General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This Church Sign Is Awesome {It's real, so don't even start with me.} [View all]antigone382
(3,682 posts)Not everyone who uses the Bible looks at it as the literal, unimpeachable word of God (or really anyone if we're totally honest--even the most hardline fundamentalists will admit to the need for interpretation and consideration of culture and history if you press them on the specifics long enough). Many view it, or at least the Old Testament (or the Hebrew Scriptures, as many modern Biblical critics consider to be a less offensive term to modern-day Jews who still follow these texts), as a series of tribal stories rooted in their history and culture, which nevertheless contain portions that are inspirational and available for personal interpretation, through which glimpses of divine nature can be determined.
There are all kinds of things referenced in the Bible that are rarely talked about. For example, a female presence known as "Wisdom" is repeatedly referenced as an aspect of the divine; yet the dominant refrain has been that God is portrayed in Hebrew scripture as always and definitively male.