The problems come up, because people believe or wish, that the truth is simple and can - more or less easily and once and for all - be defined with words.
This is the basic assumption for people, who think, that God (mysterious infallible Spirit) and Bible (words, written down by non-perfect humans) are more or less identical or at least the belief, that knowledge of old scripture is identical with knowledge about the intentions of the living God.
There is not even inner logic, that supports the claim of biblical infallibility, because St Paul and others themselves did not claim to be perfect. They expressed a desire for perfection as a distant goal, not as an attribute, they already possessed.
And it is funny, that many atheists are taking this false belief at face value, when they also confuse God with the Bible, claiming, that there can be no God, because the people, who lived thousands of years ago were unable to deliver a simple "user manual" of eternal value.
But God != Bible.
God is love, God is Spirit, God is Truth.
Well, at least these are some basic ideas.
The search for God is just a more or less humble attempt, to understand the whole. And given our enormous (and potentially destructive) worldly power this is more important now, than ever before.
Serious religion should be an attempt to define and eventually redefine and find words for divine laws.
God canīt be touched by human opinions, certainly not by those, who try to reduce Him or confuse Him, with human attempts.
Science can only bring us closer to God, it canīt contradict God.
This is btw. confirmed in the Bible time and again.
The Bible doesnīt say: Worship me, the book, that you can touch and see.
And even the most "conservative" passage, that I was able to find in the gospels does not tell us to follow the scripture like slaves or robots:
5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.
5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.
5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Now up to here it is like the confirmation for the "literalists" ...
But it goes on:
5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(from the gospel of Matthew)
In other words: We are always allowed to do better and if someone knows Jesus own attitude towards the scribes and the Pharisees, there is even a necessity to go beyond ...
The important thing is: we should be guided by the Holy Spirit, which - according to the gospel of John is a Spirit of truth.
And if someone knows and understands the supreme importance of the Holy Spirit, there should no longer be any doubt:
12:31 For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
12:32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Strong words! While we are allowed to go beyond the righteousness of the "experts in law" (as expressed in the Bible) we will be in great trouble if we decide to go against the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of truth.
St Paul expresses it like this:
Galatians 5:18: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The truth makes us free!
For me it is simply like this:
Our knowledge and mankinds collective experience isnīt static, it is constantly growing. And if we want to be guided by the Spirit of truth we can not simply ignore this.
Jesus was aware of this, he said (according to John):
16:12 I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
So even Jesus, our Messiah, Saviour, etc., even He did not say:
I told you everything, all you need is the Bible ...
It is very important to search for the living God, to recognize the importance of love and truth and to keep in mind, that God is great!
