The more I pursue the Bible, the more I am amazed. And, if I'm honest, it raises a whole slew of new questions. The Bible is a multi-complex book covering such a wide variety of topics, that, Christianity aside, I'm amazing by the logic and wisdom. You don't have to be a Christian to read the Bible to learn about life.
We all go through dark times - because of a family death, or a disability, or rules we cannot bend, and all of that is described by people who experienced the same things.
Take the book of Proverbs - about wisdom. While most of it seems simply logical, the wording and depth of thought is quite profound. It isn't one page - it's dozens and dozens of pages of single thoughts, each one more enlightening than the last.
The crucifixion of Christ is of course well known with its own place in history but his last day became more clear to me from watching The Passion where the words became visual scenes of inhumanity. Did the Romans really kill people like that? Not just to Jesus, but to anyone outside the law? Wow...what a way to go!
The disciples called by Jesus were everyday people. If Jesus picked disciples today, they could be me and you. Jesus might have walked into the Christian bookstore and picked the guy behind the counter, or a secretary in an office, a vet, a farmer, maybe even a radio guy. An unconnected group of people.
The epistles books tell us about how to live a good life, how to raise our kids properly, how we can be a good companion to our spouse and how to manage our money.
The songs in the Psalms were written with such passion that for centuries, especially over the last 20 years, musicians have added music and rearranged the verses into lyrics, so we can sing them as songs and play them on the radio without losing the original message. Songs about our dreams, our troubles and our loves.
When I toy with the idea, just for a moment, that the Bible was fabricated, two things immediately justify it to me.
First, for 2,000 years it has been read, loved and held in the highest esteem. If it is fiction, as my Dad still thinks, it surely would have been exposed by now and forgotten. I mean, 2,000 years is a long time to be on the best sellers list! It is read by dumb and smart people who both come to the same conclusions.
And secondly, there is such a wide variety of ideas that I can't conceive that a small group of dumbos could write in detail, with as much passion, and wisdom, and variety about life and God, the past and future, so much so, that it converts the lifestyle of the reader.
When I think of some of my smarter Christian friends, or Christian rock stars, or big names in the history of the world who have all decided that the Bible is real - to me, that's quite the endorsement. It leaves me thinking, if these smart people all believe it's real, maybe it's real. Because if the Bible was fiction, it wouldn't have lasted this long.
I struggle with many verses that seem to contradict each other but because I've decided this is actually God's Word, it is very possible, and highly likely, that my confusion about contradiction comes from my own misunderstanding.
The Bible makes me wonder - about everything. The more I wonder, the more questions I have. It appears that my questions are interpreted as me losing faith. Ok, yes I have doubts about some Biblical concepts.
Like, how can a guy live in the belly of a whale for three days and not die?! Wouldn't the fluids or lack of oxygen kill the guy? I just shrug my shoulders.
Here's the irony; there isn't any real tangible evidence of anything I believe. Just stories and history - and faith. Hmmmm. All I have to do is look up and see creation around me and admit that somehow this all happened by a higher power.
If God made it all happen then the amazing Bible stories that have survived thousands of years are probably true, too.
