(2) “The Bible is clear” implies it is a slam dunk on contemporary issues, but Scripture actually includes diverse perspectives.
People love to use to Bible like a spiritual gavel to slam against anyone who would dare to suggest there’s a debate to be had on controversial issues. “The Bible is clear! The end!”
It’s way too easy for this “clarity” to be weaponized against the vulnerable and those on the margins. The Bible-shaped sword has been wielded to justify colonization, to support slavery and uphold white supremacy, to condemn interracial relationships, to oppress women, to gaslight LGBTQ people. And on top of the fact that it’s simply despicable to use Scripture as a weapon to bully others, it’s also just a bad weapon, because the Bible *doesn’t* lay out a unilateral position on almost anything!
Take abortion. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). This verse is frequently quoted to show that Scripture supports pro-life politics. But if you read Exodus 21:22-24, it says the following:
“When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
In other words, justice for a fetal death can be accomplished with a fine, but justice for a maternal death demands a dead assailant. The biblical text is assigning greater value to the woman than to the unborn baby. Sounds an awful lot like a pro-choice argument, doesn’t it? There are other “pro-life verses” (say, Psalm 139) and other “pro-choice verses” too (say, Number 5), further challenging the narrative that “the Bible is clear.”
Historically — and at a glacial pace — Christians have conceded that the Bible is not clear on some issues. I am married to a man of a different race, and no one has ever suggested that our relationship is unbiblical. But Christians once upon a time did quote Scripture to make the case that men and women of different ethnicities should not marry (Ezra 9-10, for example). In fact it wasn’t until the year 2000 that Bob Jones University finally reversed its ban on interracial dating. If my husband and I had met at that conservative university in the late 90’s we would have been defying school policy to date each other, never mind our mutual attraction and interest in a romantic relationship.
But we met in a different time and place and it was a non-issue. Christians in our context had already determined that the Scriptures previously employed to reject interracial dating did not have the staying power and/or meaning once assigned to them, and had been forced to admit that other Bible verses actually supported the idea of unity in Christ despite differences (like Galatians 3:28). The wider Church had let go of the “clarity” on this particular subject, and the related weaponization of Scripture against interracial couples largely ceased.
I have three half-Asian babies and the only feedback I hear from others is over-the-top gushing about how stinkin’ adorable they are. There is no “slam dunk” to tear down my family on “biblical grounds.” I hope any remaining trolls will stay under their rocks, and I’m so thankful that on this issue, we’ve opted for compassion over the clarity narrative that hurts people and doesn’t even hold up under scrutiny.
However, presumed biblical clarity is still winning out over compassion too frequently when it comes to women’s roles and LGBTQ inclusion in the Church — and grievously Jesus is still so white in the American evangelical church. Maybe different races can marry without Bible verses getting thrown at them like grenades. But we’re still not living or worshipping or preaching like black lives matter. Like indigenous people lived here first. Like Latinx families deserve to remain intact.
It’s tempting as Christians to think that sure, past generations got some things wrong, they weaponized Scripture, but our generation simply has the Bible figured out. “They were prejudiced, I’m just biblical.”
I think we are just as prone to sin as our spiritual grandparents.
There’s a lot of work still to go. We are holding weapons. Time they be made into plough shares.
Additional reading/listening:
- When Scripture Becomes a Weapon by Patrick Gray
- The Bible Is Not A Sword by Cynthia Jeub
- The Bible as a Weapon with Brian McLaren on The Bible for Normal People podcast
“If you are looking for verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for for verses with which to liberate or honor women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, you will find them. If you are looking for an out-dated, irrelevant ancient text, you will find it. If you are looking for truth, believe me, you will find it. This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not “what does it say?”, but “what am I looking for?” I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, “ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7). If you want to do violence in this world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to heal, you will always find the balm.”
— Rachel Held Evans (1981-2019)
Inspired, p. 56-57
Photo credits:
- Photo by justas on Adobe Stock
- Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
