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The problem with assessing the Bible is that you first have to establish from what perspective your assessment comes. The Bible is a historical document, literature, a religious guidebook...

As literature, the Bible is many books. Parts of it are achingly beautiful, and other parts are records that only a clerk could love. There are exciting tales of heroes and villains, and wonderful parables that illustrate universal values. There are mysteries and morality tales. Many of the greatest books written have at their origins Biblical themes.

As a historical document, the Bible is invaluable but very frustrating. It provides a window into the lives and views of long-ago peoples of the Mid-east, and a narrative to explain the birth of three of the world's major religions, but the accuracy of much of what is presented is unverifiable. The compiled books of the Modern Bible have been edited and translated, and the origins of much of the original writings are not known. Many books that might have been included were omitted during the early Christian period. Descriptions in the Bible of historical events appear in some places to be a conflation of several events, or reworked tales from earlier periods. Nonetheless, the Bible continues to inspire historical research in the Mid-east, and will for decades to come.

It is as a religious guide that the the Bible is weakest. As noted above, the modern Bible is an edited and translated version of earlier forms. Even were that problem sorted out, the myriad interpretations of what the Bible 'means' have permitted almost any viewpoint to be said to be Biblically based. The Bible borrows themes from earlier religions but requires its adherents to consider it as wholly unique. Taken literally, the Bible contains many rules and restrictions that reflect the daily realities of a nomadic people from 4000 years ago. Those realities don't translate well into modern life, and the result is that even Biblically literal Christians are forced to overlook some unrealistic rules. More moderate Christians must grapple with what to interpret symbolically, what to overlook altogether, and what to interpret literally. The Bible has facilitated wars and countless disputes, spawned multiple sects, provided a cloak of legitimacy to hatred, and generally failed to be a force for unity and harmony in the world. This is not to minimize the contributions of the Bible's many inspiring ideas, but the Bible is intended to be taken as a whole, and its authority is undermined when concepts are extracted piecemeal.

By any assessment, the Bible is larger than life. It has profoundly shaped the world we live in, and is within us as much as without. Whether we believe or not, attempts to objectively assess the Bible are bound to be flawed. Of course, that's why it's also valuable to try.

Learn more about this author, Jess Goodwin.
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