Why this Library of Books that We Call the Bible?

The following is a short portion of a blog post in a wonderful series of posts by Rob Bell on the topic "What is the Bible?" This is so beautifully written that I recommend you read it out loud with someone else, if possible, and savor the entire post (here). It's even better if you first read PartA of this particular piece about the Bible, which you can find here.

In this particular quote, Bell is in part answering the question, "why this library?":

"In the Bible, what you find again and again is brutal honesty about our human condition. We lie, we cheat, we steal, we watch shows about the Kardashians-we have the tremendous propensity to make a mess of things. Nowhere do you find this reality glossed over, avoided, denied, or ignored in the Bible. From 'we’ve all fallen short' to 'the heart is deceitful' to 'are you so dull?' (A fantastic line from Jesus, by the way) what you find again and again is the unvarnished truth about our sins, struggles, weakness, hardheartedness, small mindedness, and general slow-to-catch-on-ness. 
 

But what you also find, sometimes in the same exact place, and sometimes in the exact same breath, are stunning affirmations of our greatness, bigness, potential and promise. People are told they’ll lead nations, take good news about the reconciliation of all things to the ends of the earth, that we’re crowned with glory and honor, and that we’ll do greater things than Jesus did (He said that… seriously.) 

We are a quixotic cocktail, a strange blend, a odd amalgamation of skin and bones and spirit and soul. One minute we’re hearing about actual trips into space for people who aren’t astronauts, and then in the next we’re hearing about a man in Ohio who kept several women hostage in his house for a decade. 

It is bewildering the highs and lows we are capable of-not to mention frustrating, mystifying, inspiring, maddening, and at some times overwhelmingly beautiful."