"For the Bible Tells Me So"

"Jesus Loves me this I know,

For the bible tells me so;

Little ones to him belong,

They are weak but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves!

For the bible tells me so..."

Umph...  I tell you, if I don't remember anything or singing any other song from my childhood, I remember singing "Jesus Loves Me."  That song has been sang by millions of children, youth, young adults, and, if I or you thought we had escaped it when we became adults, guess again, because Whitney Houston came along and gave us a very soulful rendition of it in the hit movie The Bodyguard.  So now we have a whole new "adult" way of singing it.  The point of the song is that Jesus loves me.  And how do I know that Jesus loves me?  Because the bible tells me so.  The belief that Jesus loves me is predicated upon the belief, my belief, that the bible doesn't lie - that it is infallible, the inerrant Word of God.  But what happens if the basis of the assertion is called into question?  In other words, what happens if I find the bible not to be as trustworthy as I had been led to believe as a child?  What if, one day, while I was reading the bible, I came across a verse that read, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways" (NRSV 1 Corinthians 13:11)?  What if after reading that particular verse, I put away those comfortable childish thoughts, and put on a new season of reasoning with my adult mind?  And, what if my adult mind found that much in the bible IS because of what my lying eyes have told me it is?

I hear some of ya'll yelling out there, "What in the hell is she talking about now?"  Well, what I'm talking about is that often times we good Christians, especially us good church-going-black-folk, get our bible speak from the Pastor of our local church on Sunday morning.  Not only do we get the Word of God from the Pastor, but we also get his/her thoughts.  We get their ideas, suppositions and yes, their prejudices.  For example, when we hear the Pastor get up in the pulpit, "To proclaim what thus says the Lord," all the respect and reverence we have for the bible, is inadvertently transferred onto the Pastor.  The Pastor and all that s/he says becomes the authority - infallible and inerrant - without flaw or mistake.  And, if I may be so bold to submit the perception is that they themselves become "incapable of error or mistakes." 

Therefore, when the Pastor quotes the bible saying, "So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then [God] took one of [the man's ribs] and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman for out of Man this one was taken,'" that IS the creation narrative (Genesis 2:21-23).  There is no other one.  I don't care how many times we read the bible - or say that we've read the bible, not only is that THE creation narrative, but it is the ONLY creation narrative.  Consequently, it creates an unquestionable adherence to the following directive; "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).  THE MESSAGE from God is thus - "man" is superior and "woman" is inferior.  Also, marriage is assumptive between a man and a woman as the "right," and the only "right" way to be in right relationship with God.  It's the way God had planned it, right?  So what's the problem?  Well, I thought you'd never ask...

The problem is that an entire chapter has been passed over, ignored, overlooked, forgotten, hell you name it.  Whatever you want to come up with, fine.  The fact of the matter is, not only has a whole chapter been disregarded to get to THAT particular creation narrative, but some 51 verses (31 in the first chapter and 20 in the second chapter) have been overlooked as well.  If we were not so quick to believe our lying eyes, or the lying Pastor, not only would  we have seen the first creation narrative, but we would have seen it with profound clarity.  We would then SEE to read the words, "Then God said, let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over... every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26,27).  Likewise, it would create an unquestionable adherence to the following directive; "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; (v. 28b).  THE MESSAGE from God is thus - We, males and females (notice the plurality of each) are created simultaneously.  We are both given the same authority to have dominion over all living things.  We are created EQUAL, given EQUAL power and EQUAL authority.  It's the way God had planned it, right?  So what's the problem?  Umph, really?  Surely I don't have to state the obvious...  Funny thing though, there is no mention or intimation of marriage, and yet, this is where God "saw everything that [S/HE] had made, and indeed, it was very good" (v. 31).  S/HE also didn't seem to be too impressed with the way things turned out in the chapter 2 creation narrative.  Jes a lil sumptn I thought you should know.  But wait!  Don't leave!  That's just the beginning!  We have 66 books to go!  I'm not even warmed up yet. ;)

Why this here with us now, you ask?  Because "The Bible" is our next subject matter for my bible study class.  Who'da thunk it?  We are Reading the Bible Again for the First Time.  Yes, this is the title of another one of my favorite books by Marcus Borg.  It will be read along with our exploration of "The Bible" with new and improved - truth telling eyes.  Now that you know that your eyes will lie to you, put on your critical lenses so you can see clearly, that we are all made in the image of God.  How do I know this?  Because the bible tells me so.

"Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

For the bible tells me so!" 

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!