A word about . . . The Bible

It is important to distinguish between the WORD of God, the word of God, and the words of God and not to identify the Bible too quickly as any of these things. The words of Job’s friend, Eliphaz, are not God’s words. Even Paul admits to stating his personal opinion on occasion. Thus, one must listen to the Bible regarding its nature instead of applying a priori definitions to it. When one does so, one finds an anthology containing tens, if not scores, of distinct genres, each requiring a distinct interpretive approach, so one could say that one can hear the word of God in them on different frequencies. The Bible is therefore not a monolith. It does not communicate God’s will unfiltered by the experience of the human beings who fill its pages and who authored it. The Bible can become God’s word for the reader who engages with it profoundly, for a prolonged period, and with wise hearts and open ears.