Stan is godbreathed too. The record of godbreathed isn’t all that.

Stan has once again put all his eggs in the basket of “godbreathed” from Paul’s instructions to Timothy. Almost as often as Stan rejects Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 about the judgment, Stan defends upon this for his Bible idolatry:

“… how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired [Stan’s godbreathed] by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

This isn’t the heart of the encouragements and instructions Paul gives to Timothy. Actually it reads more as an afterthought. Most of what Paul urges Timothy to do is preach the word of Jesus and the good news of his resurrection and to follow Paul’s model in maintaining a life of courage by holding to the faith and love that is in Christ.

And, oh yeah, the ancient scriptures are inspirational and will help you for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

No one disputes this. ALL scripture is vital to the Christian life. 

But Stan uses it as talisman to magically deny all growth in human thinking under god. Despite Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit would continue to teach  the fullness of god’s promises until everything was known: the end of human history as we are taken into eternal life with god where everything IS known, everything loved.

Stan cannot face a changing world or an intellectually and spiritually growing church as guided by the Holy Spirit.

Stan hides in between the leather covers of his fetishized book whatever god intended him to bless the world with.

Just a few problems with Stan’s absolute use of θεόπνευστος:

A. Paul is referring to the Torah and the Prophets and Writings which Timothy started reading in the synagogue as a boy. Paul is writing three centuries before there will be a Christian Bible. 

B. God breathed into the nostrils of Adam. And we know what outcome radical protestants pin on Adam.

C. Jesus, after his resurrection in his first appearance to the disciples except Thomas, he breathed on the disciples - not just the Apostles but ALL the disciples - and said, “receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Wow! Well, things have gone somewhat better with the church as Christ’s body than Israel as God’s chosen sign to the world. The promise of salvation is now offered to everyone. 

But in the book of Acts, Even the “god-breathed-on” Peter resisted pretty hard, 3 times, the Spirit’s lesson about nobody being unclean just because they’re not you’re kind of people.

God breathing on someone isn’t a guarantee of perfection. Far from it. This side of heaven nothing is. And the promise of growing into perfection is only offered to human beings who call on the power of the Holy Spirit to increase in the faith and love of Jesus Christ.

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to the church and delivered. The book helps. But he didn’t promise a book. The sacraments help , too, AND HE DID INSTITUTE SACRAMENTS. 

But putting love of people first, just as Christ did, is the work. All of God’s creation is beautiful. All of it flawed.

The Bible tells us so even as it performs imperfection. Very inspiring in the quiet hours. 

But it’s not an iron dome. And shouldn’t be. 

Only fragile White men who think they’re oppressed fantasize about a paper-made iron dome.