Q&A by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, Senior Pastor
Question: I grew up believing that God actually wrote the bible and that it was literally true from the first page to the last. I now doubt those assumptions, but I wonder what importance the bible has. I don’t want to throw it out, but I can’t believe what I once did about it. Can you help?
Answer: The bible has many authors covering more than a millennium and touching at least three continents. The writers spoke a variety of languages and none of them knew our continent even existed. The bible writers were clearly influenced by their own cultures and experiences and we’ve learned some things since their time. However, they honestly struggled to find meaning in life and to embrace hope in difficult times. They faithfully and creatively recorded their ideas and as we read the songs, poems, sermons, letters, legal documents, and stories they created we find inspiration to ask our own questions and to pursue truth and meaning as courageously as they did. We may come to different conclusions and we may express our findings differently, but that doesn’t mean their journeys can’t have a positive impact on our own. The bible writers (none of whom knew they were writing anything that would eventually be included in a “bible”) were trying to know, serve, and share God. We are inspired, comforted, challenged, and encouraged by their efforts, even as we recognize God has much more to say to our hearts than we may find in any collection of writings.
If you have questions about faith, the bible, the church, or sexuality & spirituality, you can email your questions to durrell@sunshinecathedral.org, or go to the Ask the Reverend Durrell Watkins page and click on the link there. Rev. Durrell Watkins will answer your questions and publish the answers here and in the weekly SunBurst. Your name will always be withheld, so only the actual question and the response will be published.
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