How would you respond to this person’s understanding of God’s Word?
Finally, it was my own deepening understanding of scripture. Several years ago, I embarked on the task of listening to the entire Bible. I would walk every morning for an hour listening on my ipod. One morning as I was listening to the Old Testament – I recall awakening to the fact that what I was listening to was a “primitive” understanding of God. These writers were doing their best to put into words who God was – and their description was flawed. Their view of God was patriarchal, vengeful, and limited. However, this is not the way that I had been taught to view their writings. I had been taught to accept what they had to say as Gospel, as true, as unquestionable. Suddenly I realized that I needed to take the Bible for what it is – every generation’s best description of their understanding of God – and that it is my task to add to the conversation by adding my best understanding of God.
I Commend Joy! 
Craig,
Thank you for quoting me! Please don’t be shy about giving me attribution and link back. I’ll be happy to do the same for you.
Many Blessing,
Phil Brockett
Craig,
I would say that he’s viewing the Bible from the wrong perspective. He thinks it’s a record of men trying to figure out God. Instead it is God’s revelation of himself to man. Thus, it is not lacking in any way but can be trusted as what God desires us to know about him.
So, who said it?
Briefly, I would say a couple things:
If we can only know God by his self-revelation, then each of the writers of God’s Word were expressing God’s revelation of himself, not their own “primitive…flawed” understanding of God. Yes, God does reveal himself progressively, but he does not reveal himself incorrectly.
Second, it seems that the implication is that we can add to God’s Word by adding our “best understanding of God.” This implication would reduce Scripture to ideas, thoughts, and hints, and we can make of Scripture whatever we want.
I would disagree with this understanding of God’s Word.