I teach a class as well as preach most Sundays. I asked my class, “How do we handle it when a scriptural word disagrees with the teachings of Jesus?”

Example from the Flood Story: “The Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved his heart.”

A God who goofs and is sorry for his mistake is not the God of the Gospels. God doesn’t goof. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48 that God is perfect. God is also omnipotent. So, God knew what we would be before God made us.

It is not possible to reconcile that word from Genesis with the God we know through Jesus. But many Christians try. They are forced to, for they have built their faith on the idea that the whole Bible is inerrant.

But we know that’s not true. I say “we” know it. Anyone who can read and think knows it. But scriptural inerrantists are taught not to think. They are taught not to believe their own eyes, not to read the clear meaning of words on a page.

Result: The teachings of Jesus lose their authority, for the perfect God he proclaims must also be a God who goofs and grieves his mistakes. The God of perfect love must also be a God who destroys his creation.

The Flood Story is a great story. But it is very bad theology.

There is a center of authority within the Bible, and that center is Jesus. His word stands above all others. John tells us he is the Word.

Of course, folks in my class knew this already. They can all read.

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