The Bible is a tool, but it is not a cudgel.

(
Like many Christians I love the Bible, but mine is not an unconditional love. Some parts are impossible to understand, some passages are horribly cruel, some books are highly confusing.

 But I love it because there are places in the Bible which seem to breathe with the breath of God: the God who is just, merciful, and full of compassion and forgiveness; the God who respects humanity so much that she/he calls me to accountability.

 The Bible is a tool which helps to bring me to deeper and more faithful trust in God.

 It is a tool, not a cudgel.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The following tells of a recent experience of mine. Names and places have been changed.

 On Saturday 31st March, together with Zion the therapy dog, I visited a friend "Fred" in a local nursing home.

 I had heard that an acquaintance "Charlie" was in the same nursing home for some physical therapy.

 I first visited Charlie and his life partner "Peter" to discover them all in a tizzy, they were preparing to move to another room.

 So we had a good visit with Fred, then went to Charlie's new room.  There I discovered the reason for their tizzy.

 Charlie had been in a semi private room.  In this particular nursing home the semi private rooms are divided not by a curtain, but by a floor to ceiling wall which extends for about 2/3 of the room's depth.  Thus patients can hear what is happening in the other part of the room, but not see the other occupant. It's a neat design.

 In this case Charlie in one half of the semi private room was visited by the wife of the man in the other half.

 She announced that she and her husband had been married for 33 years.  Peter said "Charlie and I have been together for 47 years".  

 The woman said "so you are homosexuals", and with that she disappeared and then re-appeared with a Bible from which she proceeded to batter Peter and Charlie with the various Bible verses which fundamentalist Christians use to condemn same sex relationships.  She assured Charlie and Peter that they were bound for hell.

 So that's why Charlie moved to a fully private room. He had no other choice. He and Peter had been verbally assaulted by a stranger. 

 This made me mad!  I see no good reason to use the Bible as a cudgel to beat people into faith.  HOW DARE SHE!  This is not of Christ.

 I see many reasons to view the Bible (with all of its anomalies) as a precision tool through which God in mercy and grace calls us to a way and a truth. which leads us to life!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more