Why Do You Believe?

I had a good conversation with a family member recently. They talked about taking a Bible class at church, and how difficult it was to understand the Old Testament. Rules. Exile. Punishment. Death. More rules. They were really struggling with the God of the Old Testament and how to make sense of their faith in light of what they were reading and studying. This family member came to three conclusions, and didn't really like any of those three:

• Take the Bible very literally, in which case they didn't want to follow a God like the one of the Old Testament
• God must have wrongly-predicted the actions of his creation, thus making God fallible
• Assume the Bible is written by imperfect humans, who—though inspired by God—misinterpreted many things that God said to them

These are some hard conclusions to arrive at. I have thought about these conclusions and agree with this family member. The Old Testament is an extremely difficult set of narratives to accept. So, then, what are we left with? Unbelief? Doubt? A pointless faith?

Why do we continue to believe?

I can only speak for myself. In a world that tempts my doubt, I continue to believe because I want to believe in a God who is a champion for the hopeless. God, and the Church, are meant to be a shining light in the darkest of dark places. God is a haven for those rejected by the world. For those who are unloved and unaccepted, God accepts. At least that's what the Bible teaches. Jesus was a defender for the weak, poor and oppressed. The world is full of these people. Those who don't like the way they look; those who can't love themselves; those whose past sins continue to pour guilt upon them; those who don't feel accepted by any one. God exists for those people most of all. And when you identify with those people, you're likely to find God. And when you find God, the confusing words of the Old Testament don't seem to matter.

So why do you believe? Responses welcome...