Bible Limits

The Bible is full of principles and stories that give us some history of God’s “chosen people”.  I believe some of the stories are metaphors and are not meant to be taken literally. When the Bible says ‘God made the world in 7 days’, I believe it means 7 periods of time, not 24 hour days. The story of Adam and Eve is also probably a metaphor. But evolution is only evident in viruses as they mutate and doesn’t explain how we developed as human beings.

 

It is fanciful to believe the animals developed their characteristics by evolution over time, but our time-lapse photography has not documented this happening.

 

The Bible is full of stories about those who were faithful to God and their interactions with God. It is full of stories about how these faithful people sinned and were punished and then forgiven.

 

God’s Will is explained, but free will is also explored to demonstrate our sovereignty.  People have been created with instincts to survive, protect themselves from harm and act in their own behalf.  

 

The New Testament gives us the story of Jesus of Nazareth, who we believe is God’s Son, who God sent to set us back on the path of following God’s Will.  Jesus’ actions, reactions and interactions gave us insight to the relationship we need to develop with God.

 

There are stories in the Bible that offer examples of how the faithful responded to God’s Will within the context of their own needs and limitations. We saw the faithful banish those who would harm the community. We saw the faithful defend themselves in wars and protect themselves from harm.

 

Nature is violent. We are vulnerable to being destroyed by natural events.  But this is the Earth God made for us.  But Earth occupies a very safe location in the solar system that enables us to live. This is all God’s creation.  Our survival instincts and intelligence allow us to improve our chances for survival.

 

As some other people are threats and would do us harm, other as a joy and give us life.  Free will allows us to be what we freely choose to be.

 

The Bible is ‘basic reading’ we need to do in order to know the entire story of God’s relationship to the faithful.  With that background we need to look next at our human nature and human history to understand ourselves and our limitations and our potential. 

 

Picking out Bible quotes at random to interpret God’s Will is not what I would suggest we do. We first need to fully understand human nature, our instincts, capabilities and aspirations to really understand what we really are.

 

Knowing that our instincts can get us in trouble, we need to do the best we can. Following the lead of the faithful, we should ask God to help and guide us and when we fail, to forgive us. Our daily awareness of God’s presence should be continual.  It establishes our relationship and enables us to live our lives in His grace.

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader