A few years ago, Jose Saramago, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for literature, said this:
<blockquote>The Bible is a manual of bad morals [which] has a powerful influence on our culture and even our way of life. Without the Bible, we would be different and probably better people.</blockquote>
He want on to describe the Bible as "a catalog of cruelty and of what's worst in human nature." Though I am a life-long follower of Jesus, there are many days when I think Jose may be right.
<h2>If We Didn't Have the Bible</h2>
If we didn’t have the Bible, I wouldn’t have to try to reconcile the nightly news about rape, child molestation, earthquakes killing thousands, and war devastating entire countries with the Scriptural promise that God cares for us more than the birds of the air and flowers of the field.

If we didn’t have the Bible, I wouldn’t have to try to question, along with the Psalmist, why wicked people get rich and stay healthy, while God’s servants lose their homes, their children, their jobs, and their lives.

If we didn’t have the Bible, there might be fewer arguments about homosexuality, hell, and how to get to heaven. Sure, some of us still would argue, because we all want to be right. But if we didn’t have Bible verses to throw at each other, most of us would probably spend less time arguing and more time loving.

If we didn’t have the Bible, maybe there would be fewer sermons and Bible studies and more service of others and caring for one another.

People say we need the Bible to get our questions answered, solve our problems in life, and provide direction on how to live. I just don't see that the Bible does this very well. It seems to create more questions and problems than it solves. It generates arguments, provides justification for war, and helps us condemn and hate others who do not believe or behave like us.

Yes, sometimes I think that life would be better without the Bible.
<h2>I'm Glad We Have the Bible</h2>
But then, if I didn’t have the Bible, I might know about Jesus. It is he that keeps me returning to Scripture. It is he who provides the lens through which I view life. It is he who shows me what love for others really looks like, and how service can be done in a way that both dignifies and provides help to others.

And despite my discomfort with a lot of what is said in Scripture, and especially with the ways Scripture is sometimes used, Scripture seems to have been a source of comfort and guidance for Jesus. This tells me that there must be a way to accept Scripture, but still  live and love like Jesus, rather than like many who claim to be his followers.

So although I sometimes think life would be better without the Bible, what I probably mean is that life would be better without the way some people use the Bible. Maybe if I can learn to read the Bible like Jesus, as an inspiration for love, mercy, and forgiveness, rather than as a way to justify hate and war, I can once again be thankful for the Bible.