So I came up with an idea for a new blog, finally.

Since, well, forever really I have struggled with the concept that the Bible is infallible. i have gone so far as to claim that I do not believe the Bible to be infalible- to some extent, doing my degree has given me proof that the Bible is, at times, wrong. However, I am not sharing this so you will all throw in the towel, regard the gospels as rubbish and hail John Ortberg as your saviour- I was just setting the scene.
Today I read this:

"When you hear people say they are just going to tell you what the Bible means, it is not true. They are telling you what they think it means. They are giving their opinions about the Bible. I am giving you my opinion, my interpretation of what it says. And the more I insist that i am giving you the objective truth of what it really says, the less objective I am actually being.

The Bible has to be interpreted. Decisions have to be made about what it means now, today... When was the last time you saw a Christian greet each other with a holy kiss? Or how about women wearing head coverings? Or slaves having to obey their masters? These are all commands which appear in the Bible. And yet thay are followed. This is because someone somewhere made a decision about those texts. Somebody in your history decided that some verses still apply and others don't.

[In order to make those decisions] we must understand that the Bible did not drop out of the sky. It was written by people. People who told stories and passed on oral traditions...To take statements made in a letter from one person living in a real place at a moment in history writing to another person living in a real place out of their context and apply them to today without first understanding their oringinal context sucks the life out of them.

They aren't first and foremost timeless truths.

We may and usually do find timeless truths present in the Bible, but it is because they were true in real places for real people at real times. "

Sorry that quote was rather long. It is taken from Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Rob Bell isn't specifically discussing the falibility or infalibility of the Bible, and none of the above statements are spoken in a derogetry sense. Yet, reading it I could help thinking- The Bible can't be correct when everyone thinks correct is something different! I believe, as I always have, that the Bible is the word of God but I don't think it ends there. I can't claim to have the Word of God and then stop. The world doesn't work like that, and God doesn't work like that. God is ever-changing, ever moving, evey forming. He is eternally creating, eternally begetting. He is always willing to start again, always willing to re-jig plans . And that's how scripture has got to be. Every time you look through a keiloscope, you amaze at the new image, you don't need to spend your time arguing about whether this image is better or more real than the one before. Its just different.

Before I get more off the point, it just seems to me that the Bible is as truthful as I am. Because it was written by people like me. But I would never be as bold as to claim that this is exactly how it is, forever. If so why do we not do it all, as it was. Exactly the same forever. Because the church realised that following the Spirit doesn't necessarily follow a 'rule book' but searches for guidance wherever it can be found. The example of the men and women of our past show me how to live a life which honours God. They don't demand me to accept them with an air of finality.

I havent really covered this as I wished to cover it because I could go on forever. I feel like arguing against myself- but as Christopher has just reminded me- this is not an essay! Let me know what you think!