Most churches teach that the Bible is the word of God. Some believe this to such an extent that they literally believe the world was created in seven days. The Bible is so holy that you cannot change one tiny bit. Some insist that you have to translate it word for word. Anyone who has tried to learn a foreign language will know that that is just not how translation works. A word for word translation will be largely incomprehensible. Every translation involves some level of interpretation.
When Jesus said that he was not going to change anything in the ancient scriptures, he meant that the Jews were misunderstanding what they said and he was going to help them reinterpret them.
The Jews were reading the scriptures literally. You had to strictly follow each and every direction to the letter. In their eagerness to follow God’s direction, they had created an angry and tyrannical God instead of the loving and compassionate God he really is. Jesus tried to show them that their interpretation enslaved them. His liberal interpretation would set them free.
The Bible is not history or factual reporting. The Bible is fiction, liturgy, worship all rolled up into one. It is numerous writers’ attempt to uncover the heart of God as our collective goodness and to give us directions for maintaining the relationships we have with one another as individuals, but also in and as the groups we belong to. God lives in each and every one of us. We are His temple. He is not even a He. He is the emotional, invisible force of love that connects us with each other.
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