After I finished 'Velvet', I admit I had this uneasy feeling... kinda like I'd just seen an unpleasant, private exchange between two people that I wasn't supposed to see... I don't know really how to explain it... OK, in terms I can relate with even better: kinda like watching a stranger pick his nose when he thought nobody was looking.... you sort of wish you hadn't seen it, but you couldn't look away...
I found the book to be challenging and a little irreverent (OK, a LOT irreverent)... but that didn't bother me much. The thing I have to fight against is taking this (or any book) as gospel... I would like to believe that Bell himself would expect all of us to examine any literary work under the microscope of scripture... but maybe not...
I guess THAT'S what gives me this nagging, uncomfortable feeling in my gut about this book... I get the distinct impression that Bell exhorts the reader to challenge EVERYTHING, including the veracity and integrity of scripture! As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I feel certain that could be the book's subtitle - "Challenge Everything" - and I know that sounds cool and new age and all... but I just don't feel right about it. In fact, I feel kinda dirty...
Because Bell (in his 'challenge everything' zeal) seems to exhort the reader to challenge the inerrancy of scripture itself. i.e.: Were the stories in the Bible literal or just fairy tales for our entertainment or fables recorded to cause the reader to believe? Were the letters written by Paul and Peter and James, et al, ancillary and extra, or absolutely integral to the 'story'?
So while I really appreciate his mind-stretching exercises (believe me, I need that), I must draw the line... because God draws it:
"All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work"
Simply stated, there are absolutes.
I am convicted that God's Holy Spirit inspired each word of the Bible, period! I know there are countless volumes (contemporary to the books and letters that make up our Bible) which were not included. I believe - with all my heart - that God's Hand caused that to happen.
I believe Paul's letter to the Philippians, for example, has more import than those written by Josephus.
I understand that the Maccabees may provide accurate historical data about 'Bible times'... but I believe (this is definitely a 'hill to die on' for me) that God and His Spirit excluded this (and many other volumes) and included only Genesis to Revelation for Their own reasons.
...so for me, to question that is tantamount to blasphemy.
Yes, I agree we have misused and abused scripture. I have been a part of that in my past.... I fully understand that there are those who twist scripture to 'proof out' their own tradition; I could list at least a dozen examples - from my own fellowship - where someone pulled a verse completely out of context to win a theological argument or set or support 'church policy'.... and while some do so out of ignorance, others do so with full awareness... and that is especially egregious, in my opinion.
I am all about reading and viewing and listening to ideas which help me stretch. The only caveat is this: I resolve to always view it through the lens of inspired scripture.... and to the degree that anyone blurs that line or suggests that scripture itself should be challenged... I'm out.
Because that is a bedrock belief! ....and, if scripture is questionable, my mooring is faulty.... my foundation is shaky... and I have no anchor...
As I write this, it reminds me of a friend who once wrote down his my own list of 'non-negotiables'... so maybe I'll give it a try.... perhaps that's another post...
for now, may God Bless us as we "lean not on our own understanding", but "trust in Him", so that He will "make our paths straight."
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