Not Always Correct

When you think about it, it shouldn’t upset us at all, but people sometimes get things wrong. The Holy Bible is one of those things.

We should test the Bible against those things we know, using our hearts, minds and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So when it comes to reading and understanding the Bible there is one thing we should keep in mind: people sometimes get things wrong. Like last Sunday, we heard from the Psalm, “Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, and dashes them against the rock!”

First, I deeply apologize for letting that line remain in the Psalm reading. I should have taken it out. Why? Because it is simply one of those things people got desperately wrong.

The Bible was written by men. Every last word was written by an elderly man who was trying to figure out the divine plan and our role in it. And they sometimes got it wrong.

When we call the Bible, “the Word of God,” we do not mean that every word is God’s word, we mean that God’s Word is revealed in the Bible. I’m not playing with words here, there is a world of difference between the two understandings. The idea that every word in the Bible is without error is modern and wrong.

There is an old saying about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but you do throw the bathwater away. Those things we know to be inaccurate, wrong or inconsistent with our understanding of God should be put in their proper place. And when future generations prove us wrong, they should deal with our infallibilities in the same way. We are called to use our memory, reason and skill to discern God’s plan and purpose. o