4thTimeLucky

The Bible is the Word of God*, but the statements within it need not be God's words!

We can imagine that the following exchange could occur in the Bible:

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[1] And God was approached by the Devil to discuss the fate of the world and the Devil spoke saying,
"When will the masses learn of the deceit of their creator.
[2]The One true God, through His selfish indulgence, Has condemned His flock to an eternity of suffering."
[3]And God did reply.
"Bollocks"
- (BookName, 1:1-3)
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and then a person could quote the Bible as follows:

"The One true God, through His selfish indulgence, Has condemned His flock to an eternity of suffering."
- (NIV, BookName, 1:2)

Now without the name of the speaker and its context the verse is pretty much useless. Taken at face value it would seem that the Word of God says that God has abandoned His own creation to eternal suffering. In fact the Word of God said that the Devil said that God had done this - a claim that God then refuted.

Similarly many of the quotes in the Bible come from just ordinary, falible men. For example, the pissed-off Job! So the literalist may be able to really 100% upon the fact that these people said these things, but that doesn't mean that we should accept what they say as being the truth. Only a few people in the Bible speak on behalf of God - the others are just ordinary folk who God has chosen to include in His story*.

*say some

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I've been 4thTimeLucky, you've been great. Goodnight and God bless!