Because, short term, we need to win in November or descend into fascism. But this is not a political blog so I will leave it at that.

Instead, I’ll recommend some othe reading: Andrew Spring writes:

From the very first words to the very last verse, the writings of the Bible document the best and worst of human action and belief. It is a work of literature that can do tremendous harm—but also tremendous good.

This uncomfortable fact is usually lost on those of us who left the religion about Jesus—Christianity—in search of the religion of Jesus. (The former is the invention of rich men trying to control humanity, the latter is the radical and world-changing spirituality and ethical living preached by an ancient prophet.)

The bible is not one book – it’s a library. The Bible is a collection of writings, and the word comes from the Greek biblia, which means “the books,” plural. It’s sort of like saying The Library.

It would be like asking what your favorite Beatles song is and saying Abbey Road. Clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about, because Abbey Road is not one song, but a collection of songs—just as the Bible is not one writing but a collection of writings.

But unlike Abbey Road, each of the writings of the Bible have different authors. (I double checked: almost all the songs on Abbey Road were written by both Lennon and McCartney, except three that were written by George or Ringo.²) And each writing was done in a different location, with different audiences and—wait for it—different purposes.

Perhaps some Christians refuse to acknowledge this, because if the Bible is a collection of writings, that means somebody had to put them together.Looked at through this lens, the Bible becomes much more human—and much more prone to error.

Google Andrew Spring to read more. He can be controversial but that’s good, it makes you think.

There is also a substack post called “She’s So Scripture”