Almost Bible (Part 1)
Almost Bible (Part 2)
Almost Bible (Part 3)
Almost Bible (Part 4)
Almost Bible (Part 5)
Almost Bible (Part 6)

By Jim Nichols

God’s Spirit speaks to us in multiple ways. The Bible/Scripture is certainly one of the methods. Most of us have recognized, however, that there are vistas, music, laughter, and multiple other manners where we experience the holy. Occasionally, it is through the spoken or written word that sounds clearly like it is “almost Bible.” Let’s consider a few more.

1. “In age, mystery comes alive. Nothing is very sure anymore. Everything speaks of maybe and perhaps, might and possibility. I might still be here. And I might not. Like children, we learn to wonder again. We learn that getting up every day can be fun, can be wonder-full. Something will surely happen. What will it be?” You and I are alike in that we prefer the familiar in our lives. As we age, our memories keep the familiar alive. Unfortunately, we can lose valuable and rewarding new experiences by this overemphasis on the past. Author Joan Chittister in The Gift of Years ponders the blessing of openness as we age. Scripture teaches us that God’s blessings are new every morning; sometimes they are renewed blessings and at other times they are new and unique to us.

2. “All good teaching is about getting students to think more deeply and more regularly.” (Jeffrey C. Isaac in Inside Higher Education) “It can help orient students toward what is good for the world rather than what is merely good for them.” (Emily Hunt-Hinojosa in The Christian Century.) Although from two different sources, these two authors set a high standard for the challenges of teaching. Every level of education seems to be under criticism today by (often) those whose agendas for learning are too narrow. Students will think and ask regardless, and we are obligated to give them wise, honest, and helpful information as they grow.

3. “It is amazing how disinterested the Gospels are in the Roman Empire and how Jesus really does not care very much about it.” We see so much overlap between religion and politics today that it is helpful for former Senator Ben Sasse in Christianity Today to remind us of how little Jesus ever said about government and allegiance to it. Aside from the one encounter (Give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s) the record from Jesus is quiet. His followers, on the other hand, often propose and anticipate a messianic physical kingdom they are waiting to be inaugurated. Sasse continues by suggesting today we have a “this-worldly” project of governance as an “idolatrous temptation.”

4. “I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be.” Kate Bowler quotes author Joan Didion in this realization that rings true for me and probably for you. Certainly, I am not alone in my wondering about my past self. I consistently reflect, “Why did I say or do that?” or “Why did I say that that way?” “How could I believe that and, especially, pronounce it so forcefully and unequivocally.” I need to be forgiven for many overstatements and downright incorrect stances. One of the greatest blessings of the Christian life is the assurance of the offering of Grace from God. 

5. “We seem to live in ‘an age obsessed with gender, fearful of aging, and contemptuous toward weakness.’” Seldom have I seen such a concise identification of the current misguided direction of our modern world as this one by Matthew Loften in Christianity Today. With a minimum of words, he has asked why we have chosen these stances on which to base our worldviews, if not our faith.

You and I need to do some serious reconsideration of why we (and the world) are so hung up on gender which is clearly more complex than we recognize generally.

We are together in some reasonable fear of aging, but that is primarily because it is unknown personally until it happens to us. God and community can soften that fear.

Our popular, civic, political, and private contempt of weakness illustrates our unbelief in the clear teachings of scripture about the evils of human power and the blessings available to those who are weak; this is due to God’s care.

Thank you, Dr. Loften. That’s almost Bible.

Jim Nichols is a retired Abilene Christian University biology professor and current hospital chaplain