Speaking for God

I recently read a book that is making its way through many circles, including the Church. It was mentioned to me by several friends, some with great enthusiam, a few with uncertainty. So I looked it up on Amazon and read the summary and some reviews by notables like Eugene Peterson, who draws a comparison to John Bunyan. I decided to give it a go.

I found the introduction and "rising action" of the plot to be poorly written and very predictable. It was the writer's revelations of God I was waiting for, so I slogged on through. When I got to the "meat", that's when the reading got harder and slower, until I found I could go no further. At a friend's dining room table, I was urged to "keep reading...the central message is worth digging through all the bad theology to get to." So I tried again.

I read enough, comparing it to all I had read and studied in Scripture, Bible studies and college theology courses, to come up with my own conclusions. I am sure, that for the most part, my opinions really won't influence many others. I've made my own list of objections, because I wanted to examine, point by point, what my issues were, just for me. They are direct and exact...and I won't go into them here.

This post is about what I believe about "speaking for God." Short and simple, the Bible is God, speaking for Himself. I guess that's where I and some others part ways. I also think that if I have to dig through the junk to get to the "good stuff", then it musn't be worth getting to in the first place. You see, if I want to know about who God is and what He does and how He feels about me, I'll go straight to the Source. And if I read a book written by a person that purports to make all of that more clear, accessible, or meaningful to me, then it better be pretty consistent with what God says Himself, or it's not worth my time. Warm fuzzies and a little truth mixed with damning and dangerous lies, it's not even a little palatable for me.

My opinion, in a word...heresy.