“What does the Bible say?” is a common refrain from Evangelicals when called on to defend their beliefs, social pronouncements, or other claims they make, purportedly in the name of God and according to what this deity said within the pages of the Protestant Christian Bible. However, the Bible by itself says nothing, and I mean nothing. The Bible is no different from any other book. Of course, Evangelicals think the Bible is different from all the books that have ever been written. Evangelicals claim the Bible is a supernatural book, written by a supernatural God, and endowed with supernatural powers. When asked for evidence for their claims, Evangelicals reply, “The Bible says.”
But what, actually, does the Bible say? Nothing. The Bible doesn’t say anything until we interpret it through the grid of our personal experiences and beliefs. That’s why no two Christians believe the same things. So, when an Evangelical declares “The Bible says,” what he really means is this is what I say, what my denomination says, what my church says, and what my pastor says.
Dr. Dan McClellan does a good job explaining this in the video below:
Remember this the next time a confident, arrogant Evangelical says, “The Bible says.”
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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This is really the essential issue, as far as I’m concerned. An evangelical close to me recently said he would only discuss any important life issues on the basis of “God’s word, not man’s word.” I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite verses, from 1st E E Cummings, which goes:
Infinity pleased our parents,
One inch looks good to us.
the Bible fetish is pretty obviously a reformation strategy. How do we nullify any authority on the part of the Catholic Church with its traditions? By pressing God, like a bright June flower, right and wholly into the book. Since the book is now the sole superlunary source of all spiritual knowledge, not a jot, not a tittle, can be in error. This ushers in a mountain of absurdities, such as claims of historical and scientific accuracy of the 6 days of creation, the fall of humanity and its consequent tooth and claw biological economy, the Noachian flood, the Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. Children’s stories and fables become hard scientific fact, because of the insistence that this and only this book is perfect. Given its perfection, nothing can be changed, every word is eternal writ, every thought, every practice, so we freeze into Bronze Age and 1st century AD worldviews. And no one, not our most gifted poets, composers, authors, astronomers, bus drivers have anything of any legitimacy to add to the revelation. It is an utterly absurd view of life. If there were a God, it would absolutely dishonor it. Get into our book and stay there.