Once, years ago, in private conversation, I met someone I greatly respected. I only met him once and one of the questions he asked me, among other things, was: have I read the Bible? I had to confess that I hadn’t read much but I boasted that I had read a lot of contemporary French philosophy and I also tried to articulate a bit the excellent perspective that I had learned from those readings. So I proceeded to enlighten him that all the problems in the world are caused by “logocentrism”.

However, I had to read the bible for the sake of general education in case I ever got into a discussion where I didn’t want to appear ignorant of the history of Western beliefs. It was quite a bit of tar drinking at times. I don’t claim to have read every word, but I probably got through most of it. And there are some great archetypal stories. It could perhaps be argued that not all dramatic twists and turns always represent the best possible example of how a person should behave. There seem to be as many anti-heroes in the Bible as there are in modern films. And even the heroes there screw up. David falls for another man’s wife, Moses loses his temper when he shouldn’t, etc.

So why is the Bible worth reading?
The general education argument is, of course, a valid one. But is there also argument for spiritual insight and of worldview?
Most people in the secular West still believe in some kind of God or deity or at least some kind of “behind-the-scenes” force (love?) that is greater than man. If there is a God, then the next question is: what is this God like? What should we know about God and what should be our relationship with God.

But of course, first we should find out whether God exists or not.
The thorny disputes and questions of our society often seem to polarize in sync with this question.

I was brought up 100% agnostic. The existence of God was an issue that none of my relatives, to my recollection, ever took a stand on, at least not with any attitude resembling a firm conviction. Sure, there was the joking admission that we are miserable pagans.

Well, the question can be repeated: does God exist or not. And this has been pondered, doubted, believed and proved for and against for thousands of years. If you want an answer to that question, you can also take a moment to assess how such a question can be answered and whether it is possible.

The agnostic believes that it is not possible or, to be precise, the agnostic may believe that the existence of God is possible, but that it is unlikely to be able know anything about it. An atheist, on the other hand, believes in the non-existence of such a category. I would guess that the majority of Finns are some sort of practicing Christian agnostics. Weddings and funerals are done in church and the content of the Lord’s Prayer is remembered if not by heart then at least anecdotaly that “daily bread” was mentioned. Many people may remember the Ten Commandments, at least in part. You shouldn’t look enviously at your neighbour’s cow and things like that. And atheists also think that a moral code that defines killing, stealing and lying as unethical behaviour is also a valid guideline. An atheist might think that we didn’t need Moses to give that instruction. Principled person would have a moral compass to figure it out.

So before deciding whether or not there is a God, one must of course assess whether the question can even be answered. You have to think about the method of acquiring the information. Some may argue that it is not a question of acquiring knowledge but purely a question of faith. I will not entirely dispute that. But how did Carl Jung, for example, have the nerve when asked if he believed in the existence of God to respond that he “knew that God exists”. Was he delusional or did he have “knowledge”? I guess the only way to find out is to try to find out if such knowledge is available.

The Gnostics believed that knowledge is possible. They called this knowledge gnosis, hence the name gnosticism. In early centuries the Church sought to completely eradicate this “heresy” and almost all Gnostic writings were destroyed.

But can reading the Bible answer the question of the existence of God? Many who ponder the question may read the Bible and decide either that

1) this is a God I do not want to believe in,
2) I am no more pious after this than a madman, or
3) the Holy Spirit takes over and one is transformed into a fundamentalist Christian.

Above perhaps the three different basic reactions to reading the Bible from a some thological existential perspective. Perhaps there is a fourth option to get something out of the conjecture surrounding the question. After all, the Bible also contains practical guidelines. Should we try them? For example, if you start following the Ten Commandments strictly, could it be that one day the angel of the Lord knocks on your door or slips a few more extra commandments through your letterbox, saying, “Since you’ve been following these so diligently, here are a few more to give you a little extra challenge.”

Well, then they say, “Ask and ye shall receive”. After all, many people of faith tell stories of how life was at a total standstill and in desperation they had cried out, “God, if you exist, help!” And then they say that a miraculous help came about. Was they hallucinating?

But why should life be at a dead end despair and peril before as the last resort you have to cry out to God for help. What if you could approach this with the attitude of experimental science: if every day you ask God in a loud voice to appear and make plain whether you/he/she/they exist or not!? And if you exist, what conclusions should be drawn from that proposition, if any!??” If there is no God, then she/he will probably never appear. If you ask that question every day firmly and with loud voice determined to get to the bottom of it, then at least on your deathbed you can say “at least I tried”.

But of course, it could be that a person then suggests to himself some kind of hallucination by wishful thinking or imagination. It might be worth making sure that you’ve checked oneself with competent therapy sessions with a diploma of average level of sanity to begin with. On the other hand, if God exists and is bored to listen to such repeated demands for evidence of existence, the Bible also records something like “he does not give a stone when bread is asked for”.

The intellectual and philosophical proofs of God’s existence are then a chapter of their own. They may actually be logically and intellectually plausible but for some reason there are not many churches in the world whose tenets are based on a philosophical logical proof. So at some level faith or gnosis is different from logical or philosophical reasoning.