Dan Kimball > Quotes

“Time and again I hear how important the darker environment is to those at our vintage-faith worship gathering. Attenders feel they can freely pray in a corner by themselves without feeling that everyone is staring at them.”
― Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations

“The library of books in the Bible was written by human authors who each had God’s Spirit inspiring and guiding them.* The library of books in the Bible was and still is a primary way God communicates with us, giving us guidance. God wants us to know him, to know our origins and future, and to have guidance for life. So God intentionally and purposely oversaw the process of what was written, using the different personalities and life experiences and situations of each human author to communicate what he wished to say.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy Sounding Parts of Scripture

“But not every promise or blessing is something we can directly apply to our lives today. We might take Bible verses and promises that are not meant for us and then be disappointed in God when they don’t happen.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“I believe this is a major reason why for so many people the Christian faith ends up being defined by the extremes. Many of us have so few friendships with others outside the church that people see only the aggressive street evangelists or a pastor on the news who got caught in some scandal or who is being interviewed and saying some nutty things. If people don’t see normal, day-to-day examples of real-life Christianity, then we shouldn’t be surprised if the scandals and the extreme voices end up defining their view of the church.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“We need to step back and look at the more fundamental question: What was the author originally saying? We cannot simply read our own understandings into the meaning of a word or statement someone else wrote or said. And when we look at some often bizarre-sounding parts of the Bible, we have to try to discover who the original audience was and view the text through their lens, not ours. If we don't, the possibilities for confusion are endless.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible

“Slavery is evil. God did not create it or endorse it. God specified the death penalty for slave traders in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament he clearly said it is sin. The Bible verses on slavery guide us in how to bring better treatment to people caught in a system that was established by humans. • Most of ancient slavery in the time of the Old Testament and New Testament was different from the slavery we are familiar with in modern times. Back then people were bought as servants, the money going to pay a person’s debt. Poverty forced others into servanthood just to stay alive. This slavery, or servanthood,”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“What we do find in the Bible is the progression of instruction. The Old Testament gave guidance to protect slaves and give them more dignity. This made Israel distinct from other nations. The New Testament moves one step farther, declaring that regardless of whether one is the slave or the one the slave serves, they are equals, brothers and sisters in Jesus.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“When organized religion organizes around the things Jesus would be pleased with, amazing things can happen.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“Christianity teaches that the world is broken, and this brokenness is out fault. And the only way it can be fixed is through God's work. It's a work that only God can do and there are no other options. The biblical teaching is consistent on this point. This is not about the Bible being intolerant or sounding crazy. It's simply an ancient story stemming back to the creation, a story of one God who sent one Savior, Jesus, to be the way to relate to him and be in relationship with him.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible

“once heard a short saying about Jesus, comparing him to the other religious leaders. It stuck in my head and goes something like this: “Founders of other religions claim they are a prophet to help you find God. Jesus came to say, ‘I am God come to find you.’ ” The Hindu Vedas say, “Truth is one, but the sages speak of it in many different ways.” Buddha said, “My teachings point the way to attainment of the truth.” Muhammad said, “The truth has been revealed to me.” Jesus said,“I am the truth.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“has done and put their faith in him. This Jesus movement became a multiethnic international movement.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“The free gift of salvation from the forever “fallout” of sin and evil, the forgiveness of sins and evils we have personally committed, and the promise of being with God for all eternity now are available to all those who believe what Jesus”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“We believe the Bible was written for us, that it’s for everyone of all times and places because it’s God’s Word. But it wasn’t written to us. It wasn’t written in our language, it wasn’t written with our culture in mind or our culture in view. —DR. JOHN WALTON, PROFESSOR, AUTHOR1”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“This might sound odd, but I believe that one of the biggest reasons there are so many negative perceptions of Christianity and the church is that Christians hang out with each other too much.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“I can say pretty assuredly that most churches don’t set out to control or hurt people. And most don’t. But it does happen. Over time, churches can change and begin to place a higher value on their systems and programs than on the people they are called to serve.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“How ironic that God is criticized for ending the evil by punishing those who engage and advocate for it.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“One possible rationale for these foods being restricted is for general health reasons. This was a pre-scientific era, and God may have been protecting his people from potential sickness and harm. As we know today, shrimp are filter-feeders prone to containing live bacteria if eaten uncooked. The same is true for pork and several other meats—if you don’t cook them well, you can get pretty sick. That’s one possibility. But most likely, the restrictions were about more than just healthy living. Most scholars agree that God gave the dietary laws to reinforce the same concept we discussed before—keeping the people distinct and separate from the other people groups.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“If we don't look at the context, we can easily come to all sorts of conclusions that don't align with what the Bible is actually saying. The Bible is an ancient book written across centuries, and we must use the minds God gave us to examine these claims against the Bible to see if they are true and accurate in the way they are presented.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible

“We can organize the church for acts of goodness such as caring for the poor and helping those in need. We know that this type of organized religion actually pleases Jesus.111”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“God’s house is now in the people of God wherever they are, whether it’s in the parking lot, in a bowling alley, or in an office cubicle.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“But when we understand that we are called to be the church, not just go to church, it changes our identity. No longer do we go to a building where religious activities happen and that is “church.” We now are the church all week long.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“What makes the difference between healthy and destructive organization is what you are organizing for. When the church decides to organize around controlling people, politics, and self-preservation, it eventually leads to unhealthy and restrictive organization.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“When we think of church primarily as a place or an event we go to, we minimize the theologically rich identity of the church as the people of God. And this identity — of being the church — is more than a passive statement about who we are; it’s also a call to action. As representatives of Jesus, those called to communicate and live out his message and the message about him, we are on a mission.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“Just because it is recorded in the Bible does not mean God agrees with it, nor did he create it. Instead, we see God working within the culture with the institutions and social patterns humans established, transforming them, but not approving of them.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible

“We live in a fallen world, and in that fallout is inequality between the sexes resulting in human-designed institutions like polygamy and men having concubines. Yet God, in his love and grace, worked within these fallen systems to care for women in those systems.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“In general, Jesus did not focus on specific civil laws or governments, but addressed the desires and motives of the human heart.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“God wanted them to be holy, distinct from the people groups who lived around them. The word “holy” means set apart, separated, and kept away from the evil and false worship of the neighboring nations.”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“In short, the coming of Christ changed how we worship, but not how we live. The moral law outlines God’s own character—his integrity, love, and faithfulness. And so everything the Old Testament says about loving our neighbor, caring for the poor, generosity with our possessions, social relationships, and commitment to our family is still in force. The New Testament continues to forbid killing or committing adultery, and all the sex ethic of the Old Testament is re-stated throughout the New Testament (Matt. 5:27–30; 1 Cor. 6:9–20; 1 Tim. 1:8–11). If the New Testament has reaffirmed a commandment, then it is still in force for us today.1”
― Dan Kimball, How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

“Whatever the tradition is, if that tradition becomes more important than the mission of seeing people come to know Jesus, then it’s time for the whip.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

“As you have learned through my own story, it is real people just doing their best to follow Jesus who end up making the biggest impact on the world.”
― Dan Kimball, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion