What kind of book is the Bible?

Richard Mouw’s The Bible in Twentieth-Century Protestantism was very interesting. However, what struck me the most was not the fact that certain groups within Christianity have different opinions on the bible; it was the fact that ONLY 48 percent of Protestants and 41 percent of Catholic believed that “the Bible is the word of God and is not mistaken in its statements and teachings”
I understand that every Christian has his or her opinion about “what kind of book the Bible is”; whether they are doctrinalists, pietists, moralists/legalists, or culturalists, every Christian has distinctive opinion on the Bible.
Some might say it is a source that talks everything about God, some might say it is a bridge that connects to God, some might say it is a guideline which tells us how to live the moral life, and some might say it is a handbook which tells us how to survive in this world.

Yet, I just don’t understand that 52 percent of Protestants and 59 percent of Catholic do not believe that “the Bible is the word of God, thus it is absolute”.
Christianity I know is not only accepting Jesus Christ as the only Son of God (who had come to die and suffer for salvation of humanity), but also accepting the Bible as the word of God, the absolute TRUTH.
It is wrong to “WORSHIP” the bible, but I do not believe that it is right to accept the Bible merely as a source, bridge, guideline, or handbook.

How could Christians say that the Bible contains mistakes while believing that the Bible tells about everything about God? How could Christians say that the Bible is not the word of God while reading them in order to connect to God, and find the moral guidelines and tips to survive in this world? If they do not believe that the Bible is not the word of God thus absolute, why do they even bring the Bible to the church?

I mean, if the Bible is not the word of God, why do we even care what kind of book the Bible is?

God’s will and Free will

I believe that God has a plan for me, and I also believe that everything happens according to His plan. I know what God wants me to do, and I am going to follow His will whether I like it or not, because I do trust that ONLY GOD knows what is best for me.
God had created me not because He was bored, but because He had a plan for me. He had to personalize me specifically not because he was creative, but because He had a specific plan for me.
I do know that I do not necessarily need to follow His will. God has given me free will that I can always do whatever I want to do.
However, I cannot disobey His will, because God has given me free will only to love and respect him “willingly”.
God did not have to give me free will; He could have simply created me to do whatever He wants me to do. Yet, He did not create me as a robot, because He wanted to “see” if I could respect and love Him back “willingly.”
I can prove to Him that I do love and respect him only by following His will or living my life according to His plan. I know that God will love and wait for me no matter how far I run away from Him through disobeying His will. Yet, why would I do that knowing that disobeying God will only break His heart as well as mine?

We know what our parents want us to do (or what they want us NOT to do). Yet, it is OUR CHOICE whether we follow their wills or not. Parents will love us no matter what we do, but can we be truly happy knowing that what we are doing is making them sad?

Does God Speak to us?

Do you believe that God speaks to us? Or do you believe that God is too almighty or… busy to communicate with human beings? If you believe that God speaks to you from time to time, how does he do that?

As a Christian, I do believe that God speaks to us, and I also believe that He sends His messages in various ways.
He may talk to us through the bible… He may use other people/messengers to deliver His messages to us… He may allow certain circumstances in our life to lead us to discover His message… or He may simply talk to us directly just like the way He did to Moses and other prophets/kings from the Old Testament.

When Professor Kraus first asked Jackie to read Matthew Chapter 4 verse 2 through 11, I felt completely nothing as I knew what the passage was about. I read and heard the passage many times before, and I had never ever felt that God was trying to tell me something through the passage from Matthew 4:2-11.
Yet, today was different. I could feel myself becoming extremely emotional as Professor encouraged us to find “what God is trying to tell each one of us through this passage”; the more the passage was read by different people, the more I felt that God was sending me the same message over and over again. Overall, I felt that… I mean, I understand that it might sound very funny, but I believe that God spoke to me today through inspiring professor Kraus to make his students read Matthew 4:2-11 over and over again on 04/11/2008 for his REL 204 class.

I understand that lots of people, even many Christian friends of mine, might say “no, that is ridiculous” or “well, you are taking it too seriously.” However, I really did receive an answer to the problem that I had been dealing with for the past two weeks, and this is more amazing, because I prayed God to send me the message last night… (I don't know I might be just too religious)

The Song of Songs

I still remember the day when I first read the Song of Songs.
I was shocked...confused... embarrassed...

I simply did not understand why the Bible, the Holy Scripture, was containing the story of two lovers.

Even though I later learned that the Song of Songs was an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel as husband and wife, I still did not understand why the book(the Song of Songs) had to be so 'erotic.'

However, while struggling to find the inner meaning of the Song of Songs (after Monday's class), I realized that there was no reason for the Song of Songs to be ashamed of.

Yes, the Song of Songs contains detailed, vivid descriptions of the desire of two lovers for each other. Yet, the desire, which is described in the Song of Songs, is/should be considered honorable, because those two lovers have been permitted by God to have the pure desire of wanting each other (both physically and psychologically) as husband and wife (or bridegroom and bride).

I might be wrong, but personally I think that the Song of Songs is meant to justify and emphasize God's design for sex (or sexual activies) within marriage.

INTERESTING ARTICLE I FOUND

Song of Solomon: God's Sex Education For Ages 11 to 99

Does Jesus fulfill the Hebrew prophecy? or Does the Hebrew prophecy fulfill the life of Jesus?

When professor asked us, during the class on Monday (03/31/08), if the Old Testament prophecies mentioned in the gospels were talking about Jesus, I said "YES" without thinking further about the question. Just like other Christians around the world, I strongly believe that Jesus was sent from God as the fulfillment of the Hebrew prophecy; I also believe that Jesus was the Messiah whom the Jews had awaited for centuries.

Yet, Jesus was clearly neither the King Messiah nor the Priest Messiah figure who the Jews had expected to see; Jesus came neither to reconstruct the temple of Jerusalem nor to fight against the Roman Government. Moreover, various historians/scholars have argued that a number of fulfillment citations found in the gospels were not related to Jesus/the future Messiah at all.
For example, both Mark and Luke claim that Jesus was born of a virgin referencing Isaiah 7:14, but the scholars have pointed out that Isaiah 7:14 is not about virginal conception (it is about God's destroying the armies of Syria & Northern Israel).Therefore, some concluded that the Old Testament prophecies were reinterpreted to fit Christians' beliefs in Jesus (after Jesus' crucifixion or... resurrection).

As a Christian, I cannot agree that the authors of the gospels had reinterpreted the Hebrew prophecy to make a random person the future Messiah depicted in the Old Testament.
However, I respect that everyone has his/her own belief and opinion about anything. So, which do you think came first, Jesus or the Hebrew prophecy.... and how do you think, your answer is going to affect all the Christians around the world?

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who has been depicted as the Son of Man, the Son of God, the King of Jews, and the Messiah. However, each gospel presents its own version of Jesus Christ which is slightly different from one another (each gospel tells us different details about the life of Jesus).

I understand that it is because each gospel is written by a different author who had a different purpose and opinion about Jesus. However, I wonder, if the vast majority of Christians actually believe that the gospels were written by people (not by God or by the inspiration of God) that the gospels (the words of God) even contain numerous errors made by those authors.

I personally believe that the bible, the gospels were written by the inspiration of God through those authors. However, I realized that the majority of Christians are not willing to admit that the holy scriptures were actually written by humans (they tend not to think about the origin of the bible).

Do you think that the fact that the bible was written by humans, (or the fact that those gospels were written by mysterious people) can affect one’s belief in Jesus Christ?

Qur’an and Woman by Wadud Muhsin

Wadud Muhsin, the author of Qur’an and Woman, provides her interpretations of specific texts and key words which have been used to justify the unequal treatment and violence towards women in Islamic culture. By revealing the original meanings of those texts and key words, Muhsin argues that the Qur’an both affirms and ensures woman’s equal status with man.

I agree that everyone has his or her own version of examination and interpretation of religious texts. Yet, I wonder, if Muhsin’s reexamination and reinterpretation of Qur’an can be fully accepted/truly effective in Muslim communities. I also would like to know, if the book, Qur’an and Woman is initially aimed at a Muslim audience or a non-Muslim audience.

Is Muhsin telling Muslim men not to mistreat women due to their misinterpretations of the Qur’an? Is Muhsin telling Muslim women that the Qur’an grants women equal rights with men? Or, is she telling non-Muslims not to misunderstand Islam due to Muslims’ misinterpretations of the Qur’an (the mistreatment of Muslim women in the Muslim world due to misinterpretations of the Qur’an)?

Believe in one God? or the same God?

After I finished reading JCM chapter 6, “Monotheism in Islam,” I came up with one serious question.

Do Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in the same God?

When President Bush was asked by the same question 3 years ago, President Bush replied, “I believe we worship the same God.”
Scripturally, the Quran is known to insist that its God is the same as the God of Judaism and Christianity; Chronologically, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all recognize Abraham as the first generation.

If President Bush is right, then, why do the Moon God of Mecca, known as Allah, the God of Israel, known as YHWH, and the Christian God, known as God the Father, seem so different from one anther (honestly, I do not see the difference between YHWH and the God the Father. However, the Moon God of Mecca seems so separated from the other two)?

Why do we believe in different doctrines and practices if Allah, YHWH, and God the Father (Jehovah) are the same Supreme Being? Why do we use different scriptures? Why are those different scriptures (the Torah, Qu’ran, and the New Testament) written in different styles if they have been come from the same God?

Why are they so different while believing in the same God?

Who's wrong in the eyes of God?

I believe that both Jewish men and women have the same relationships to the Torah in a way that they perceive the Torah as the bridge which connects the Jew and God. It is undeniable fact that the Torah has been the core of Judaism; the individual’s attempt to develop and deepen his or her personal relationship with God through studying of Torah, explains why the importance of Torah study has been stressing out among the different Jewish communities around the world.

After watching the video “The Torah and the Scholar Today,” I could completely understand the significant meaning(s) of Torah study within the Jewish society. Through watching the video, I learned that the importance of Torah study comes not only from one’s sincere desire to appreciate (or to learn more about) YHWH, but also from one’s duty, as a Jew, to preserve a special relationship that the one true God of Israel had made with the Jewish people in the ancient past. Therefore, it was not so hard to understand Jewish women’s desperation to study (or even to read) Torah while watching the video, “Half the Kingdom.”

However, while watching several women’s “unbreakable will” against their own ethical traditions, I thought of a small possibility that some of the women could have used the notion of Torah study as a weapon to fulfil one's own desire (to build a strong relationship with God or to justify gender equality to the Jewish men) whether their society or ethical traditions approve it or not.

I strongly believe that those women have every right to claim their rights and duties to worship and learn about God who loves and treats them equally as He does to men; I believe that no man has a right to stop anyone from performing religious acts. However, when I was watching the part where Jewish men were yelling at or disapproving women’s reading the Torah (or performing religious practice) in public, I wondered how God would respond to their behaviors.

Would God say that those men had a right to disapprove women’s mere desire to worship Him in public? Or, would God say that those women had a right to disorganize the society and disobey their husbands in order to worship Him in public?

I do not know what God truly wants His people to do. However, I am sure God would not want His beloved people to either discriminate one another due to gender difference or violate one’s traditional role to fulfill one’s own desire.

What is Scripture?

About the Reading:

Friday (Jan 25, 2008)’s reading assignment, “Scripture” was useful for me to identify the meaning of scripture. This reading assignment helped me understand some general concepts about scripture, and it also assisted me to broaden my previous knowledge about scripture.

As a Christian, I had believed that scripture or sacred scripture was one of the several names that denote the Old and New Testament. However, through this reading assignment, I learned that a word, scripture not only indicates the Old and New Testament, but also can be used to describe other religious texts from many religions and spiritual movements.

It was fascinating to see how certain qualifications can differentiate scripture from ordinary books; it was very interesting to realize that one of the qualifications that scripture should have was a community. While I was reading “As a Relational Concept” part, I agreed that no text, written, oral, or both can possibly become scripture in living, subjective relationship to persons and to historical tradition in isolation from a community; I felt that this part clearly explained why scripture, even a ‘perversely false text for another’ should be considered respectable.

About the class discussion on Friday:
I agree that scripture is, and should be, distinguished from ordinary books as I strongly believe in the power of the spoken word of scripture (in a way most religious people around the world do). However, I do not necessarily believe that the book that contains the spoken word of scripture also has the inherent power. I do not use my bible in the same way I use my text books, because I know that it contains the words of God; I use my bible differently, not because I believe that it is holy, but because I believe that the words in it are holy.

Questions on the Reading:
1. What other qualifications, do you believe, scripture should have?
2. Do you believe that it is right to equally accept any scripture (from other religions)
authentically holy?