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Peter Critchley

Biblical truth?

Updated: Jan 14, 2021


I was once involved in a debate between atheists and theists. Unfortunately, it was that kind of debate in which the people with the loudest voices dominated. Even more unfortunately, the theist side was dominated by people who thought citing the Bible would persuade an audience that was more interested in the strength of the argument rather than the authority. It is well known that people read into the Bible what they already believe to be true, and cite the Bible to support pre-determined positions. The loud voices on the one side were silenced by a loud voice on the other side who said "stupid people don't have a monopoly of the Bible." And neither do those with a political axe to grind. What always strikes me about the people who have cited this passage over the ages is how certain they are that they possess the truth, and are utterly deaf to the warnings issued by others that they may well be deceived. In other words, the passage is mere pious, self-serving, but impotent lamentation. I've seen the same image used by environmentalists warning of global heating- we were warned but didn't built the ark because it was difficult. That warning is backed by sound science. As for some other uses of this image and passage, these are often by the kind of people who listen the least, clearly feeling they already know the truth. They don't know and don't learn because they don't listen, and they don't listen precisely because they may come to hear something and learn of something that contradicts the false values they cleave to as if they were gods. And on even a cursory analysis, their truths are not Biblical at all, it is the Bible read through the prism of politics. Rendering religion subservient to a political ideology in the service of the rich and powerful is not only an abomination - it leads to bad religion and bad politics.

In other words, the people who use this image and quote tend to be guilty of the very thing they accuse others of. And it puts people right off religion. The spirit within the Bible that enjoins us to step forward and deliberate with each other as moral beings is killed by both literalists and critics, the people who make the text both dead and deadly. The truth needs to be seen, willed, and appreciated, not told and denied in its telling. It would be a great step forward should the people who cite the Bible as true come to admit that, in the first instance, they are puzzled by its texts, inviting us to work out the puzzle together as moral beings.

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