"Where can I find a Bible?" a woman asks. In an old cartoon from the New Yorker, the bookstore clerk tells her to look under self-help. That many Christians might not see the humor in the cartoon is not good news.
The Bible seems not to have a definite place in postmodern culture; many have trouble knowing what to make of it. Biblical literalists have added to the confusion. For the Bible is neither self-help, nor a rulebook, nor God's answers to moral questions, and certainly not a weapon with which to put others down.
The Bible is about God, not about us. People like you and me, inspired but still like us, wrote it to tell how they experienced God. "God is like this for me," they say, or "This is how I experienced God," or "This is how the Risen Christ came into my life, as a gardener, a stranger on the road, a trusted friend, a visitor on the shore. He cooked breakfast for us. He broke bread with us." Their stories are meant for wonder. Bill Lewellis
The Bible seems not to have a definite place in postmodern culture; many have trouble knowing what to make of it. Biblical literalists have added to the confusion. For the Bible is neither self-help, nor a rulebook, nor God's answers to moral questions, and certainly not a weapon with which to put others down.
The Bible is about God, not about us. People like you and me, inspired but still like us, wrote it to tell how they experienced God. "God is like this for me," they say, or "This is how I experienced God," or "This is how the Risen Christ came into my life, as a gardener, a stranger on the road, a trusted friend, a visitor on the shore. He cooked breakfast for us. He broke bread with us." Their stories are meant for wonder. Bill Lewellis
