Why Didn't God Personally Write the Bible and Simply Give the Completed Text to Humans?

"Wouldn't the Bible be so much easier to understand if God had written it all himself?" "Why did God choose to use such a messy process to provide us with Scripture?" "Were the human authors of Scripture merely acting in the capacity of amanuenses - taking Divine dictation?" "As Scripture clearly contains a number of errors and contradictions, doesn't that prove that humans wrote it, and that God didn't have anything to do with writing it?" "Is Scripture really inerrant - perfect and without flaws?" "What did Paul mean when he wrote that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work"?

I think that we can all agree that the answers to those questions are important. In other words, are the fundamentalists right about Scripture? Should all "true" Christians accept their narrative about the Bible and stop asking questions which only serve to undermine Scripture? Should we just ignore all of the evidence which those "nasty" Atheists insist makes the Bible irrelevant? For me, many of these questions represent a two-dimensional way of thinking. Everything is either - or! Unfortunately, for many of these folks there isn't any nuance - there is no middle ground!

If we take an honest and objective look at Scripture, we are forced to conclude that God has always worked with and through humans. Even with the Israelites, God used fallible humans to accomplish his will. Clearly, God had the ability to hand them everything on a silver platter. He could have given them a Tabernacle, an Ark of the Covenant, linen garments for the priesthood, and all of the altars, tables, and furnishings that went with them. We notice, however, that God told them how to make those things with their own hands. Instead of handing them a perfectly constructed and furnished Tabernacle, HE chose to employ human artisans to fashion those things. Why? Surely God knew that there would be imperfections inherent with anything touched by human hands - right? Yet, God wanted his people, his children, to have a part in what he was doing with them. God wanted them to be INVOLVED! Now, as a former teacher, I can see all kinds of value in doing things that way. Can't you? Doesn't everything have a greater impact when there is purchase, ownership?

Recently, I found an article on beliefnet by Duncan Pile titled Why Did God Use Man to Write the Bible Instead of Writing It Himself? In fact, I found the article to be so insightful on this subject that I wanted to share a few excerpts from it with my readers (many of whom are Fundamentalists and think my perspective on Scripture is illogical).

Pile wrote: "The Bible is best understood as the unfolding story of humankind's relationship with and understanding of God. For example, Old Testament believers didn't differentiate between God and Satan, seeing Satan as God's left hand. In the New Testament, we see Christ overcoming temptation, destruction, and death. We are told to resist the Devil, and he will flee, to stand against his wiles and bad intentions. In fact, Jesus differentiated between God (himself) and the Devil in the clearest possible terms, declaring that the thief (the Devil) "comes to steal, kill, and destroy," but Jesus (the perfect expression of the Father) came "that we might have life, and have it to the full." He went on to conclude that "The Bible then reveals the unfolding of humankind's understanding of God, and as such, it is more powerful and instructive than a simple set of theological statements could ever be, even if dictated by God Himself. We get to see humankind's knowledge of God evolve, and the crux of that unfolding is Jesus Himself—His words, deeds, death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus is the climax of the story, the answer to all questions, the clarity that blows away theological confusion."

According to Pile, God wants us to think - consider things. He wrote: "Another inference we can draw from the way in which Christian scripture was formed is that God wants us to use our brains when interpreting it. In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul encourages Timothy to be diligent in "rightly dividing the word of truth," which means to understand the context of what has been written and apply it in the light of other scriptural principles and covenants as well. Again, Jesus is our perfect example of this. In the Sermon on the Mount, He taught the crowd to disregard specific instructions of Hebrew Law. Matthew 5:38-45" Pile went on to observe that "Jesus diligently divided the word of truth, understanding that Old Testament teachings were to be overruled by grace. On another occasion, the Pharisees criticized Him for breaking the rules of the Sabbath, saying that what he was doing was "unlawful." Jesus responded by giving an Old Testament example of King David doing the same and concluded that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Jesus let the Holy Spirit be His guide and boiled the entire Hebrew Law down to loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. It would be foolish to see these examples as slight reinterpretations. We cannot study the Gospels honestly without accepting that Jesus reinterpreted and overrode the Law as part of his teaching and ministry, calling us instead to love."

According to Pile, the real fault lies in the way that many Christians regard Scripture. He wrote: "This might come as a shock, but it is entirely unbiblical to call the Bible the Word of God when the Bible itself only uses that title to refer to Jesus (John 1:1-5). Jesus is the Word of God, so why on Earth do we refer to the Bible that way? The truth is that the books of the Bible reflect the perspective and limitations of each writer, as well as their place in the unfolding of humankind's understanding of the nature of God. It is beautiful, full of inspiration and power for personal growth. It brims over with wisdom and calls us to love, but only when personally interpreted to us by the Holy Spirit. We have made the Bible God – unquestionable, perfect, immortal – rather than use it as a resource to draw near to God himself. It might even be true that we have flirted with idolatry, preferring to exalt the word of God over the living Word of God, who is Jesus Himself."

Let's be honest. Too many of us completely ignore the contributions of the humans who participated in this joint project with God. Too many of us regard the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as conferring infallibility on the men and women who actually wrote the collection of writings we call The Holy Bible. We do this, even though we know that the Holy Spirit leads, guides, and pushes - It NEVER controls. It is NOT the equivalent of demon possession - God simply does NOT work that way! Look at what Paul wrote to Timothy (probably through an amanuenses). Are we reading things into what he actually said?

In his article, Pile concentrated on the way that Christ used Scripture. He wrote: "His parents found Him at the temple in Jerusalem, debating the scriptures with His elders; He read from Isaiah 61 to announce the beginning of His ministry, and He used scripture to send Satan packing in the wilderness. Jesus saw the scriptures as essential to a life of faith, keeping them close to His heart, but He didn't see them as beyond question. By publicly reinterpreting them, He encouraged others (along with us) to think for themselves. We are to approach the Bible with our hearts tuned to His love and our ears turned to the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus did, we are called to meditate in the scriptures, know them, fill our hearts with them, and use them to turn aside evil." He went on to conclude: "This empowering, spiritual dynamic would not exist if God had delivered a single, downloaded scriptural document. We would not understand our place in the unfolding of humankind's understanding of God, as perfectly displayed in Jesus. God does not require that his children switch off their brains and unquestioningly accept the dogma given to us. He wants enlivened, intellectually engaged, empowered, Spirit-led believers who grow increasingly like Jesus."