Seriously, Not Literally.

The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne.” – Psalm 132:11-12 (NRSV) 

I have a new friend who confided in me that he was trying to learn more about Christianity. “But the more I learn about the Bible,” he despaired, “the further I feel from God.” 

I know what he means. Little passages like this have been used to justify ideas like the divine right of kings. The divine right of kings is the doctrine that held that monarchs were chosen and led by God, so to defy them was to defy the Divine. In Britain alone this theory has caused damage ranging from the racism of today, back in time to the beheading of King Henry VIII’s wives, and back even further to the devastation of the Crusades. So much damage from such small words. 

So I agreed with my new friend that these texts can feel like they cause more damage than good. But what really causes damage is not to engage with them all; not to question them; not to look them in the eye and say, “This idea may be in the Bible, but I reject it.” In the United Church of Christ, we often say we take the Bible seriously but not literally. What that means is that these words are not dictums from monarchs. These words do not rule by the divine right that cannot tolerate defiance. Instead, we proclaim that the Bible is the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one.  

Prayer
Holy One: Thank you for all your words, even the ones we have to wrestle with. Amen.

About the Author
Rev. Jennifer Garrison (formerly Brownell) is a writer, spiritual director and pastor living in the Pacific Northwest. Her published work most recently appeared in the book The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, available from The Pilgrim Press.