tridd forums

I had the pleasure of riding to Houston last weekend with a couple of friends who happen to attend a very conservative Baptist church in Tyler. I wasn't particularly trying to eavesdrop, but in the confines of our van, it was hard not to hear their discussion, which turnmed at one point to the reasons they picked their church.

"It was the only church I could find that still preaches the Bible," one said as the other nodded her agreement.

All of this got me thinking about the bible, and how we perceive our various religions -- so I thought I'd start a thread where we can discuss it.

I'll kick it off with one of Bishop Spong's Q&A sessions, where a young woman in North Carolina asks about the "best translation."

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Diana from North Carolina writes:

Since the Bible contains so much misinterpreted information, what kind of reference should a praying, spiritual person use? Are there certain translations that are less derogatory than others? Also, in looking at a deeper and clearer understanding of the Bible, are there metaphysical understandings that would enhance one's spiritual journey and that would be useful? If so, what are they?


Dear Diana,

Part of the problem that underlies your letter is that in your mind and in the minds of countless millions of others like you, a distorted Bible and a distorted understanding of the Bible has shaped your life for far too long. To undo that damage would almost take a lifetime. Some translations of the Bible are certainly more accurate than others, but any honest translation of the Bible will still confront the reader in many passages with an understanding of God who acts in an immoral way. That is simply part of the tribal story the Bible tells. Tribal gods have chosen people, which of course means that those not of that tribe are God's unchosen. Tribal gods hate the enemies of the chosen people. So the God of the Bible conducts a reign of terror against the Egyptians with plagues, against the Ammonites by stopping the sun in the sky to allow Joshua more daylight in which to slaughter them and even orders King Saul to commit genocide against the Amalekites. No version of the Bible can remove the horrors of some of its stories. That, however, is not the way to read this book. It is not the word of God in any literal sense.

The Bible is a developing narrative, portraying the developing God-consciousness in human life. It moves beyond the tribal deity of some of its earlier parts to a universalism that defines God as both Love and Justice, and even calls us to love our enemies. The essential truths of the Bible, useful on all of our spiritual journeys, is that in creation God proclaims that all life is holy, in the Jesus story, the Bible asserts that all life is loved and that through the Holy Spirit, who is said to be "the Lord and giver of life," the Bible issues a call to each of us to be all that we can be.

I work on these primary premises of the Christian story, and that is why I still treasure, read, study and try to live into what I believe is the essential truth of the Bible. I do this by rejecting everything that is present in either the Christian Church or the Christian Scriptures that is used to diminish the humanity of any child of God, based on any external characteristic of tribe, gender, sexual orientation or religious tradition. I invite you to walk with me into this new perspective.

- John Shelby Spong