In the summer of 1980, the summer I decided to be a follower of Jesus, my Sunday School teacher presented me with a brand-new, faux leather, King James Bible. As he handed it to me he said, “Everything you need to know about God, faith, and your salvation is in here. Read it. Memorize it. Live it.” I was grateful and excited, and I set to work that very day to internalize all the truth there is about God.
Three years later, I discovered that you can buy Bibles written in real English, that can be read and understood. I secretly bought one, and began to really read. It took me a few months, but I read the Bible from cover to cover… every word… even Leviticus. I loved it. But when I read the last words of the Revelation, I was confused. My understanding of Scripture, and of God, had certainly grown. But I still had tons of questions. Perhaps I just missed something, or I wasn’t paying attention. So I read it again.
Since that time, I have read the Bible in its entirety at least 5 times, and I have studied much of it, especially the New Testament with vigor. Guess what. I still have questions. I cannot begin to claim that I know everything there is to know about God, or even everything I need to know about God. Even my faith is often a mystery to me. With all due respect to my beloved teacher, I have decided that any God who could be encapsulated in the pages of any book, is a very small God indeed.
The God I have grown to love, whom I see best in the life of Jesus, is so much bigger than my reading, my experience, even my imagination. I still cherish scripture. But I am compelled to see God in the world around me, in the love and generosity of others, and in my experience of the life given to me. And it begs the questions: What can we know about God? From where does our knowledge of God come? What are the limits of our understanding?
How big is your God?
Cincy's Progressive Faith 