Sjolander Road Fellowship

God or the Book?
3/28/08

I think the fundamental mistake of orthodox Christianity has been in placing too much faith in the Bible and man's understanding of it and too little faith in God and His ability to accomplish His purpose. The church's historical reliance on biblical knowledge as the basis for salvation implies a faith in man's ability to correctly comprehend the Book. Relying on the Bible as the "roadmap to heaven" also means depending on the canonization process, the translation process, and the teaching process to properly transmit the required salvation knowledge. Each of these necessary steps is man dependent, again requiring faith in man.

Many seem to equate faith in the Bible with faith in God. Many also claim that we would not know about God without the Bible. The Bible itself disputes that contention (see Romans 1). In actual fact, faith in our understanding of the Bible is the opposite of faith in God. Faith in the scriptures is really a misplaced faith in own intellectual abilities and, in a large measure, faith in one's religious heritage.

The diversity of opinion on the interpretation of the scriptures should be a call to humility relative to one's own understanding. The disagreements over interpretation cannot be dismissed by simply assuming that those of a different persuasion are ignorant, misguided, or willfully perversive. Good people do honestly see the Bible differently. Fortunately, faith in God and His plan for mankind does not necessitate a corresponding faith in my ability to correctly decipher the sacred text. My ignorance or lack of perception is no impediment to God and His ability to work according to His expressed will.