Why We Should Question the Bible

Should Christians question the Bible? Absolutely. But in a way that is not typically meant by "questioning". Often unsaved people or new Christians question the historicity of the Bible, or question where it's authorship is human or divine, or if the miracles recorded actually happened, or if the moral commandments are still relevant for this modern day. This type of questioning can diminish the authority of scripture in somebody's mind. Some people ask these questions in good conscience with sincerity, but others use such questions like a jackhammer, taken to the foundation and column supports of the Word of God in a deliberate effort to undermine.

But a Christian can use questioning as a chisel and tool for Bible study that brings depth, texture and richness to the Bible while preserving it's mantle of authority in our lives.

I'll use Exodus 34:4-5 as an example and share my questioning of the Bible today. This builds off Some thought about the same passage in The Knife Edge of the Name of the Lord. Here are the verses:

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.

In questioning the text, sometimes there are answers, sometimes there aren't. Here's how I've been questioning this text.

What was Moses' state of mind as he chiseled the tablets? Was he still angry because of the golden calf? Was he ashamed because he smashed the first two tablets after seeing the people worship the golden calf? Did Moses use a different type of rock for the second set of tablets than the first? What is the geology of Mt. Sinai?

OK, I'm a geologist so I can't leave that question unanswered. Excuse me while I do a long, exhausting google search [insert sound of clock ticking off all of 14 seconds...] Alright, I'm back. Mt. Sinai is a combination of granite, volcanic rocks, and some metamorphic rocks. Here's a picture courtesy of Wikipedia:














Since Moses was able to smash the first set of tablets containing the ten commandments, did he use a weaker rock on the first set? Did he select the rock for the first tablets based on how easy it would be to chisel? Were the first commandments made of a weathered volcanic rock, chosen by Moses because he could easily knock out the chiseling job in an afternoon while munching some mana chips? Did God instruct Moses to use the much stronger granite for the second set of tablets? Or did Moses make that decision himself? When Moses wandered the arid foothills of Mt. Sinai, did God issue a little cough when Moses looked at an outcrop of rock that was too weak? Because God is sovereign and all knowing and he knew the very rock that would be chosen by Moses, when that rock was being formed millions of years prior in the depths of the earth, did God point that rock out to and angel in heaven and say, "There it is, watch that piece. Someday it's going to be raised to the surface and exposed and I will write my law on it a second time."?

When Moses finally found suitable rock, was it laying loosely on the ground, or did he have to pry it from a nearly impenetrable slab on the mountain side. Did it require the help of Aaron? How long did it take Moses to chisel the stone? What became of the chisel that Moses used? Was it handed down to his son? Were there calluses formed on his hands in the process? Did the hands of Moses bleed when chiseling, because he labored so hard against a brutally strong granite? When Jesus worked his carpentry in the early days did his hands bleed in the same place as Moses?

[Here's where my questioning took an unexpected turn.]

Who else got calluses and blisters in the Bible? Did the Koathites get blisters on their shoulders from the poles when they carried the ark in the desert? Did the Levitical priests get blisters from swinging the blade that killed millions of animals to atone for sin? Did Peter have calluses from working his fishing nets? And when he was called to serve Jesus and leave his nets was he glad or sad when he lost the calluses? Did the man who carried the cross of Jesus get blisters on his shoulders? Was there a rookie roman soldier among those who flogged Jesus, who then went home and complained to his wife because the blisters on his hands really hurt bad? Were there blisters and calluses on the hands of the one who carved the stone that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb. Did the Father and Son also watch that rock form in the bowels of the earth and then get exposed and mined at the surface? Did Jesus keep an eye on that stone for thousands or millions of years, knowing it would guard him in death and be the first thing he saw at his resurrection?

Yes, we should question the Bible. Often and in great detail. Questions bring out marvels and richness to an amazing, miraculous book that records God's very Word.