The Bible is about people

If I believe that God has revealed himself to different people in different ways, what does that due to my faith in the Bible as God's word?

When it comes down it it, I don't believe that the Bible is God's direct word. God did not dictate the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to the authors of the Bible who wrote it down. I believe many of the Biblical authors were inspired by God and wrote in response to that inspiration, but that relationship with God was filtered through their experiences, personality, and perspective. Thus, they got the big message: there is one true God, but they then assumed that since their neighbors did not worship Yahweh, they worshiped different gods.

I believe many of the Biblical authors were not directly inspired. Most of the histories are just that: histories. They were written by people who wanted to understand the events that had happened to Israel through their knowledge that they were God's chosen people.

None of this impacts my belief that the Bible is a great source of truth. I just belief that the truth is not to be found at the surface level. The Bible is a tool God uses to teach us about the big picture ideas: his oneness, the importance of love, the balance between mercy and justice. However, if we take it too literally, we risk conflating God's message with the messages of a bunch of ancient prophets.

Most of all, the Bible is about people and relationships, not facts. I believe the purpose of the Bible is to help us understand how people have related to God and grown in their relationship with God. Isaiah's willingness to do what he felt God ask of him is more important than the fact that many of his prophecies did not come to pass. Abraham's willingness to change his life to follow God's plan is more important than knowing whether or not he literally hosted angels.

The Bible is about our relationships with God, as individuals and as a group, and our relationships with each other. It contains deep truths, but to understand the deep truths, we must move beyond debating about the shallow facts.