What Is The Bible? Five Assertions About The Bible

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What is the Bible? Kristin M. Swenson, Ph.D., makes five assertions about the Bible in her post, Five Things Everyone Should Know About The Bible, Believe It or Not.

• Every Bible is actually a collection of books.
• Not everyone who believes in it has the same Bible
• The Bible came after the literature it comprises.
• If you’re reading the Bible in English, you’re reading a translation
• Finally, this information about the Bible is compatible with belief in it.

Swenson’s article is brief, but her points are significant for anyone who wants to go beyond simplistic thinking about Bible authority and Bible interpretation to ask the question, What is the Bible, anyway?

For Your Freedom,

Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.

Do Evangelicals Hate Jesus? Evangelical Christianity And The Bible Authority Of The Social Gospel

Phil Zuckerman and Dan Cady wrote a provocative article, Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus. 

“The results from a recent poll published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reveal what social scientists have known for a long time: White Evangelical Christians are the group least likely to support politicians or policies that reflect the actual teachings of Jesus. It is perhaps one of the strangest, most dumb-founding ironies in contemporary American culture. Evangelical Christians, who most fiercely proclaim to have a personal relationship with Christ, who most confidently declare their belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, who go to church on a regular basis, pray daily, listen to Christian music, and place God and His Only Begotten Son at the center of their lives, are simultaneously the very people most likely to reject his teachings and despise his radical message” (Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus). Read more…

Genesis Creation Story Or Genesis Creation Stories: Does It Make A Difference In Your Story Transformation Process?

A core premise of the Story Transformation Process is that you cannot create the life you choose to create if you cannot accurately assess where you are right now. 

Accurate Assessment Of Current Reality In The Creative Process

The previous posts in this series have focused on the Genesis creation stories themselves. In this post, I return to Robert Fritz’s claims in The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life about accurate assessment of current reality. Read more…

Using Midrash To Transform Creation Stories Into A Biblical Creation Story

The last post, How Many Biblical Creation Stories Are In Genesis 1-3?, ended with these words. “Rather than see Genesis 1-3 as one complete story, Genesis 1-3 are actually two examples of midrash in Hebrew tradition.”

Creation Stories

The Hebrews didn’t invent creation stories. As far as we know, every human society has its own creation stories, answering the most basic questions about the origin of the Earth we inhabit, who we are, how we got here, and what it all means. The ancient Hebrews had plenty of exposure to the creation stories of other people. Read more…

How Many Biblical Creation Stories Are In Genesis 1-3?

How many biblical creation stories are there in Genesis 1-3? The previous post, What Kind of Bible Story Is The Biblical Creation Story?, considered the question of the type of story. Now it is time to consider whether is only one genesis creation story or two creation stories. 

Genesis Creation Stories

As a place to begin, I highly recommend the article by Timothy Beal, In the Beginning(s): Appreciating the Complexity of the Bible. As Beal makes clear in the subtitle, his purpose is to demonstrate the complexity of the Bible. He does this by referring to multiple creation stories in the Bible. He starts with Genesis. 
Read more…

What Kind of Bible Story Is The Biblical Creation Story?

What kind of Bible story is the biblical creation story in Genesis 1-3? The previous post, Are Bible Stories Really Stories?, identifies three distinct meanings of the word “story” in English. A “story” can be a true account of an event. A “story” can be a fictional story, which you as a reader or listener know is a work of fiction. A “story” can also refer to a lie that is represented as the truth. In the next post, we’ll come back to whether there is only one Genesis creation story or two Genesis creation stories in Genesis 1-3. Read more…

Are Bible Stories Really Stories?

The Bible is filled with stories. Parents and churches teach children Bible stories. Preachers tell Bible stories in their sermons. Both believers and non-believers quote Bible stories.

What Is A Story?

But what exactly does it mean to refer to any part of the Bible as a story? To answer that question, we need to start with a preliminary question. What is a story? Read more…

What Is The Freedom Story You Are Seeking?

Looking For Your Freedom Story

What freedom story are you seeking? What do seekers seek? Why do people go from church to church, and from churches to ashrams, from temples to yoga studios, from Presbyterianism to Scientology? Why do Christians convert to Islam? Why do black Baptists become Black Muslims? Why do Catholics stay home and Lutherans consult tarot cards? Why do people join cults? Why do people flock to evangelical megachurches? Why do they replace the Bible with “The Course In Miracles?” Why do seekers put their hopes in “The Secret” and purported revelations from channeled entities? What are people seeking to find with all of this coming and going? What are you looking for? Read more…

The Biblical Inerrancy Claim At The Heart Of Evangelical Faith: Why You Can Believe It But You Can’t Prove It

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson Ph.D.

The claim of biblical inerrancy of the “Word of God” is the foundation of Bible authority for Evangelical Christians. However, this faith claim can be believed but not proved. Read more…

Christian Money, Bible Money Verses, And Bible Interpretation

Christian money doctrine often distorts Bible money verses.  What happens when people try to build a Christian money doctrine?  They usually start by quoting money Bible verses, especially Jesus money verses, without putting them into a larger biblical context.

This is the basic problem with many money Bible interpretation study guides. They quote Bible verses out of context.  Read more…