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 
Mark, This is great! God is so big and full of so much wonder and beauty. As i paddled around the pond this morning looking for the new loon(S) that just hatched, I was in awe of the beauty around me.
Great reflection. While I have great inspiration, comfort, guidance, and more from reading scripture; I also get as many questions as answers. I also find that study in community is as important as reading it alone. My reading it in my alone time has been informed by my Bible study classes both in the academic study and in the local churches. Just my two cents.
Although I do read scripture for personal comfort and inspiration, I find that it is much to complex to keep it to myself. My understanding and faith response is all the mor rich when i am in dialogue with the Bible, and others who are doing serious study. Sometimes I wish it was a comforting answer book that I could snuggle up to like a theological teddy bear, but it just isn’t so.