Feedback by backBlog: "I appreciate the discussion. On the authority of the Bible, we simply disagree. How can the Bible be of any use to us unless we can stand on its authority? If it were simply the accumlated opinions of an ancient society then why give it any more credence than the accumlated thoughts of any other ancient society?"

Derek left a nice note on his blog about my reaction. I appreciate that. I am commenting here because my cheap commenting option only allows 400 characters.

As for your concerns about the Bible's authority, I understand. You are right, if it is not the Word of God, then how do we give it more credence than other wisdom texts. I am not convinced we should. I personally think that we derive our moral standards from a variety of sources--wisdom texts, cultural standards, our experience, and our collective choice. We must, as a society, make choices to the best of our ability. That is the nature of community or how people work together in a society.

We make these choices all the time. Divorce is thought by many Christians to be immoral--except in extreme cases--yet is a legal process in every state. Adultery, widely assumed to be immoral, is not a crime. These are choices that we make as a society.

Not sure if that answers your question, but it is a start.