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As long as people don't understand the interplay of culture, individual will and religion, they will keep thinking some of the stuff in religious texts is actually sacrosanct. If the Holy Spirit inspires the word, it means he still has to work with imperfect human record keepers.
Once upon a time in Christian history, slavery was the inspired word. Even something as silly as covering hair was. Why did we stop? How did people have the sense to separate culture from inspiration?
It became increasingly obvious that the central pillars of Christian religion were love & free will. We realised even God deliberately "submits" to these principles. We're a religion where humans can "choose" to disobey God/curse their prophets & remain alive to talk about it.
Anything that countermands the foundational principles of Christianity falls into the realm of human convention and interpretation.
It may also shock some people to realise that in fulfilling the "Law", Jesus never even founded a new "religion" to replace it. There is technically no religion called Christianity. Humans created it. Again, culture and convention prevail.
I don't fully know what Jesus had in mind in restoring mankind to God. I catch glimpses in Apostle Paul's writings. But it's okay to admit I don't know. I am open to knowing.
While I deeply dislike conventional "church" and the traditions, politics and repetitiveness, I understand the place of human interaction, community, love, charity, worship and power. I just don't always agree with the methods.
I wonder how the teenagers of today would design their own churches. Will they simply repeat the same template handed down by their fathers like our generation largely did?
I've been wondering if the Bible is the word of God or if the word of God is a living, breathing dynamic called the Logos - Jesus. If he is able to breathe on & energize historical documents to create such massive life transformations, is he able to breathe on other things too?
In elevating the document, did we inadvertently relegate the Spirit to a secondary function? Did we actually choose literacy and transliteration over the Logos? I don't know. Honestly, I don't.
I know how my life has changed because of the Bible. Yet, there are many people whose lives haven't changed. What was the extra ingredient? What was the variable, if the Bible was the constant in the equation?
