I read the Collegiate Times (The student-run Virginia Tech newspaper) today and saw an article on the opinion page titled, Looking at God in the Age of Terrorism, and was immediately intrigued. The main focus of the article was how the events of September affected how religion is perceived in this country. Many Americans turned to God post 9/11 because they were looking for answers and a hope they couldn’t find anywhere else. What bothered me about this article is how the author perceived Christianity. This particular author proclaimed themselves to be atheist and by the way they described Christianity I wouldn’t blame them:
“Ask any Christian or Muslim for the ultimate truth and they’ll tell you it is in the Bible or the Quran. Many use these texts as a source of morals and a model for how society should be run.” (Caporaletti)
There are two things in my mind that are wrong with this perception: the source of ultimate truth is a loving, amazing God that would sacrifice Himself for a lowly person such as I, and that the Bible is not a blueprint about how to run a society. I’m afraid that this particular person was wrongly informed about Christianity, but I don’t think that there was just one person involved. Unfortunately, the Bible has been elevated to a god-like status which is not something it deserves. The Bible cannot take the place of God Himself, and Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Period. The Bible also cannot become a blueprint for our society, because that is not its purpose. It seems that the author of this article was wrongly informed about the function of the Bible in the religion of Christianity and I’m afraid that there are many Christians at fault.
So what is the Bible then? It is an agent that God uses to reveal Himself to us. The books in the Bible were picked out very specifically because each book speaks to generations past the time they were actually written. There is a message in each book that can be seen and revealed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible’s purpose is to point to Christ and Him crucified:
“You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” –Jesus (John 5:39)
These words on the page cannot save us folks, only Jesus Christ can. The purpose of the Bible is clear in this passage: to point to Christ. Even though the Scriptures he’s referring to are the Old Testament, it still holds true throughout the New Testament. The Pharisees tried to live their religion with the use of a check list and rule book. It didn’t work for them and it won’t work now. So all you Christians waving your Bibles around, beware of what you are doing. You are hurting the cause of Christ, because Bible waving is pretty pointless. Jesus was not here to take over the government and society and make it his own. He was here to redeem us into His kingdom and bring us back to Him. That’s what Christianity is about: bringing broken people hope and grace. The Bible can’t do that, only Christ can.
Put the Bibles down. Please.
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