This sounds like a really strange question coming from a Christian, but I’ve been asked it, in some form or another, over the last 2-3 weeks. For everyone who is NOT a Christian, it sounds like a logical question, followed by a “why not?” So, what’s this controversial question?
“Why should I know about the HISTORY of the Bible”?
And obviously for most of the Christian world, the evidence of the answer is well documented. The most read, impacting, and influential book ever in history is known LEAST by those who embrace it. That in itself testifies to it’s transformational ability. Let me say up front that there is a major difference in the historical Jesus and the theological Jesus. Let me elaborate.
We are a people of FAITH. Case closed. But does that mean shut down your brain? Are there others who may not have yet come to a FAITH in Jesus Christ that “saying it’s so” doesn’t work with them. As John Meier says, “Theology is a cultural artifact, and theology can only operate within and speak to the culture only so far as it absorbes into its methodolgy a sound and sane historical approach.” Translation: Some people are brought to the Lord by coming into agreement with seemingly factual, and not the unseemingly spectacular.
In other words, since the Harold Attridge said, “I think we’re encouraged to engage in a historical critical study because it enriches our understanding of the world within which Jesus operated, within which scriptural figures in general operated and with which they were interacting. We can’t, for instance, understand what it means to proclaim the kingdom or reign of God unless we understand it was that proclamation was made in the context of an imperial power that had certain implications for human existence. ”
Most importantly for me though is that I feel those who seriously seek the TRUTH will find life unimaginably fabulous! Was that statement descriptive enough? Seriously, I think nothing less than REVIVAL is in store for those who embark upon a journey to DISCOVER the Truth of the Word! And, since REVIVAL is part of our name and purpose, well duh!
Could we be a Josiah generation? Could it be said of us, as it was of Josiah, ” He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father.” In other words, could we possibly see REVIVAL in our lives, and maybe in Houston as a result of discovering the TRUTH of the Word? It worked for Josiah. Isn’t THAT in and of itself worth a peek?
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