GETTING BIBLICAL

"I listen intently to the Book. But I do not acquiesce in it. I rail at it. I make accusations. I censure it for endorsing patriarchalism, violence, anti-Judaism, homophobia, and slavery. It rails back at me, accusing me of greed, presumption, narcissism, and cowardice. We wrestle. We roll on the ground, neither of us capitulating, until it wounds my thigh with 'new-ancient' words. And the Holy Spirit is there the whole time, strengthening us both." - biblical scholar Walter Wink

Here's something I wrote on the Bible a few years ago - for a website thats now rolled into InclusiveChurch, by the way. Not so long ago, I recall my astonishment during a public meeting when a humanist friend made a comment about how easy it must be for Christians, "just having to do what their book tells them."