Without the Word
Wayne Turner

What happens when a religious body loses touch with its beliefs?  When it drifts away from those things that defined and shaped it?  When it ceases to accept what it once held as truth?

            In 1925, the United Church of Canada came from the union of Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational denominations.  The new body thrived as the largest non-Catholic church in the country with literally thousands of congregations, many with large buildings and thriving programs.  Then, something started to change.  According to Statistics Canada, between 1991 and 2001, membership dropped by 8%, from about 3.1 to 2.8 million.  According to the church’s annual report in 2006, their total membership in local congregations was 558,129 and the estimated number of people under “pastoral care” by the church was just under 1.5 million.  Congregations are closing.  Obviously, a disconnect has occurred between the members and the church.  Why? 

            In 1925, the founding belief statement of the church, the “Basis for Union,” stated that the Bible is “the primary source and ultimate standard of Christian faith and life.”  A later statement of beliefs said that the Bible is a “source of wisdom, personal prayer and devotion” which has a “mysterious power to inform our lives.”  In 2006, a new statement of faith was created, “A Song of Faith.”  In this, scripture is “our song for the journey, the living word passed on from generation to generation to guide and inspire, that we might wrestle a holy revelation for our time and place from the human experiences and cultural assumptions of another era.” 

            Perhaps a clearer view of the place of scripture for many United Church clergy comes from Gretta Vosper, United minister and author of With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important Than What We Believe.  In her internet blog, she speaks of the “fallibility of the document we have called foundational: the Bible.”  In her view, the Biblical writers were simply products of their times and prejudices and the God presented in the Bible is only a “compilation” of these, who became “the champion of those prejudices.”  Her rejection extends even to the core of the Bible message: the cross.  “I cannot perpetuate the telling of a story of brutality as a sacrifice for my sins…” We might ask, without the Bible as revelation and authority, miracles, the cross, what is left?  No wonder people are leaving!

            You might be asking what this has to do with you – with us?  The religious world has long recognized two main streams in the non-Catholic world: evangelicals and liberals  – those who believe in the inspiration and authority of scripture and those, like Vosper, who see the Bible as simply a cultural artifact, the product of human history.  Within our own fellowship, it is easy to assume that everyone present shares the same convictions about the seriousness and infallibility of Scripture and to feel that we do not have much in common with groups like the United Church.  However, a closer look at the current state of the general evangelical stream should provoke us to look more closely at our own condition.

            A recent survey by the Pew Research Center Forum on Religion and Public Life (named for Joseph N. Pew, the founder of Sun Oil Co.) described the “U.S. Religious Landscape.” The survey showed that while 63% believed that their “sacred texts” are the word of God, only 33% felt it could be taken literally.  Given the diversity of the United States, this is not surprising.  This weakened acceptance of scripture becomes more evident looking at specific points of belief.  When asked if many religions can lead to eternal life, 57% of those who identified themselves as Evangelicals said, “Yes!”  While claiming to believe the Bible is God’s word, they do not believe Jesus is the only way!

            We need to remember that there are very definite differences in the religious climates between the U.S. and Canada.  Canada is more secular, religion more personal and private than its neighbour to the south.  Given the relative dominance of Evangelicalism in the U.S., one could reasonably expect that these figures would be greater in Canada – that even fewer believers would take the Bible literally (or seriously) and more Evangelicals would reject Jesus’ claim to be the only way to the Father.

            The Bible lies at the core of our faith.  It reveals the power, majesty, holiness and love of our Creator.  It shows the hold that sin has over us and God’s saving action in the cross.  It tells us of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God and the Lamb of God – the unique sacrifice for our sins and the only way to eternal life with the Father.  It is “living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword.”  Without the Bible and its message, we have nothing, no hope.  We have a house built on sand, not on the Rock.

            We need to learn from what has happened to the United Church.  Eighty years ago, it claimed to accept the Bible as God’s revelation and authority.  Over time, the church drifted away from it.  Today, the Bible is merely part of the United Church’s heritage and tradition,  but no longer is heard as the authoritative word of God.

            As those who claim to accept the Bible as God’s word, we need to ask ourselves some serious questions.  Where are we headed if our Bibles lie on bookshelves collecting dust?  If we no longer read and study, attend Bible classes, want to hear public Bible readings  and sermons that teach Bible truth?  If we are not interested in spending time researching and learning from its teachings?  If we are not growing from babies with milk to mature adults with God;s meat?  What does it suggest if a congregation has a decreasing number of people participating in Bible studies?