Hillsdale College

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SPOILER ALERT! This is the last sentence.

"Whether approached as sacred scripture, historical document, or literary masterpiece, it rewards careful reading and thoughtful engagement."

"The Bible is not a single book but a vast library, written and compiled over more than a thousand years by many authors in different historical, cultural, and political contexts. It includes poetry, law codes, myths, genealogies, prophecy, letters, wisdom literature, apocalyptic visions, and narrative history. Because of that diversity, forming an “opinion” about it is less like reviewing a novel and more like responding to an entire civilizational archive. My perspective, therefore, is not devotional or dismissive, but literary, historical, and philosophical.

First, as literature, the Bible is extraordinary. Its language—especially in traditional English translations like the King James Version—has profoundly shaped the rhythms and imagery of English prose and poetry. Even outside religious contexts, ...

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The Bible presents its understanding of God in a progressive and layered way. It does not begin with a systematic doctrine of “God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit” laid out in philosophical terms. Instead, it tells a story—creation, covenant, exile, restoration—and within that story, the identity of God unfolds. My perspective, reading it as a unified literary and theological narrative, is that the Bible presents a profoundly relational vision of ultimate reality: one God who is personal, morally serious, historically engaged, and ultimately self-giving.

God (The Father)

In the Hebrew Scriptures, God is first and foremost Creator. Genesis opens with a sovereign voice bringing order out of chaos. Unlike ancient myths in which gods emerge from cosmic conflict, this God stands above creation and speaks it into being. That portrayal carries philosophical weight: reality is not random but willed; existence is intentional.

But this Creator is not distant. The defining feature of the biblical God is ...