Taken as a whole, the church clearly can’t live without the Bible, but it doesn’t seem to have much idea of how to live with it. Almost all Christian churches say something in their formularies about how important the Bible is. Almost all of them have devised ways, some subtle, some less so, of ostentatiously highlighting some parts of the Bible

... See more

“Please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 6:15–23,” what comes next? Does the preacher simply stand in an awkward silence while parishioners thumb through their Bibles to find the text? Does the preacher immediately commence reading with the hope that people will catch up when they find the passage? The best answer is neither. After announcing

... See more

If even the most authoritative teaching, the most sacred text, leads to dehumanization, to humiliation, to harm, then we must reject it. The Bible itself shows us how to do this. . . . [The rabbis] worked to align the text with their moral understanding. And in doing so, they gave us permission—no, an obligation, to do the same. . . . Our role in

... See more