PrologueIt all started with a conversation, no... a discussion, no... a debate, no... a conversation. The conversation occurred with a friend about a topic that is a deeply controversial issue in our current culture. We didn't agree. I have a fairly diverse group of friends, so conversations of these types of topics happen quite often. What made this conversation unique is that our disagreement was not political but biblical in nature. In short, he thought the Bible was clear on this particular topic. I was less than convinced.Part IThe Bible is ClearThe problem with talking about biblical clarity is that the Bible, very often, is not clear. There is a difference between “using” the Scriptures and “loving” the Scriptures. When people begin a sentence with “The Bible is clear…” this is often a clue that they are about to “use” the Scriptures to defend a certain political position or serve a cultural agenda. This, however, is nothing new. Christians throughout history have opposed or supported some programs that we are embarrassed about today because they thought “the Bible was clear.” For example, Christians have opposed things like: abolition, integration, women's suffrage, and a heliocentric model of the universe. ,all because “the Bible was clear.” However, I must point out that there were also Christians who appealed to the Scriptures to support these things. These questions should serve as a reminder that rhetorical claims about the Bible's clarity on a topic do not necessarily make it so. Furthermore, even just a brief moment of self-examination reveals that we all approach the Bible with varying levels of subjectivity. In other words, the Bible does not interpret itself. All of us, at least to some extent, do the work of interpretation. So when someone says, “The Bi... in the center of the paper... you see that: Jesus reveals God. The Scriptures testify to Jesus. In conclusion If you think I slipped on a banana peel and lost my mind, you I still love.If you currently feel the creeping desire to grab your laptop, phone, or tablet and throw it at me, let me remind you of one of my favorite quotes by John Wesley: “Though we may not think alike, we do not could we love the same way? Can't we have one heart, even if we don't have a single opinion? Without a doubt, we can." After all, that is the purpose of Scripture: to bear witness to the love of Christ. Ultimately, the purpose of Scripture is not to make us have one mind but to take our sin-marred heart and replace it with the heart of Christ. The word of God (the Bible) is a plowshare that opens hearts so that the Word of God (Christ) can reach them. If we can grasp this, then perhaps we are reading the Bible right..