Why I Take the Bible Seriously But Not Literally: One May Study the Bible Seriously Respectfully and Reverently without Believing it Literally.

As a pastor I have a dual role: that of a prophet and a priest. The prophet confronts the people and the priest comforts the people. I am to comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable. In relationship to the Bible the dual struggle is clear. As the priest I take the Bible seriously because it changes lives (first sermon). I have never heard anyone give testimony that reading Platos The Republic Virgils Aeneid Homers Odyssey Ciceros Moral Ethics or John Stewart Mills Liberty changed their lives. But thousands of people have given testimony of how reading the Bible has changed their lives forever. As the prophet I propose to you that no book has been more abused than the Bible or more misunderstood. The Bible has been a playground for lunatics profit for the charlatans a profession for the clergy a problem for theologians a puzzle for the general public and placid for the masses. I believe if a person will read the Bible interpretatively and intelligently it will be read seriously respectfully and reverently thereby becoming the living word of God. Gene Rollins Author