the imperfections are clear to see.  In some of Paul's letters you read him referring to a previous letter.  This is a letter we do not have.  The bible is like a conglomeration of 'bits', that do not fit neatly together.  

I think this is intended.  It like the story of  'the Tower of Babel'.  The chaos is there to keep us 'humble'.  We do not have it 'all sewn up'.  This gives us plenty of scope to create theologian colleges, and much room for debate every day of the week, but especially on a Sunday.  We have to work it out together, but we also do it in the presence of God, in His Holy Spirit.  With this presence anything is possible, and we should also be safe.