Let’s look at the word dogma. First, you need to understand that it doesn’t appear on my favorite word list. I see dogma as the misguided efforts of the corporate Body of Christ and some educated but confused individuals to drag the nature of mystical divinity down to levels of human understanding. Dogma results from a creature need to define the indefinable Creator and to conform everyone to approved doctrine, to validate and protect church polity, and to corral everyone by fencing them into systems of acceptable belief and practice.
Someone defined dogma as Deadly orthodoxy”, a definition I warm to in my soul. Sadly, the fear of rocking the theological boat causes many to either adopt the shallow, rote answers they have been told are correct, or they ask the right questions but fear the answers will alienate them, and cause their brothers and sisters to cast doubt on their spirituality.
The Bible is the most obvious target for questioning, but before a serious debate can take place, canned or proof-texted answers are used to bludgeon the truth-seeker back into orthodoxy. For example, many use the Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality to prove that the condition is a sin, an abomination to God, and they quickly jump to Paul’s words in 1 Timothy to validate that position. The problem with that is that homosexuality is in both cases one item in a longer list of sins or approbations that carry the same weight of scripture, but some are ignored, or overlooked. For example, the same book that speaks against homosexuality in the Old Testament prohibits wearing mixed fibers in clothes, yet that, and many other laws, are not embraced.
In Timothy it says women should not speak in church, but it also says they should not wear jewelry or have their hair done. Most denominations have complete theologies against the ordination of women, even the use of women in worship, yet few say anything to their ladies who wear jewelry, nice clothes or make-up. (1 Timothy 2:8-15).
This type of cafeteria theology is what causes confusion, and repels those who are unlike us, away from us.
The irony is that 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God, a phrase that has four fundamentally different meanings and creates the maze of denominations that confuse and divide the Body of Christ. The fundamentalist claim that God literally dictated every word. (Verbal Inspiration). The problem with that view is far too complex to address now, and if I did, I fear I would be hailed upon with names and accusations of heresy, or worse, pity, by my brothers and sisters in Christ. (Maybe some other time).
The point is not about that single verse, but the book itself which many scholars consider to be a letter written in Paul’s name by one of his followers. The practice of surrogate writers, for the record, was not unusual in that era with men who had significant followings. The point is that If there is any doubt about the veracity of the book that prohibits women in ministry, speaking in church, or wearing jewelry, there may also be questions about other things it says.
So, if you put all your eggs in the basket that the Bible is Verbally Inspired, and it does prohibit the ordination of women and homosexuality, why do mixed fibers and jewelry get a pass? How about the use of alcoholic beverages? The ban on pork? Taking your neighbors grapes and grain without permission?
Clearly, not every word in the Bible is to be taken as literal universal truth, some is regional by nature, some is time-bound, other is culturally relevant and much is metaphorical or allegorical in nature. While some will not admit it, we all “cherry pick” what we believe is the truth, an discard that which is not relevant to us. The problems come when we center in on that which supports our dogma, and ignore that which doesn’t.
Taken as a whole, I see the Bible as the finger that points to God’s truth, the story that reveals His nature, and the guide that teaches us how He works with people. The Bible is not an object of worship, but is a revelation that can lead us to an inspirational knowledge of the truth that underpins it, Jesus, the Christ.
I finish with a story. One Sunday I reached for the pew Bible at church and noted that someone, probably a child, wrote the word “God” on the top edge of it. I was so moved that I bought that Bible and it sits in front of me right now on my desk, reminding me that the book is not the point, but the One who lives in it is. The beauty of a child, without pretense, deciding that while they can’t understand most of what’s in there, they know Who is in there. It’s the the story and the message of God. Simply put. In fact, enough said...for now.
