CONTROVERSIES

This book is exceedingly controversial. There’s a reason for that. I did not “play it safe” as I wrote, sticking to the traditional interpretations and understandings of Scripture. No, I started from scratch, as if I had never heard of the Bible before and were reading it for the first time. I worked with what it actually said, rather than all that I had been taught it said.

Surprisingly, I found a ton of contradictions! It was disheartening. I had always been taught (and still believe) that God inspired the writing of Scripture, and that it was (is) inerrant in its original languages. After all, we believe in a very big God, all powerful, infinite, unchanging, and all wise, who does not make mistakes!

So instead of just explaining away the contradictions as I had been taught to do, I stepped back to look at the whole thing, and asked God how to interpret it in a way that is consistent with His own nature and character, by His Holy Spirit.

Yes, the result is controversial. But no more so than repeating traditional doctrines that directly contradict the clear words of Scripture! I include here some essays I wrote explaining some of these controversies, though there are others. All of these are also addressed in my book.

Go ahead. Wrestle with them, as I did. Perhaps the Holy Spirit may confirm some of them to your heart as well. Or perhaps not. That’s OK. He’s God, and He gets to do that.

No matter what I discover, my motto remains, “God is bigger than that.”