Michael Abrahams | Why the Bible is a dangerous book

While I was being indoctrinated as a youngster, I was told that the Bible was the Word of God, and that everything in it was true. The veracity of the Bible was not to be challenged. I was led to believe that questioning the Bible meant questioning God, which would be disrespectful and blasphemous.

So, if the Bible is the Word of God, and God is perfect, it follows that the Bible must be perfect, too. This premise, however, is dangerous and has been the cause of much bigotry, intolerance, injustice and pain.The truth is that there is no proof that this collection of books is the Word of God.

Last week, I wrote a column about the cruelty of the Jehovah’s Witness faith. They will refuse blood products, allow children in need of blood to die, and will even disown their own if they leave the faith. I spoke of the social isolation affecting the health of shunned ex-members of the church, and how it can devastate them mentally, leading to depression and suicide.

A friend of mine who is a Jehovah’s Witness informed me that he read my column and that we need to talk about it. I told him that what they do is cruel, and he replied that “the Bible said that no punishment is pleasant”, referring to Hebrews 12:11, which states, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” In my friend’s mind, “the Bible said it” means that the argument is over. Never mind that some of the practices of his organisation are, to rational people with even an iota of emotional intelligence, cruel and irrational.
But this issue is not confined to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many Christians in other denominations adopt this mindless stance, that if something is in the Bible, it is endorsed by God and must be obeyed. When challenged on the authenticity of their holy book, many are quick to quote 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which states, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
This was written by Paul, but there is absolutely no way that he, or anyone else, could prove that God inspired every word written by every author. What we do know is that the Bible was written by men inspired by their belief in a god. The contained books were written by men, and man is imperfect, flawed and prone to error.

We may never know the agendas and intentions of all the authors, some of whom are unknown. We may also never know whether some verses were meant to be literal, hyperbolic, metaphorical, allegorical or mythological.

To insist on the divinity of something simply because “the Bible said it” is unwise. Some of the faithful will say that “God would not allow man to tamper with His Word”, but who really knows what God would allow? God allows priests to rape children in churches, and other atrocities. It is arrogant and disingenuous for us, mere mortals, to claim to know how an entity as mighty and awesome as God thinks.

We must also remember that the Bible, although referred to as a book, is really a collection of books, written by people in a certain geographic region, over thousands of years, in different languages, offering different perspectives. There will be contradictory statements. For example, Exodus 20:5 states that “God is jealous”, 1 John 4:18 claims that“God is love”, and 1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us that “love is not jealous”. These statements are clearly incompatible, but if you gather writings from different people in different eras, this will happen. Hence, the danger of swearing by the Bible.

In the United States of America, the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families at the border has been harshly criticized for being inhumane. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions used the Bible to defend the policy, stating, “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders concurred, saying, “It is very biblical to enforce the law.” This verse, along with Colossians 3 (“Servants, obey in all things your masters”), was often used by slave masters to keep slaves in check during the transatlantic slave trade. In fact, there is no biblical opposition to the concept of slavery, a fact used by many slave owners to continue the cruel practice.

To me, the Bible is like a knife. Chefs use them to prepare nutritious and delicious meals, sculptors manipulate them to create beautiful works of art, and surgeons utilise them to save lives. But in the hands of ignoramuses, knives can be dangerous weapons. Many humans have been scarred, maimed or killed by knives, which is why we do not allow them on aircraft, in schools and at certain sporting events. Overzealous people, and those with ominous agendas, will use them to do harm.

And so it is with the Bible. Zealous ignoramuses behind pulpits, as well as their followers, often use it to inflict harm on others. Some mean well, but are unable to recognise its potential to traumatise, as they hold the handle, while the blade wreaks havoc among those who stray from or do not adhere to their belief systems.

Not such a cool book is it?

- Michael Abrahams is a gynaecologist and obstetrician, comedian and poet. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or tweet @mikeyabrahams.