Bible and Belief

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With all due respect to my wonderful friends of faith, to the devoutly sincere believers who are also Bible literalists, I remain unconvinced, which gives me no cheer or gladness to acknowledge.

Faith is so much more comforting than doubtful questioning of all that I cannot know with any certainty. Skepticism can be almost painfully uncomfortable, unsettling, incomplete. I'm stuck in an increasingly expanding universe, which is a proven fact, and there's no mention of this fundamental truth anywhere in Scripture. Why is God expanding the universe faster and faster? No answer. Just as, where is there even a scintilla of actual evidence of a soul, spirit, or afterlife? Again, no answer, none that's compellingly convincing. 

But, I am also stuck with partial knowledge, unproven theory, and claims or beliefs not supported by facts. The Bible- the generally King James version that's evolved today in numerous editions- is a work of various assembly, inclusion and exclusion, politics, intrigue, power of economics, family ties and influences, random chance, and arbitrary personal choice. It's an incredible, unlikely story by itself, and now I have to believe that all the documented drama associated with the King James Bible, every finally included Scripture was God-designed or approved.

That's too hard for me to accept as true.

What became the Bible is a complex amalgam of authorship, translation, interpretation, and benign conclusion. It is a collected work of humankind, and not without immense value, supreme wisdom, an inspired chronicle of civilization's phenomenal history, and obviously of great, lasting benefit. 

Bible literalists find every answer in Scripture, assume authentic creation directly from their faith in God's will. The Bible is unquestionably the truth, and all references to this existence begin and end between its sacred pages. If only I could feel and share this absolute certainty, but I do not. There is too much mystery in this universe, and (for me) it's not illuminated by any religion.

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