Okay… so… I reckon this splits the audience about three ways…
The question for debate:
“Do you believe the Bible?”
To the atheist (to the first approximation) the answer is a clear: no.
To some Christians here, the answer is a clear: yes; to these (y’know who y’all are y’fundies from JWs to YECs), I’m not asking for more (but your input is welcome nonetheless).
Today I’d like to hear from the “it’s complicated” crowd; Christians of all stripes who do not believe in Adam and Eve as literal people (perhaps you accept modern genetics), or Noah (perhaps you accept modern genetics and geology)… to those I address this OP… those of you who might laugh off being chastised by those who would answer a clear and resounding “yes” for your less literal interpretation of that bookful of nonsense sometimes known amongst us as the “good book”, a sobriquet I insist it could only deserve if correctly filed under Horror Fiction where it indubitably plays second fiddle to many modern works.
So… yeah… if you wouldst answer the question “Do you believe the Bible?” with neither a resounding “yes” or a resounding “no”, please explain to me exactly how you read the Bible… please include whether or not you believe in and worship YHWH, and include how exactly you propose that this character has spoken to you personally, either through scripture, through creation, through the story of his selfson, through answers to prayers… only… whatever explanation you give, please explain how this ties back to the Bible specifically (which is, I beg Christians remember, the only “source” text we have for the life of a character they revere that was [apparently] long dead by the time Saul of Tarsus converted by “direct experience” (not from hearing from eye witnesses, years before the Gospels were dreamed up).
So yeah. Um. Yeah… are you a Yes, a No or a Maybe? If you’re a maybe, what’s the complicated bit? Can you explain it clearly?