Bible and Revelation

Revelation is not yesterday’s but today’s

The Bible. It is time that we talk about the Bible, to which has been given such a place of honor and to which has been considered, as a whole, the Word of God and inerrant.

But is that true? The answer is probably not. There are so many inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and narratives that do not fit the character of Word of God, that one might be inclined to think that the Bible, as a whole, is not the revelation of God. You may add that many accounts are presented as facts, and they are at the most allegory or metaphors. I do not call them lies, since I do not think the authors had the intent of lying or deceiving, but they are not true.

Metaphorical interpretation of the Bible. Some scholars say now that these “factual” accounts should be read metaphorically. I say they were written and interpreted as factual, which is not true. Here are some examples: Jesus talked about Jonah and the whale as factual. Jesus said also that eschatological times were near. Paul saw Adam as the first man and the garden of Eden as factual. The evangelists and apostles wrote and talked about the empty tomb as factual. Early Christian tradition read and interpreted Genesis’s creation story as factual.

All of these accounts, and many more, are not true, and there is no reason to interpret them now as metaphorical since they were written as factual; we must simply say, “This is not true.”

I want to clarify my position from the beginning: I am not against the Bible. I respect the Bible; I read from it twice a day to nurture my spirit. As I’ll say soon, the Bible may contain some revelation of God; some facts or truths that God wanted to reveal, but not all of its narratives or statements can be considered truthful, much less infallible or inerrant. It is a human book, not a book written by God.

Difficulty in seeing the facts objectively. It is difficult for us to see the facts objectively because of the way we have been indoctrinated, but let’s try. Let us suppose that there was no Bible and that God would tell you, “I want to write a book for mankind. What do you want me to put in this book? What do you think would be a good idea to include? What would you like to see or read in that book?”

Much more in the book, interesting!

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