Publisher's Synopsis
These essays and the gleanings appropriate to each probe the relationship between Faith and the Bible. Through them I renew my faith by rejecting the biblical claim of divine provenance. If we insist that the Bible, particularly the first five books, is the word of God, we must ignore the advance of science and the evolution of social morality. Clinging to our separate dogmas, we become intolerant, uncompromising and blind to the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit. Another option is to relegate religion to some remote corner of the mind from which we may occasionally retrieve it for public display. A third option, and the one I propose in this book, is to divest ourselves of excess biblical baggage and reassert the fundamental features of our faith: that life is purposeful and related to some divine purpose. Whether we reach for understanding through the Law, through Jesus or through Muhammad, we reach for the same understanding and the same Divine Presence.
