Bible hand
Each Sunday we follow the lectionary reading with “This is the Word of God for the people of God.”
It’s only a slip step from “Word” to “words.”
While most people know God did not write the words, our reverent attitude toward the words of multiple authors over a period of 800 years, make it easy to assume that the words of scripture are instructive for all times.
We affirm our belief in the Word of God as contained in the Old and New Testaments.
As United Methodists, we use tradition, experience and reason to find the Word within the words.
Most United Methodists are well aware of the fact that authors of letters, poems, histories and biographies contained in the Bible are influenced by their culture and personal experiences. We are not troubled by the hundreds of inconsistencies because we know most of the passages come from oral traditions. Different people have different memories.
The Old Testament traces humankind’s growth in the understanding of God from 1) a geographically confined god (Mt. Sinai or Mt. Horeb) to a universal deity; 2) an anthropomorphic deity (the “hand” and “back” of God) to “God is a spirit”; and 3) a god who demands ritual and sacrifice to a God who wants moral conduct.
We generally ignore Old Testament passages related to diet, clothing and ritual practices. We even accept the fact that Jesus did not agree with some of the teachings of the Old Testament (“You have heard it said, ‘an ‘eye for eye’ and a ‘tooth for a tooth,’ (Exodus 21-24), but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek (Matthew 5: 38-39).
It’s also easy to trace cultural biases against women and the endorsement of slavery. In fact, many of the passages urging women to be submissive are grouped with those urging slaves to obey their masters (Ephesians 5:22, 6:5-6, Colossians 3:18, 3:22, Titus 2:3-5, 2:9, 1 Peter 2:18, 3:1).
Most of us do not believe women should keep silent in churches and we abhor the practice of slavery. We generally accept that these passages are simply the result of cultural biases.
But for some unknown reason, we continue to affirm the clobber passages related to human sexuality.
It’s our own fault.
The Rev. Rich Peck of Nashville, Tenn., a retired clergy member of the New York Annual Conference, is a longtime United Methodist communicator who has served as a communicator at 12 General Conference sessions, including four as editor of the Daily Christian Advocate, a conference communicator, editor of Newscope and as a news writer for United Methodist News Service. Most recently he has served as a communications consultant for the General Commission on United Methodist Men.