The Bible is no ordinary reading.  I believe and affirm that is came to humans by way of the breath of God (inspired—2 Timothy 3:16) into people who encountered God and who wrote what they understood to be a communiqué from God.  Christian people take these communiqués and mold them and are thereby molded by them.  (Remember humans are made of a pliable material, unless the human will hardens it.)  As humans knead the Bible with their minds, hearts, and souls it pollutes the humans with a pollutant called purity restoring the polluted humans to their pre-polluted condition of purity.

One testimony to the kneading of the Bible is its translation into 2300 of the 6909 languages of the world.  The remaining 4609 languages are small, remote populations averaging only a few hundred speakers each.  When the Scriptures were translated and published into English in 1611, they shaped the English-speaking world in significant ways:  share language that unified the masses, shared heritage that formed a common culture.  In the United States the Bible was read and learned by children and adults alike.  The King James was the Bible of choice.  The stories in the Bible entertained the readers and listeners, trained their minds, formed their consciences, and fashioned their societies.  However, because cultures evolve freshness in translations are needed and welcomed by existing populations and citizens.  A fresh retelling of the ancient stories to the new generations is common. 

Individuals and groups have dedicated their best to God and retranslated the Scriptures in fresh ways to new generations of people.  For 1500 years the Scriptures were meticulously hand copied, checked, and rechecked in order to ensure accuracy of transmissions of these books from their original languages.  This transmission at times was done at great risk to their own lives.  William Tyndale (1492-1536) was a first to translate the Scriptures from the original language into the English language; he was tried for heresy and burned at the stake.  He heavily influenced scholars that came after him who would translate the King James Bible.  Today, I use the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 2004 for its Hebrew and The Greek New Testament, 4^th Edition, 1993.  As with all translations a great physical, mental, and emotional struggle is involved to insure accuracy of intent.

The heart of the Christian Scriptures is the story of God’s Covenant with and Promises to the world and his people.  Concerned with the proliferation of evil, sin, and its dire consequences to his good creation, God decided that the best route to reclaim and repair his broken creation was to reveal himself to individuals repeatedly until as much of the world as possible was reclaimed.  Each book in the Bible tells part of the story, at times from a different perspective.  Each chapter fits into the grand scheme.  Each verse contributes some fact, some detail, some nuance to the overall drama.  Some of the same stories are told from different perspectives with unique interests (1 and 2 Samuel; 1 and 2 Kings).

The Bible also tells about the future when all things will be made new.  That is the vision that drives the church and directs its mission.  It reminds us that things are not now as they are supposed to be, nor will be.  It tells us what the world will be like when the One True God finally reigns supremely over a restored creation and all evil, suffering, sin, and death will be eradicated.

The Bible invited us to begin, or continue to deepen our connection with God, repair our relations with others, and take our rightful place as stewards of creation, all the while discovering what we are made to do.  Properly understood the Bible is a book about relationships.  As we hear the ancient stories we are wooed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  As we immerse ourselves into the ancient stories we find our places in the recreation of the world, which has been going on since Pentecost (Acts 2:1-6).

The Bible ceases to be the inspired word of God when it is reduced to a set of manageable propositions.  The stories are where the power is.  We experience the over-arching drama of love and redemption.  To read part of the story is to know only part of the story, not the grand sweep of sacred history. 

As you read the Bible you are invited to engage the stories, hear the authentic voice of God, and experience the beauty, power, and grace resident in each word, sentence, chapter, and book.  Unlike other stories you may here, the Bible story is completely true.