Ive been trying to think through a way to introduce the question, What sort of book is the Bible? Its for a class at a very rationalistic church. Would appreciate feedback: What sort of book is the Bible? The Bible is a manual for existential transformation. A very complex manual written with miraculous clarity. The Bible shows us how to become alive in a new way. It teaches how to die to life through the individual (I) and be reborn to life through the collective (we). And it shows us how to to accomplish this otherwise impossibly difficult and abstract task with the deceptive simplicity of a childrens story. The Bible is not an historical record. Not as we normally think of history anyway. Very few biblical stories actually occurred in human history. Not accepting this fact is willfully ignorant. Its a refusal to read the consensus work of historians (most of whom are faith practitioners). No serious historian believes Abraham actually lived in history. More importantly, its a refusal to read the Bible itself. No one whos ever read the whole New Testament knows for sure what happened on the cross. If Jesus cried out in anguish (Mark) or joyfully forgave everyone (Luke). This historical incongruity was clearly accepted as fact by those who canonized the Christian Bible. Which is why so many of the stories so obviously contradict one another historically. When looking for a modern comparison, regarding what type of book the Bible is, most people tend to the think of a history or a biography. In truth, closer modern parallels to the Bible are The Little Prince and Where the Wild Things Are. Which is why a central tenant of faith ought to be that stories are much more powerful vehicles of truth than history. The Hebrew tradition that produced the Bible held that stories were the fullest possible expression of God. At root of the question What sort of book is the Bible? is the question What is the deepest mode of truth? To really understand what sort of book the Bible is, we need to seek a greater form of truth than what can be contained by human words or record keeping. To understand What sort of book is the Bible? we need to first have the humility to admit we dont really know how to capture and communicate truth. For highly rational people, embracing story-telling as more true than historical record is the first step towards having meaningful faith in the Bible.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:26:02 +0000