Why I Take the Bible Seriously but Not Literally

The origin of the material in these sermons began in 1968. I was a student at Wofford College and pastoring a small mission church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. There was much unrest in the colleges throughout the Nation. The Kent State massacre in May of 1970 caused hundreds of universities and colleges to form student strikes. Wofford’s response was to form open discussions with students. The President, Paul Harding was often seen sitting cross-legged upon the grass talking with students. I ate lunch each day with professors in the school cafeteria and these conversations were more educational to me than the classes. It was at one of these lunches that my sociology professor said to me: “I can’t assign you this reading without assigning it to the entire class but you will do yourself a great injustice if you do not read “The Age of Reason” by Thomas Paine written in 1794.” That was all he needed to day! I read it then and have read it several times since in these many years. A second experience in seminary also contributed to these sermons. A visiting speaker was the famous bishop Gerald Kennedy of the Methodist Church. After Chapel I asked him if he had one piece of advice for a young preacher what would it be. He responded: “Never read anything you could have written and never read anything you agree with.” These words changed my life! About that time John A. T. Robinson wrote a book entitled “Honest to God” and many of the students were burning the book. I had to read it! I have read it many times over the years. With him I can only say “All I can do is to try to be honest – and honest about God.” These sermons are an accumulation of 47 years of struggle trying to be honest about God and with God’s people. In relationship to the people I struggle with my dual role as “Prophet and Priest.” The prophet confronts the people and the priest comforts the people. I am to comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable; these sermons were developed with this dual struggle in mind. The first sermon is from the priest and the second is from the prophet and that order continues throughout the series. In relationship to the Bible the dual struggle is clear. As the “Priest,” “I take the Bible seriously because it changes lives” (First Sermon). I have never heard anyone give testimony that reading Plato’s Republic, Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Odyssey, Cicero’s Moral Ethics or John Stewart Mill’s Liberty changed their lives. But thousands of people have given testimony of how reading the Bible has changed their lives forever. As the “Prophet,” no book has been more abused than the Bible, nor more misunderstood. It has been a playground for lunatics, profit for the chariatans, a profession for the clergy, a problem for the theologian and a puzzle for the general public. The sermons in this book were developed and delivered orally. They were delivered to a lake – side congregation of about three hundred people. After the sermon is delivered orally, it is transcribed into written form and I have tried to maintain the integrity of the spoken word. I use a sermon syllabus format that is fully explained in my book: “Grace Is Not a Blue-Eyed Blonde.” The sermon syllabus is included at the beginning of each chapter and it is the only thing I have in the pulpit other than the Bible.