THERE’S A PASTOR in the Kansas City area who’s knee-deep into a 5-week series of engaging sermons on some tough topics about the Bible.
Also a bestselling author, Rev. Adam Hamilton pastors the largest United Methodist Church in the country: Church of the Resurrection. Weekly attendance at various locations throughout Greater KC: about 9,000 souls. Membership about 16,000.
This past Sunday, Adam tackled “Violence and God in the Bible.” He talked about how he personally handles it when the Bible talks about God ordering the slaughter of innocent people—babies included—when it’s nearly impossible to imagine Jesus doing anything of the kind.
Up and coming:
- The Bible and Science, September 2
- The Bible and Sexuality, September 9
- The Bible and Truth, September 16
Adam said he surveyed the congregation to get a sense of the Bible questions folks wanted addressed. The top vote-getter was what to make of the Bible’s apparent ban on practicing homosexuality.
That’s coming on September 9 [Grandparents Day on my calendar].
Adam is a uniquely gifted speaker. Extremely easy to listen to. It’s like he’s chatting with you on the back deck, sipping a cup of coffee. He is to preaching what I try to be when I’m writing easy-reading Bible reference books.
I think he’s well worth a listen. But I do have to warn you, if you’re someone who believes in the inerrancy of the Bible—that the original copies of every page in what is now our Bible was error-free—you’ll need to put on your thinking cap. When it comes to the Bible, thinking caps are a good thing.
I grew up being told what to think. Seminary came as a shock because that’s pretty much the first time I really felt encouraged to think for myself about what the Bible writers were saying.
I am looking forward to hearing Pastor Hamilton’s sermons on these subjects. I do hold to the inspired, authoritative word of God, but I define it a little differently. I see inerrancy of Scripture is that the Bible presents truths without leading one in the wrong path. Its a very difficult subject.
I am also anxious to hear how he deals with the “Homosexual” clobber passages. I think if one really studies these passages, you will discover that the passages are not dealing with homosexuality, but with pagan sex rituals in the Old Testament and with pederasty and male prostitution in Paul’s writings. In the new NIV (2011) they have translated “malecoitos” as male-sex instead of homosexual — which is exactly what that word means. Again, a controversial issue.
I love the Scriptures so much…and we must realize something that when “we wrestle too much” with Scripture we can fall victim of not having that “anchor” in the storm when we need it. Yes, our anchor is Christ — a surety like no other, but if it wasn’t for the Bible — the objective word of God — we would not know where to find our hope. The Scriptures contain all “that is necessary for our salvation” — it points us to Christ. No other book in creation has the surest way to God!
Thanks, Wayne. I think your approach to “inerrancy” is unique. I think many scholars would describe your view of the Bible as pointing to “plenary” inspiration, and not inerrancy. I think inerrancy usually refers to the idea that there were no mistakes at all in the first copy of everything in the Bible.
Plenary inspiration refers to the Bible being fully inspired, in that it has everything we need to know about God and about what he expects of us.
I, too, will be interested in what Adam says about homosexuality. I doubt he’ll be able to focus a lot on it since he’s dealing with a broader topic of sexuality, too. But I know that in times past when he talked about homosexuality, some folks left the church because they didn’t seem to think he hammered hard enough on what you call the clobber passages. As you may know, this is a very controversial topic in many churches, including the United Methodist Church that Adam represents.
Peace to you.