I freely acknowledge that Plato and Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius and Einstein, Muhammad and the Buddha all say interesting and brilliant and inspiring things, and I can learn a lot from reading their words, as I can from Clement, Gregory, Benedict, Francis, Teresa, Simons, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Bediako, Borg, Wright, Brueggemann, Crossan, and thousands of other gifted writers and speakers—even though they disagree with one another on many points. But to say that God inspired the Bible is to say that, for the community of people who seek to be part of the tradition of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Moses, Ruth, David, Amos, John, Mary, and Jesus, the Bible has a unique and unparalleled role that none of these other voices can claim. But that still doesn’t mean it serves as a constitution!
by Brian McLaren, from “A New Kind of Christianity”