Basis for Biblical Belief

My Friend’s Basis for His Beliefs

For over 20 years, my friend attended a Bible Study of 18 different denominations, a variety of Book Club study groups, and listened to diverse groups of Christian friends over cups of coffee, which led to the following conclusions about the Bible:

• The Bible is the “Word of God”
• Thousands of different “Christian Denominations” interpret the Bible differently, but each believes that their interpretation is the ONLY CORRECT interpretation.
• There are 7 Billion people on Earth, each with a different DNA Molecule, which makes each person distinctly different from each other.
• Most people have experienced vastly different influences as they grew up, also shaping the way they process information.
• As a result of their different genetic composition and environmental influences, each person processes information differently: The EXACT SAME MESSAGE said to a thousand people will be interpreted differently, meaning different things, to different people.
• That explains why the Bible means different things to different people.
• Humanity is like blind men trying to define an elephant:
  • The 1^st grabs the tail, and says, “An elephant is like a snake. “
  • The 2^nd hugs a leg, and says, “An elephant is like a tree.”
  • The 3^rd touches the side, and says, “An elephant is like a wall.”

• Humans have Finite minds.
• God’s wisdom is Infinite.
• It is impossible for the “Finite” to understand the “Infinite”.
• Again, by analogy, it’s like a gallon jug trying to contain the contents of a 55-gallon drum, only a trillion, trillion, trillion, etc. times more impossible.
• That may explain the genius of the Bible’s construction:

The Bible’s primary message is for each person to have a loving relationship with God, and each other, as God loves them.

• The 40 authors, over 1,600 years, wrote that same message in different ways, to be understood by ALL different people.
• ONE MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD BY 7 BILLION DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
• It’s God speaking in “Tongues” to His creation.
• God created everyone to experience His companionship of Peace & Joy, now & forever.

Thus, everyone may have a different interpretation of the Bible, and it’s O K, if the result is loving God, and each other, as God loves us.

Hence, my friend’s “Creed” will be different from someone else’s  “Creed”, but it’s O K. if each person genuinely loves God with his/her whole mind, heart, and soul, and loves one another as God loves him/her.

It’s a shame that each religion limits God to their finite understanding of an Infinite God. That statement is an absurd oxymoron. Yet, wars were fought defending that absurdity.

It obviously takes

• the humility of a creature to the Creator,
• the gratitude of a sinner to his/her Savior,
• the surrender of the finite mind to infinite wisdom, and
• the trust that God is sovereign over all things

to allow for the diversity of beliefs, all sharing the common denominator of love of God, and each other.