A BOOK TO BE READ

“The Bible is not to be taken seriously.” So said a university professor to a plainspoken young woman.

“Have you ever read the Bible?” she asked.

Taken aback, the professor had to admit that he had not.

“How can you voice a strong conviction about a book that you have never read?”

She had a point. He decided to read the Bible and then form an opinion about it.

THE Bible, made up of 66 writings, has been described as being “probably the most influential collection of books in human history.”¹ Indeed, it has influenced some of the world’s greatest art, literature, and music. It has had a significant impact on law. It has been extolled for its literary style and has been held in high esteem by many well-educated individuals. Its effect on the lives of people in all strata of society has been particularly profound. It has inspired in many of its readers a remarkable degree of loyalty. Some have even risked death just to read it.

At the same time, there is skepticism about the Bible. There are people who have definite opinions about it although they have personally never read it. They may acknowledge its literary or historical value, but they wonder: How could a book written thousands of years ago possibly be relevant in this modern world? We live in the “information age.” Up-to-the-minute information on current events and technology is at our fingertips. “Expert” advice on virtually all the challenges of modern life is readily available. Can the Bible really contain information that is practical today?

These articles endeavors to answer such questions. It is not designed to impose religious views or beliefs on you, but it is intended to show that this historically influential book, the Bible, is worthy of your consideration. A report published in 1994 noted that some educators strongly feel that the Bible is so firmly embedded in Western culture that “anyone, believer or unbeliever, who is not familiar with Biblical teachings and accounts will be culturally illiterate.”²

Perhaps, after reading what is published herein, you will agree that—whether a person is religious or not—the Bible is, at the very least, a book to be read.

 

A Book That Is Misrepresented

“The doctrine of the double motion of the earth about its axis and about the sun is false, and entirely contrary to Holy Scripture.” So stated the Congregation of the Index of the Roman Catholic Church in a decree in 1616.¹ Does the Bible really disagree with scientific facts? Or has it been misrepresented?

IN THE winter of 1609/10, Galileo Galilei turned his newly developed telescope toward the heavens and discovered four moons circling the planet Jupiter. What he saw shattered the prevailing notion that all heavenly bodies must orbit the earth. Earlier, in 1543, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus had theorized that the planets revolve around the sun. Galileo verified that this was scientific truth.

To Catholic theologians, however, this was heresy. The church had long held that the earth was the center of the universe.² This view was based on a literal interpretation of scriptures that pictured the earth as being fixed “on its foundations, unshakable for ever and ever.” (Psalm 104:5, The Jerusalem Bible) Summoned to Rome, Galileo appeared before the Inquisition. Subjected to rigorous examination, he was forced to recant his findings, and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

In 1992, some 350 years after Galileo’s death, the Catholic Church finally acknowledged that he was right after all.³ But if Galileo was right, then was the Bible wrong?

Finding the True Sense of Biblical Passages

Galileo believed the Bible to be true. When his scientific discoveries contradicted the prevailing interpretation of certain Bible verses, he reasoned that theologians were missing the true sense of the passages. After all, “two truths can never contradict one another,” he wrote.⁴ He suggested that the precise terms of science do not contradict the everyday words of the Bible. But theologians would not let themselves be persuaded. They insisted that all Biblical statements about the earth are to be taken literally. As a result, not only did they reject Galileo’s discoveries but they also missed the true sense of such Scriptural expressions.

Really, common sense should tell us that when the Bible refers to “the four corners of the earth,” it does not mean that the Bible writers understood the earth to be literally square. (Revelation 7:1) The Bible is written in the language of ordinary people, often using vivid figures of speech. So when it speaks of the earth as having “four corners,” a durable “foundation,” “pedestals,” and a “cornerstone,” the Bible is not offering a scientific description of the earth; obviously it is speaking metaphorically, as we often do in daily speech.—Isaiah 51:13; Job 38:6.

In his book Galileo Galilei, biographer L. Geymonat noted: “Narrow-minded theologians who wanted to limit science on the basis of biblical reasoning would do nothing but cast discredit upon the Bible itself.”⁵ That they did. Actually, it was the theologians’ interpretation of the Bible—not the Bible itself—that put unreasonable constraints on science.

Similarly, religious fundamentalists today distort the Bible when they insist that the earth was created in six 24-hour days. (Genesis 1:3-31) Such a view agrees neither with science nor with the Bible. In the Bible, as in everyday speech, the word “day” is a flexible term, expressing units of time of varying lengths. At Genesis 2:4, all six creative days are referred to as one all-embracing “day.” The Hebrew word translated “day” in the Bible can simply mean “a long time.”⁶ So, there is no Biblical reason to insist that the days of creation were 24 hours each. By teaching otherwise, fundamentalists misrepresent the Bible.—See also 2 Peter 3:8.

Throughout history, theologians have often distorted the Bible. Consider some other ways in which the religions of Christendom have misrepresented what the Bible says.

Misrepresented by Religion

The actions of those who say they follow the Bible often besmear the reputation of the book they claim to revere. So-called Christians have shed one another’s blood in the name of God. Yet, the Bible admonishes followers of Christ to “love one another.”—John 13:34, 35; Matthew 26:52.

Some clergymen fleece their flocks, wheedling hard-earned money from them—a far cry from the Scriptural instruction: “You received free, give free.”—Matthew 10:8; 1 Peter 5:2, 3.

Clearly, the Bible cannot be judged according to the words and actions of those who simply quote it or claim to live by it. An open-minded person may therefore want to discover for himself what the Bible is all about and why it is such a remarkable book.

 For more informative reading please go to www.jw.org