So, would you disagree that multiple things can be read out of a passage, or do holy passages not carry that kind of multi-dimensional iridescence that you might expect from a holy book?
I think it depends entirely on who your teachers are. We all have those who influence our thinking on these things.
I see the Bible as one story from Genesis to Revelation. What happened in the beginning is addressed in the middle so that the foretold end will come about, just as God said it would. Everything the Bible has foretold is right on schedule.
From my studies of the Bible over several decades, the story is crystal clear in my mind. I know what happened to land us all in a life with troubles we didn't ask for, and we often find difficult to deal with. I also know why God took the tack that he did in solving the issues that arose in the beginning, with long term benefits clearly in view. I have no need of "multi-dimensional iridescence" (whatever that means)
Most people haven't got a clue what the Bible teaches and that includes the clergy for the most part. They know their theology but sadly, they don't know their Bible.
I see them as a bit like doctors in today's world....they go to medical schools funded by drug companies and get taught to give their patients endless boxes of pills that have never made them well. All they do is address symptoms and try to make people
feel better, giving them the illusion that they are receiving all that is available to treat their ills. That is simply not true. They rarely get to the bottom of what has caused the trouble so it never gets fixed....meanwhile the drug companies and the doctors have customers for life (and large bank accounts) while their patients don't even realize that they have treatments (often very expensive ones) that will never cure them. No money in cures you see.
"Thou shalt make money" is the 11th Commandment for the church system. I used to put my money in the plate as it was passed around thinking that it would be used for the benefit of others, but it seems that the only one who benefited was the minister. He got a house, a car and all his bills paid....I never did see him do anything good with the money that was put in every Sunday. And if you missed a payment they came to your house and asked for it.
If they spent as much time studying their Bible as they do their set theologies, there might not be as much misinterpretation as currently divides most of Christendom IMO.
If the passages don't shine light in all directions, then I think that just means people with continue to argue with what the bible passages mean. Maybe this is why I take more to something like the Tao Te Ching or something. Come to think of it, that's a good thread question: how multidimensional are the bible passages?
To my mind the Bible is a book that requires God's spirit to get the sense of it. The passages are not ambiguous in the slightest if God directs your thinking. He will not direct the thinking of those who want to put words in his mouth or who want to impute motives to him that he does not have. The Bible's message is not complicated, but you'd never know that if you take Christendom's word for any of it. You don't need a degree in theology to serve the God of the Bible....it can actually be a hindrance.
So what does that mean, does it that mean God regards us as tools or decorations, or little idols that he molds? Getting a little off topic
God wants us to be moldable and teachable. The Potter knows what he wants the clay to be....the clay does not get to dictate to the Potter. That's all. Jesus said we had to be like young children in our approach to God....innocent, eager to learn, not argumentative or full of our own opinions. We need to listen to him and follow his commands because they are all for our benefit. It means trusting in his judgment more than our own. If we all just did that, the world would not be such a complicated place to live.