Do we need a “third testament” to add to or replace the Old and New Testaments that make up our Bibles? Well, according to a pastor at a United Church of Christ in California (who also serves as “Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries” and is “married” to her lesbian partner), we do, because the Bible is “problematic.”
It’s no surprise that a female “pastor” who apparently identifies as a “womanist,” teaches liberation theology, and accepts homosexuality is going to have some issues with Scripture! During a recent presentation for the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy, she stated:
This a very dangerous thing that I’m about to say now . . . a bit dangerous. I’m of the opinion that we need a third testament because the Bible has become problematic.
“Slaves obey your masters as you do the Lord.” It’s a text.
“Let the women keep silent in the churches and if they have any questions let them ask their husbands at home.”
Now, I’m a believer. My whole heart, I trust God with my whole heart. I wake up in the morning talking to God and God talking to me.
But I am completely frustrated with the ways in which the text speaks to the kind of vitriolic God that makes those kinds of things.
And people will say, “Well, it’s in the book.” And I said, “Then we need to pull that page out.”
And they say, “Well, you can’t do it. It’s the Word of God.” I said, “No, it’s words about God.” Come on now. But is it the Word of God? No. It is not the Word of God.
Well, she’s right about one thing—what she’s proposing is dangerous! God’s Word has warnings for those who add to or take away from it. But her view that we need to rip pages out of the Bible that we don’t like is just a natural consequence of her elevating her own opinions above the authority of the Word of God. She actually is being her own god (Genesis 3:5).
Now, few Christians are surprised by “progressive Christians” like her treating God’s Word this way. But what they don’t realize is that many Christians functionally believe the same thing she does—they just would never say it that way!
Most Christians would never say we need another Bible, that we should tear out pages of the Scriptures we find problematic, or that the Bible is merely a book about God—but they act like it in how they treat the Scriptures . . . particularly Genesis.
Instead of ripping out or rewriting passages, they just reinterpret them, adding man’s ideas into the text. It’s less dramatic and much more deceptive, but it’s just as dangerous. Genesis is clear that God created everything in six literal, 24-hour days. Yet many men and women who believe the Bible in other areas come to Genesis with ideas regarding millions of years—which come from fallible man’s interpretation of the rock layers—and they reinterpret God’s clear Word to fit them in. It’s the same attitude of elevating man’s word over God’s Word! In fact, in a way, they are saying man’s word is infallible and God’s Word is fallible.
Just as you wouldn’t rip a page out of your Bible or write a third testament, don’t take man’s ideas regarding origins and read them into the text—recognize God as the authority in all areas, from the very first verse.
