Bible 3 - the bible in my life? ...

Thursday, Nov 26, 2009. What is the role of the bible in my life? It can be a book which is one of the great witnesses of human history. It might be standing in my shelf between Shakespeare and Kant, giving account of the big moments of philosophy. Usually, books like that are not used on a regular basis, and they do not move much. Is Shakespeare changing the way I think, the way I live, the way I act and plan, my hopes and dreams today?

There are other people who use the bible as a study object for academic activity. The stories are investigated with particular scientific tools. They are taken into peaces, and special argumentation is applied to them. The goal is to generate models of how they have been designed, how things might have really happened, and how the stories about them have grown. Usually, this type of study does not move much either. Critical philosophy has taken the bible into pieces, like disassembling a human into atoms and then stating “there are only atoms, no human, no consciousness”. But the approach was just not adequate to the bible as a whole, to its goals and purpose.

There are, however, much better approaches to the bible. It is a book which has been written to talk to people. It has been written to change the life, the faith, the thoughts, the emotions and the actions of those who understand and believe. The bible has been written to be read and used, day by day. It has been written to ignite faith, and then God wants to move people. The bible is a very practical book - old, yes it is very old - but it is written to be used by humans throughout the full world history!

God is the living creator of the universe. He is there today. He wants to relate to us today. He wants to change our life, our fate, our day. He wants us to change our relationships to him and to every human being around us, to our neighbors, our friends, our family, our colleagues. The bible is God's central tool to do all this. It is him speaking to us, on a daily basis. The bible is full of diverse texts, of stories, songs, arguments, prayers and much moire. It has passages for every occasion of life. It wants to inspire us, to guide us, to boost our creativity and humanity. It wants to teach us the love of Christ. It shows truth and grace, forgiveness and tenderness.

The bible is a book made for daily reading. It is a book you can continue to study, you will never find that the resources run dry. It is a book which seems to renew itself on a daily basis, like the grace and love of God which is new every new morning. The bible wants to play a central role in our life, being the voice of God talking to us in the morning and in the evening. Try it out, start to read the New Testament, the gospels step by step … or the fantastic stories in the books of Moses, or the Psalms … you will find a fantastic book, and discover God's voice in all what is written here. Open your eyes and see! [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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