My seven year old daughter just returned from a week at summer camp. She, and the other children her age, were told the story of Smokey Bear and given a lesson in wilderness fire safety. In her stack of stuff that she brought home was a comic book titled, "The True Story of Smokey Bear." The title gave me pause because I know there is never just one true story about anything.
History is filled with true stories, but each true story, when examined from a variety of different angles begins to reveal all sorts of discrepancies. Therefore, I know that there can never be one true way to see anything in both the past and the present. Each of us brings a different set of lenses and perspectives to our experiences of history and our daily lives. Reality, or what is true, is like light shining through a prism and reflecting colors on a wall.
This is one of the reasons that I believe that the Bible is not the Word of God. It is, in all its beauty and complexity, a collection of dancing prism lights reflecting years of attempts to understand the world theologically. It is also not just a, "collection of stories," rather it is a set of tales, poetry, legal writings, satire and even epics, each influenced by spirituality, history and political maneuverings. The bible is living document; it is continually recreated as each generation of Christians reinterpret and make the text their own.
I believe the Bible, like many books, provides clues as to how our souls can become closer to God, humanity and the creation that supports us all. Yet, the Bible’s clues are more directed to who we are, rather than to who God is. Once we get this, the truth becomes clear, that the story painted by Christianity is not there to just exult God, Christ or Jesus. Rather it is there to provide clues on how we can become more compassionate and actualized human beings.
