If this is true, I can understand why, having seen the different ways people have interpreted scripture.

I grew up in a home where it was believed that every word in the Bible was dictated by God. Reading scripture could be more political than spiritual.

If your haven't read the Bible, here is some information about that collection of ancient writings.

The Bible is a Catholic book.

It was put together at a time when Christianity was flourishing in a somewhat chaotic way, with many writings, some of them fanciful and far from the apostolic teachings.

The material in what we call the Old Testament spans over 2000 years of Jewish history.

The chapters include laws, teachings, biographies, songs we call the Psalms and a beautiful book about love called "The Song of Songs."

The Old Testament provides the background to the New Testament which is all about the coming of Christ Jesus and his ministry

I imagine that the hardest task for the Church, was finding authentic Gospels. So much had been written, and groups of worshippers had formed around the writings.

I understand hat there were two mystical Gospels, "John" and "Thomas," and no one could decide which should be included. Eventually the Gospel of John was chosen because it was the favourite of a certain bishop.

The Gospel of Thomas went into the junk pile.

With the finding that came from the Dead Sea Scrolls and carbon dating, the Syriac version of the Gospel of Thomas has proved to be the earliest of the Gospels.

As a Church, we have not done much to reinstate Thomas, possibly because in the last verses Jesus makes Mary of Magdala one of the Apostles.

However, I am sure our wise Pope Francis has read the Gospel of Thomas.

Our pope made Mary of Magdala "the Apostle of the Apostles."

So now I go back to those who say there is no need to read the Bible because the important bits are in the Mass.

The last is true.

But it is not the same experience.

Suppose you had always wanted to walk the El Camino. Friends who had done it, showed you photos of different parts of the journey.

This was interesting.

But when you did the walk yourself, it was an entirely different experience.

That's what it is like sitting down and read a Gospel from beginning to end.

Why not try it?

You may want to choose the Gospel of John which is very spiritual.

Read with your heart.

By that, I mean reading open to the way your body responds to certain words.

Head knowledge is useful for living, but it is that indescribable heart knowledge that effects spiritual growth.

We know this in the beauty of the Mass.

We will also encounter it in the John Gospel.

Reading a Gospel is a beautiful little pilgrimage.

• Joy Cowley is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, retreat facilitator and author.

That question is still with me, although I understand why the Church has discouraged personal interpretation of Scripture.

Some misinterpretations of the Bible have caused strife and division in Christianity.

At times, spiritual signposts have been pulled out of the ground of history and used as political weapons.

Understandably, the Catholic Church has been cautious.

But rejecting the Bible is surely an over-reaction.

Catholic friends have told me they don't need a Bible because it is all in the daily readings.

Well no, it isn't, and anyway, that's not the point.

I too am nourished by the daily readings of the Church. They are fruits of my faith. But I also need their context.

I want to know about the branches of the tree that has given me these fruits, and I want to know about the tree's Jewish roots of the tree now growing strong into the light.

I explore all this in the collection of books we call the Bible.

When I was young, I read the Bible in a fundamentalist way.

Fundamentalism is not an error. It is part of the early journey. We start on a narrow path, with a given map and we tend to worship the map.

How gently Jesus guides us from early belief to the full freedom of faith. The path gets wider as experience makes notes on our map.

All this happens because we do not read the Bible alone.

The Sacred Presence of Jesus is with us, always taking us to a larger place.

There is a great richness of human experience n the Bible: history, parable, myth, poetry, stories or violence, rejoicing, despair, hope, laws for survival, songs and sermons.

I've found some of the Old Testament boring; some stories filled me with horror.

Yet through it, all humans are finding their relationship with God.

They hungered for God.

When I was young, this was important because I didn't see that quest in the people around me.

Only the bible addressed my longing for spiritual growth.

To anyone wanting to study the Bible, I would suggest you join a group.

Find out when each book of the Bible was written, why it was written and who it was written for.

This knowledge is important.

Much of the book of Genesis was written at the time of the Babylonian exile when Israelites believed they were taken from their promised land because they had greatly offended God.

The result was a powerful myth about two people, Adam and Eve, who were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

Like the story of Rangi and Papatuanuku, this myth holds some human truth.

But Adam and Eve were not historical characters, and we know that we do not have a punishing God.

So yes, it is important to know when and why a book was written.

It is also important to read the Bible at two levels, with both head and heart.

The head absorbs the historical background of our church and the roots of our faith.

The heart will receive Lectio Divina, the sacred nourishment we need for the day.

I grew up with the Bible and now have eleven translations, each slightly different.

Why eleven? some people ask.

I tell them that stops me from worshipping words.

• Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator.

I should know; I'm one of those fans. "Buffy" is still my favorite show after all these years.

Just to show my nerd cred:

• I served a term on the editorial board for the academic journal Slayage: The Journal of Buffy Studies, which was later renamed to Whedon Studies, and maybe renamed again to rid itself of the association with Whedon.
• I presented a paper at the first-ever national conference of Whedonverse scholars. (My husband even played the piano for our huge group singalong of the "Buffy" musical episode.)
• I published a book about the vampire slayer as a spiritual guide, poring over every episode and analyzing the show's religious themes.

So yeah, I guess you could say I am a fan.

It's acutely painful anytime you realize someone you have admired has hurt people, especially when the particular ways in which that person has visited destruction on other human beings seem so ironic, so antithetical to that person's own values.

Like Whedon, who taught a whole generation about female empowerment, objectifying women and systematically disempowering women in the workplace (and, apparently, in his marriage). Or like J.K. Rowling, who brought us beautiful stories about the evils of racism and about a wise gay father figure in Albus Dumbledore, coming under fire for not extending her famous progressive stances to include transgender women.

People are complicated. Very, very complicated.

But our cultural response is not.

In fact, it has become devastatingly simple: cancel.

Burn it all down.

Whatever beauty or wisdom the now-tarnished individual has contributed to the world must be expunged, gone forever because we're tainted if we so much as look at it, let alone honor any goodness abiding there.

I find this a problematic response, though an understandable and human one.

It keeps things simple.

It keeps us from having to do the hard work of ferreting out what is still life-giving about a cultural touchstone from whatever mess its creator has also created.

When we cancel culture, we like to believe we're standing in solidarity with the people the creator has harmed, and some of us are.

Others of us are just abiding with a herd mentality, an all-or-nothing response that switches us from idolizing a creator to demonizing him or her, all overnight. It's just easier that way.

As a Christian, I've found guidance about cancel culture from a source both unexpected and zero percent surprising: the Bible.

You see, as I was thinking about cancel culture earlier this month, I had also just read Kristin Swenson's new book from Oxford, "A Most Peculiar Book: The Inherent Strangeness of the Bible."

One of the things that didn't make it into my published interview with her was her nuanced discussion of "Good People Behaving Badly" in the Bible, which was, basically, every single character except for Jesus.

Like David, who was revered as the ancestor of the Messiah and the greatest king of the Bible's history, who committed adultery (and possibly rape) with Bathsheba and then arranged for the subsequent murder of her husband.

Oh, and when one of David's sons rapes one of David's daughters, King David gives him a pass.

Or Sarah, the mother of the nation of Israel, known in the Bible for her joy when she learned, at an advanced age, that she was going to become a mother.

This is the same Sarah who condemned her slave Hagar to die, along with Hagar's small son Ishmael, by banishing them to starve in the wilderness in the cruelest of ways. She was not exactly Mother of the Year material.

And then there's Jonah, honored as a prophet of God, who brought a message of repentance to Ninevah, but only after he had fled from all responsibility and done everything he could to reject God's call.

And then when Jonah finally does make it to Ninevah, he offers a lackluster rendition of what God wanted him to say (as Swenson notes, it's the "least persuasive bit of preaching" in all of the biblical prophets) and is ticked off when it actually works and the people repent. He wanted them to die, because that's what he thought they deserved.

What does the Bible do with these rather horrible people?

Well, it's interesting.

And it's mixed.

The David story, in particular, gets two very different kinds of treatment in the Bible — the warts-and-all story we find in 2 Samuel, and the utterly sanitized version of those same years in Chronicles, with all of the unsavory bits gone.

If we only had the Chronicler's account, we would all think the sun shone directly out of David's arse.

But the Bible, wisely, preserves both versions.

Swenson told me that in writing her book about how strange the Bible is, she wanted to correct some believers' tendency to look at only a fraction of the Bible and wield it as a weapon.

But she also wanted to correct what she sees happening on the other side, in which nonbelievers see all the revolting things the Bible seems to countenance (slavery, rape, misogyny, racism and genocide, to name a few) and reject the entire book as worthless.

It's all there, and we have to learn to read it like grown-ups, rejecting what is evil and holding fast to what is good.

To only see the happy or loving aspects of the Bible is to embrace a fallacy, one the Bible itself wants to dispel.

And to only see the negative, canceling anything good because it sits cheek by jowl alongside things we know to be wrong, is just a fallacy of a different kind.

Our job is to call out injustice, and also to celebrate what is good — even when, especially when, they appear inextricable.

So I won't be torching my Harry Potter books or throwing my Buffy DVDs on a bonfire. I'd have to throw my Bible to the flames as well.

• Jana Riess is a senior columnist at RNS and the author of many books. First published in RNS. Reproduced with permission.

Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

John 16:22
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matthew 6:25-34
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

John 16:33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Colossians 1:11
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,

John 16:24
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

James 1:2-3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Deuteronomy 31:8-9
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

1 Peter 5:7
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'

Proverbs 3:3-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Romans 8:38-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Psalm 119:76
May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.

Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 116:1-2
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Hebrews 6:19
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Romans 8:24-25
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Isaiah 40:31
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Psalm 31:24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Psalm 33:22
Let your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 32:7-8
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Hebrews 12:1-2
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 13:5-6
Because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"

Psalm 46:10
He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalm 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Isaiah 43:1-2
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

1 Peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Psalm 9:9-10
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 62:1-2
Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Ephesians 2:6-7
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 145: 18-19
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfils the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Psalm 16:8
I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Mark the season with thoughtful words for each day: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

• Supplied.

He then went on to describe the importance of reading scripture as parable, allowing the Holy One to speak to us through it.

Ah, I thought.

He's talking about the Catholic tradition of lectio divina.

Some of us who were brought up on the Bible, have come a long way from believing it was dictated word for word by God.

Basic research reveals the Bible as a library of books, a faith history written by men in another culture and other times.

Like us, they were trying to find the meaning of life and the sacred Presence that interacted with them.

That Presence was beyond human language.

People could only understand God through their culture and speak about God in metaphorical language that related to their lives.

Don't we all do that?

Talk about dry

As a teenager in the early 1950s I attended a Bible study course on the Gospels.

Three learned men talked about the life of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as historical fact, ironing out inconsistencies and contradictions.

I was disappointed. The talks were as dry as dust.

When I opened my Bible to read these gospels, words came alive.

Some words jumped up at me. Some danced, tingling in chest and arms.

A phrase or verse could be a companion for a day or more and take me to a wider place that could not be described.

My friend Jesus seemed very close.

The Bible study course had nothing to do with personal experience.

It left me disappointed and bewildered.

Many decades later, I realised I'd been reading scripture as lectio divina, and had placed wrong expectation on an academic course.

I also learned that Mark, the first gospel to be written, was at least 60 years after Jesus.

Until then the teachings had been oral, passed down by the apostles.

So of course, there was no point in making idols out of words.

Human memory isn't that accurate.

How do we read the gospels today?

The clue is in Mark and Matthew where we read that Jesus taught everything in parables.

Matthew emphasizes this in the Aramaic way of stating something twice - as a positive and then a double negative making a positive. "Jesus spoke all things in Parables. Without a parable was not anything he said."

Dear old Mother Church is wise.

The books of the Bible are part of our heritage: in them we have the history of covenant from Abraham to fulfilment in Christ Jesus.

We gain much from reading these texts through the process of lectio divina.

The words do not stay trapped in our heads but flow through the openness of prayer, to our hearts.

There they will feed us.

The nourishment we need for the moment will stay with us and the words we don't need will pass us by.

This is the Spirit of Jesus at work.

And because parables meet us where we are, their meaning will change as we change.

Reading the gospels this way brings us to the realisation that all of Jesus' teachings come down to two things - love and non-violence.

I guess that can be further reduced to one thing.

It's all about love.

• Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator.

More than two-thirds (68%) of all adults surveyed and 75% of respondents age 66 and up agree that the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life.

These statistics come from "The State of the Bible," a nationwide study commissioned by New York-based American Bible Society and conducted by California's Barna Research in February and March of this year. Continue reading

In doing so, the best-selling book in history, also surpasses the likes of the Manchester United, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid football clubs, Lady Gaga and the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

With Easter and the Passover fast approaching, engagement on other religious sites also feature prominently in the Facebook top 20. Jesus Christ , with some 2.1 million followers and 400,000 interactions and Jesus Daily with 4.7 million followers and 389,000 interactions feature inside the top 10.

Both Jesus Christ and Jesus Daily offer fresh religious content, and for the second week in a row the two pages are 'nipping at each other's heals'.

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