The Bible, a book of inspiration

The Bible, a book of inspiration

And also of disillusion - Why?

The beginning of all. To "prove" that the Bible is true, or inerrant, or the word of God, through the Bible itself, is an absurdity. That is what must be proven in the first place. If you "prove" through a source outside the Bible, how do we know that that "source" is true, or inerrant? through the source itself? that is an absurdity. And when the infallibility of the Bible falls down, the whole "building" falls down. (From Christian faith: facts and consequences.)

Dear visitor, reader: At the present time, March 2005, I care less about discussing Christian traditional teachings, (as below). Without leaving my Christian roots, I have centered my life entirely in God, and, through prayer and study, I am trying to see the harmony that must exist between faith and science. To see the starting point of this new vision, click here. You will find there links to further developments. Thank you.

A note about revelation. After I wrote this document, The Bible, a book of inspiration, I revised my understanding regarding "revelation," or "revealed by God," which I explained in four documents under the title "It was revealed," what does this mean. I suggest that you see these documents to understand what revelation means in my writings, now. You might click the followings links to see these documents: first, second, third, fourth.

The Bible, a book of inspiration

For almost fifty years I was a "fanatic" believer in the Bible; I almost died for a word of the Scripture. (You may read a short autobiography here.) Not any more. I still read and meditate on the Bible at least twice a day, but with a different feeling and a different meaning. I was disillusioned, and now I am wiser and more realistic in my expectations of the Bible, as I'll explain below.

The Bible is still my "companion." Not everything that it contains is praise worthy, but we may say that the Bible is a book of inspiration as none other. What does it mean that the Bible is a book of inspiration?

That means that it contains examples and thoughts that may provide some guide and orientation to the reader or listener, believer or non-believer. It is a book that enlightens, creates confidence and hope, particularly when one believes in God. By the same token, it is a book that consoles in pain, that gives courage among difficulties, and gives hope of an eternal life.

Selective reading

Not every page of the Bible produces the effects I just mentioned. There are pages that produce the opposite effects: disillusion and disapproval. A reading of the whole Bible as information, is convenient and justified, at least once, but after that, the reading should be selective, that is, the books and passages that may nourish our souls should be chosen.

I read the whole Bible many times, but now I read it selectively, in particular the Old Testament. Fortunately for me in the past, I underlined the verses and passages that for any reason called my attention, or seemed to me important or inspirational. Now I read completely the Psaltery and the New Testament; from the prophets, I read the marked verses; and from other books like Leviticus and Numbers, I ignore most of them.

Is the Bible inspired by God?

I have expressed most of my thoughts under the titles Bible and Revelation and Christian faith: facts and consequences; you may refer to them right now.

The Bible was not written as the book that we see now printed. The Bible in fact is a book full of interpolations; it is a collection of small, short writings, perhaps several hundreds, or thousands, nobody knows, put together by people we call now the authors, although we may never know the real authors which might be counted also by hundreds or thousands. A book like that can not be said to have been written by God or to be the Word of God, although, I want to emphasize, it may contain, and I believe it does, some word and revelation from God. But, the whole book, verse by verse, is not the Word of God, as we had believed.