Misadventures with the Bible
In recent years the classic understanding of biblical inspiration and its resulting authority in all of life has been undergoing a major revision among some evangelicals.
The revision, on the high end, is evident in the work of N.T. Wright, for example, and I. Howard Marshall; it is evident on the low end in experimenters like Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and a host of other cultural fashionistas.
Howard Marshall
Marshall, in his 2004 book Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology, was thinking about the ways Christian faith has ‘developed’ across the ages. Much of what he says is unexceptional. However, he does say that some of the images Jesus used to speak of God in the parables are simply unacceptable today, such as God being compared to a jailer (Matthew 18.34) and presiding over a hell (Luke 16.25,28), or killing people (Luke 19.27). These images are incredible to us now, even if Jesus did use them, and the reason is that the Spirit has been enlightening our minds since then.
