I got an interesting email this week from a graduate student at the University of Glasgow. He had noticed my writings on the book of Revelation and passed me a link to an article he had written about the difficulties reconciling the cruelties documented throughout the book with the rest of New Testament thought. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article, as he does an excellent job of putting into words some troubling concepts in the book of Revelation:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/keith_gilmour/revelation.html

What I find truly troubling in his article are not his questions about Revelation but about what Christian groups through history have done with this book. Some have used Revelation to vilify leaders of opposing governments, some have interpreted Revelation as encouraging religious elitism and hostility towards unbelievers, some have justified short-sighted and irresponsible geopolitical or ecological actions because the world is ending "soon", and worst of all, some have considered that the tone of Revelation endorses "nauseatingly sadistic ill-will" towards those who would oppose Christianity. I can suggest explanations and historical context about what is written in the book of Revelation, but I can only mourn how many believers have misused its passages in such a way as to work against the Kingdom. It is hard for the writer of the article I mentioned and others contributing to that web site to accept the principles of Christian beliefs due to frequent and well-documented violations of those principles by those quoting scripture.

Most of us are quite familiar with verses 16 and 17 in the passage I selected for this meditation, which encourages believers to study the Bible. I have heard and read some that claim this verse encourages applying snippets of the Bible haphazardly to any given question or problem, as if the Bible provided its readers with magical powers. The human urge to force our will on our surroundings is strong, including the urge for us to mold God's words to our desires rather than subjecting our desires to God's Word.

The verses preceding verse 16 provide an important context. Paul, the older sage passing wisdom to his student, Timothy, points out that the best wisdom is that contained in the scriptures. Paul did not instruct Timothy to follow what he had preached and witnessed in all his efforts as an evangelist, but called Timothy to remember the scriptures he had been learning since he was young. In a beautiful phrase captured by modern translations, Paul describes the scriptures as "God-breathed". That Greek word, "theopheustos", contains the Greek word "pneuma" that means more than simply air; it means life-breath and Spirit.

Yes, we should study the scriptures, reverently and with careful consideration of what others are saying about the scriptures. You, the reader, need to test what I write to see that it is consistent with the themes and messages of the Bible, so that you are not misled if my words misstate or my ideas are bent by my own biases and struggles. We need to challenge ourselves to see that what we learn from the Bible is what God has taught us and not what we wish the Bible really did say. If instead we allow ourselves to be self-serving, we can find a way to bend words in the Scripture to say whatever we want, and there are hosts of unbelievers who take encouragement from Christians whose actions and beliefs defy God's principles.

But for all the failures of all the believers through many centuries, God's Word still stands. It has not been defeated by vicious attacks from skeptics, and it has not been subverted from within by Christian heretics. We are the blessed recipients of the truly Holy Word, and as we treasure it, read it, and ponder it, we should be listening each time we open its pages for how God is choosing to use it.