Way back when, I belonged to a beautiful book club with smart, successful, well-read women. We'd take turns proposing a selection, often Oprah or NYT picks, and opine over wine. Our views differed, and we'd critique with confident, witty banter.
Later, I attended a spiritual book club with some sincere, thoughtful people. We weren't all on the same page, but loving and tolerant, we'd gracefully discuss our differing views, even if we never changed our minds.
In a book club, that's just fine. After all, to each their own. Tastes are highly subjective, opinions and life experiences vary. However, when it comes to God’s ageless wisdom, summarized in the Bible, this approach doesn’t work. The proof is in the pudding. Having surgically removed God’s Good Orderly Direction from the public sphere—and alarmingly largely even from church—the world is increasingly messy. To say the least.
This entropy (Merriam-Webster says, “entropy is the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder”) isn’t the intended design of the loving, all-knowing God of perfect order described in the Bible. Why not reconsider whether God (still) knows things we don’t and re-align?
A riveting combination of literary styles, page-turning drama, penetrating wisdom, and practical guidance, the Bible is by far the biggest bestseller ever, with 5 billion copies sold, far trailed by the Quoran, with 800 million copies. The bestselling work of fiction is de Cervantes’ Don Quixote with 500 million.
The Bible is also the most translated book, with 3,384 (at least one book), 2,191 (at least New Testament), 698 (Old and New Testaments) languages, trailed by The Little Prince (kind of surprised me), in 579 languages.
If someone wants to attribute this stellar performance to zealots, let that zeal reveal the power of the text.
The Old Testament canon was well-gelled by the time Jesus arrived, and the New Testament, divinely inscribed and compiled by prayerful, inspired people, has not varied much. Whatever debates exist about the Apocrypha (early excluded writings), the existing collection is widely accepted, though the Catholic Bible contains seven more books, themselves all worth reading.
Indeed, some content is subject to interpretation, partly accounting for more than 45,000 Christian denominations (yikes), with subtle or highly different views. Even given such unhelpful fractures, we’re mostly unified in the Apostle’s creed. That’s a good start.
Some folks ignore unpalatable passages that seem to spoil our fun or appear antiquated, unenlightened reflections of a bygone era, culture, or population. No doubt, some content does appear dated, arbitrary, or culturally specific. There are things I would change if I were authorized to do so. I am not.
Some minor points may not matter much, word for word. Who decides? Divinely endowed with free will, we can choose what’s what and live accordingly at our own risk. Of course, this also means living with the temporary and permanent consequences of defying the Creator of the Universe.
How’s that working for us? It's not something we’d want to get wrong.
No, I’m not authorized to make those types of edits. Nobody is. The pope, the Catholic church’s elected official, recently suggested all paths lead to God, contradicting 2000 years of Catholic doctrine, Jesus Himself and scripture. It also defies common sense; many religious teachings conflict with the Bible in key aspects we’d all like to feel sure about, including the path to eternity and what eternity looks like.
Even making allowances for an expansive God infinitely bigger than our limited understanding, God isn’t confused or conflicted like we so obviously are. Relativism and amorphous, libertine love are not producing the desired results for anyone.
Please hear me when I say many religions reflect beautiful truths, but Christ makes the boldly unique claim that He is the eternal, absolute Truth. Of course, truth is truth wherever we encounter it, so we shouldn’t be surprised where spiritual paths intersect.
Jesus’s unmistakably exclusive claims are remarkably inclusive and equalizing in a way that’s so urgently needed today. Not to be cliché, but it’s not about rules, it’s about right relationship with God and each other, understanding our collective need for truly superior guidance and rescue from ourselves.
Apart from all that, with all its foibles, Christianity is the best deal going and the story with the very best ending for all who believe. Who believe!
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Please don’t take my word for it! Don’t take the pope’s word. Read The Gospel of John, or for more riveting end-times insight, Matthew.
Let’s reexamine what God has to say. Let’s revisit how God’s way is better than our way.
PRAYER:
Father God, open our eyes to see the Truth about you and ourselves and grant us grace to re/turn to you…yes--before it’s too late. In Christ’s name, we ask it. Amen. Thank You. I love you.
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