(6.) Our Accommodating God: His Holy Scripture

(6.) Our Accommodating God: His Holy Scripture. (this post is in process and will be completed soon)

“Who is able to understand the mind of Lord Yahweh? Who is able to be His teacher? We, however, have the mind of Christ!” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

An Accommodating Person is one who graciously changes plans for another’s benefit; who is willing to adjust in order to meet another’s needs; is open to adapting to changing circumstances; who is able to make concessions if needed; who makes allowances for others; who choose to oblige other and give them favors in order to be helpful; who is able to creatively shift from Plan A to Plan B if needed; who makes space for others to learn and grow; who welcomes others to fit into his own space; who makes reasonable exceptions to a general rule; who is comfortable in doing whatever it takes to be understood or to communicate effectively; who is willing to adjust expectations in light of reality; who is able to place limits on himself if it help others to flourish; who is able to step back in order to enable others to step forward.

Qualities of An Accommodating Person: Gracious; Humble; Sacrificial; Flexible; Observant; Farsighted; Insightful; Adaptable; Reasonable; Forgiving; Hospitable; Patient; Self-Effacing; Shrewd.

Our Accommodating God is willing, in His wisdom, to do everything described above, and then some. It seems to be in His nature to be an accommodating Soul, a part of His character since before Day One. God has been making concessions from before the creation of the universe, since creation itself was accomplished in the spirit of accommodation. God has also condescended to reveal His glory, agreed to His presence in the wilderness Tabernacle, made concessions to cultural realities in His Law, communicated in human language to produce holy Scripture, accommodated His word through His messengers, made Himself available through the Church’s sacraments, humbly revealed Himself with dreams and visions, and offered to us the ultimate accommodation… the Incarnation of His infinite Being to finite planet earth. God’s accommodations began before the beginning, during that eternal time before Day One, when Creator God filled everything, had always been present everywhere at the same time, and yet decided to make room for the universe. And the Lord has continued making concessions with His creation, with human beings, ever since. And that is the divine pattern to be found in our lives as well… to accommodate, to make space in our lives for God and for each other.

Why would the Bible be considered an example of God’s accommodation? The written Scripture is seen as a supremely gracious act of God motivated by His yearning for a personal relationship with each of us:

… He adjusted His heavenly communications to our earthly level so we could begin to understand Him better;

… He was willing to make Himself knowable even though He is essentially beyond our comprehension;

… He volunteered to stoop down and lower Himself to our human level out of love for us;

… He was willing to communicate in accessible human language instead of in an inaccessible heavenly language;

… He adapted to where we are in His communication instead of demanding to go where He is;

… He chose to inspire every type of person imaginable to reflect His words and thoughts and not just the spiritually elite;

… He made allowances to our finite intelligence to help us read His infinite mind;

… He had the humility and grace to accept our human limitations in order to communicate with us;

… He desired to reach every kind of person by inspiring the authors to use every type of literature: short story; historical narrative; metaphor; poetry; music; allegory; humor; dreams; satire; biography; genealogy; fable; eyewitness accounts; fable; essays; moral teachings; wisdom principles; apocalyptic visions.

… He placed His human and angelic messengers in historical times and places to communicate the Reality of his presence and not disconnected from real life in some fantasy world;

… He was willing to describe His divine qualities by using human terms such as His arms, His hands, His memory, His sight, His hearing, His tasting, His heart, His legs.

Is Scripture truly His Word? Is it reliable? Is it inspired? Is it accurate? 

The Judeo-Christian Bible was written over a span of about 1,600 years by over forty different authors. The first book (either Job at 1,800 BC or Genesis at 1,400 BC) was written about 3,800 years ago, and the latest (either Revelation at 95 AD or 2 Peter at 110 AD) about 1,900 years ago.

The Bible is technically more reliable than any other historical documents, with more verified original manuscripts than Julius Caesar, or Plato, or Homer, or any other historical figure. Archeology continues to confirm Biblical information, and ancient prophecies continue to be fulfilled. If the Bible is untrustworthy, then so is every other historical record.