1. A word about biblical infallibility:
This weekend, we received much damnation from fundamentalists over our denial of scriptural inerrancy. It's understandable, because once you relinquish conviction that the Bible is *literally* God's word, faith becomes a messier affair.
2. It's easier to simply believe that the Bible is a plain record of the divine, that it clearly and concisely states what Christians should believe. In a world that feels so chaotic, biblical infallibility can provide distinct comfort.
But comfort and truth aren't synonymous.
3. The truth is that the biblical books were written by humans. They represent the fruits of people grappling with God, and what it means to be human, for centuries—in all the complexity those questions necessarily entail.
4. Moreover, even the decision about which books would be included in the Bible was a human choice—one that didn't solidify until centuries after Jesus died: They by no means represent all the early Christian texts. (Dr. Hal Taussig's A New New Testament collects many others.)
5. Furthermore, the languages in which most Americans read the Bible reveal yet another layer of human interpretation, decisions made by translators who labor diligently over the original Hebrew and Greek texts.