DR. CUMMINGS: When you write an opinion column ...

I get feedback. Lots of it, both positive and negative. People either agree with my opinions or they hate them. And if they hate them, they pour out their condemnations on my head like so much fire and brimstone.

I've gotten a lot of brimstone lately. And this is why:

I have an opinion (This is the Opinion Page) that our Bible is inspired by God. (2 Tim. 3:16) But the Greek word "Inspired" does not mean "dictated." It means "breathed out" like the breath of God sweeping across the waters of creation: (Gen. 1:2) breathing not speaking. When I think of inspiration, I'm not thinking of words. And when I think about God inspiring the Bible, I am definitely not thinking that every word in our holy scriptures is both accurate and applicable to today's world; a lot of it is, but not everything.

I have written several columns about the biblical errors and contradictions as well as some of the biblical laws and customs that no longer apply to us. And this has caused much pain and consternation among those who believe every word in the Bible must be accepted literally as God's word for us in Middle Georgia today.

I don't want to offend you, nor in any way, weaken your faith. I respect your faith. But I also respect my faith and my understanding of holy scripture. My eight years of post-graduate work in biblical studies and my three university degrees have not made me "right," they have only helped me to formulate my opinions. And I know that several of my opinions may crash headlong into yours.

For Example:

Slavery. I don't need Paul's letter to Philemon to remind me of the Christian acceptance of slavery. It was a common practice. For 2,000 years, right past the time of our Founding Fathers. Good American Christians had African slaves. Several of my Irish ancestors, following the horrible potato famine in 1850, were taken as slaves to Jamaica. So, how should I read Ephesians. 6:5: "Slaves, obey your masters!" I read it as wrong; it should have said: "Masters, free your slaves." There's nothing Christian about slavery. That's my opinion.

The Revolving Sun. I find the Bible's cosmology humorous. I always smile when I read Joshua 10:13:

"So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and delayed its setting almost a full day."

The Hebrews believed the earth was immobile, firmly established on four pillars (Psalms 93:1) and that the sun would rise and set to give us day and night (Eccles. 1:5). Even if we say God worked a miracle for Joshua, we know he sure didn't help Galileo one bit who was roundly condemned as a heretic in 1616 for denying the literal meaning of Ecclesiastes. My opinion? I know all about heresy; forget it!

Homosexuality. There are three texts in the Old Testament (Gen. 19:4, Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13) and one in the New Testament (Romans 1:21) and two others that are very questionable, which seem to point to the condemnation of homosexuality. I disagree. My opinion is the same as Matthew Vines in his new book: "God and the Gay Christian," where he distinguishes between forbidden sexual acts of both gays and heterosexuals, and accepted loving relationships which are entirely different.

Now I know many of you will have problems with this. But even if the biblical authors really did condemn gay marriage — well, they endorsed slavery and the revolving sun, too. They were wrong. That's my opinion. But it's also my opinion that there's plenty of beauty and encouragement and humor and sound common sense on most of the pages of my Bible — enough that I keep reading it every day.

How about you?

Dr. Bill Cummings is the CEO of Cummings Consolidated Corporation and Cummings Management Consultants. His blog is www.progressiveheretic.com.

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 9:43 PM with the headline "DR. CUMMINGS: When you write an opinion column ... ."