1. Marcus, how do you read the same Bible as fundamentalists do, yet come away with different beliefs?

This is a favorite question I enjoy answering -- having been on the inside of religious fundamentalism and now ex-fundamentalist. I have different beliefs now because I view the Bible, divine inspiration, God's law, and "God" differently than I did at first.

2. The question remains, on what points (if any) do you have a different view than most 'infalliblists'?

I once thought that the Bible was "infallible", and that the Bible writers were in some kind of trance when they wrote, and that God dictated every word to the writer who in a zombie-like state of mind, transcribed letter for letter, thoughts directly from the throne in heaven. In addition, I believed that every English word I read had been correctly translated from the original language. Over time, my eyes opened and my mind widened as I wrestled with MANY issues. One such issue is the apparent direction from God in the Ten Commandments to not kill, yet it is believed that God turns around later and directs Israel to kill off non-believing nations. I wasn't so sure about that, or parallel accounts like 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 where one major discrepancy exists -- at least on the surface.

At this point, I no longer believe that the Bible is infallible - according to religious fundamentalism's definition of "infallible". I believe that instead of the Bible being a codebook of law, it is a casestudy. It is a study of how a group of humans view the supernatural as coming to them and helping them understand the divine/supernatural as much as they can, and make sense of their own human existence.

I believe that the Bible is perfect as far as containing principles that last for time and eternity. However, it is a book that requires us to come to it with our full mind and reason, and with the spirit of Christ in order for us to fully understand and correctly live out those principles.

3. Wait Marcus!  How can you say that it is better to view the Bible as a casestudy when there is so much "law" in the Old Testament, and subsequent laws throughout the Bible?

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