An online article about the Southern Baptists and the
issue of the ordination of women as pastors spurred me to make this response,
which I posted in the comments section of the article:
In the Bible, women were the first witnesses to the Resurrection,
telling the men who were fearful and hiding, and in at least one of the four
DIFFERENT biblical stories of the Resurrection, the men dismissed what the
women said. The Bible also says God
placed a dome over the earth at Creation.
The Bible has to be interpreted with some thought, not
blindly accepted word for word. It was
written in a far different time and culture, in languages that don't always
necessarily translate directly into English, and has been "translated"
by people with their own agendas.
The books of the Bible were gathered and judged to be
"scriptural" over 1,000 or more years by councils made up of people -
men - who accepted some writings and rejected others. The writings that were accepted by the
numerous councils over the centuries were written by people giving expression
to their faith. They weren't
"writing the Bible."
We have to do the best we can to understand that
expression, given the difficulties in translation and cultural awareness. Taking it literally at every point, accepting
it blindly, and condemning those who choose to be more thoughtful is lazy and
irresponsible. There is no virtue in
venerating a book as a matter of faith.
In fact, that becomes idolatry, which runs counter to teachings within
the book itself.
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