THIS IS HOLY WRIT, FOLKS...

I love the humanity of scripture. Too often, we forget that people wrote the Bible. In I Cor. 1.14-17, we can see Paul getting anxious to get at his point. Here's what it says in the King James...

I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Now, I'm going to take some interpretive liberties, here, and I'm going to offer the version according Marc:

In fact, I thank God that I didn't have to baptize any of you so that no one can say that you were baptized into my name. Well, I didn't baptize anyone except Crispus and Gaius.
Oh, and now that I think about it I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I'm pretty sure I didn't baptize anyone else.
But that's not the point! For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel....

I love this little excerpt because we can totally see Paul thinking out loud. Most likely, he would have dictated his letters as someone wrote for him, and I love that we can almost see his thought process coming through in the letter.

I love that we can see the human aspect of scripture. We don't have to be afraid of the fact that God didn't dictate the Bible. To me, it's just incredibly neat that God used a guy like Paul to write some of the most influential literature of all time. And it's neat to see how God works through real people in real situations.