\n<\/p>\n
Over a hundred years ago, German-and-therefore-evil-and-easily-dismissible-Old-Testament-scholar Hermann Gunkel<\/a> (1862-1932), wrote the following about Genesis:<\/p>\n A child, indeed, unable to distinguish between reality and poetry, loses something when it is told that its dearest stories are \u201cnot true.\u201d But the modern theologian should be further developed. The evangelical churches and their chosen representatives would do well not to dispute the fact that Genesis contains legends\u2014as has been done too frequently\u2014but to\u00a0recognize\u00a0that the knowledge of this fact is the indispensable condition to an historical understanding of Genesis.\u00a0This knowledge is already too widely diffused among those trained in historical study ever again to be suppressed. It will surely spread among the masses of our people, for the process is irresistible. Shall not we Evangelicals take care that it be presented to them in the right spirit?<\/strong>\u00a0The Legends Of Genesis<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, pp. 11-12.<\/p>\n I was kidding about all that evil and dismissible business above. Gunkel was one of these biblical scholars that don\u2019t come along anymore. He profoundly changed how people thought about two huge areas of the Old Testament:\u00a0Psalms<\/a>\u00a0and Genesis.<\/p>\n To make a long story short, before Gunkel, Old Testament scholars on Genesis focused largely on an\u00a0internal analysis of the Hebrew text\u2014things like the literary style, usage of certain words and phrases, and what all of this tells us about when Genesis (and the other books of the Pentateuch,\u00a0Torah<\/a>) were written\u2014which is what we in the field call\u00a0source criticism<\/a>\u00a0(we like our code words).<\/p>\n Gunkel came along a little bit later, after archaeologists brought to light the similarities between Genesis and the mythic stories from some of Israel\u2019s ancient neighbors\u2014namely the creation story and Noah\u2019s flood.<\/p>\n Gunkel called these stories \u201clegends\u201d and, along with pretty much every Old Testament scholar since, said, \u201cYeah, these stories and the Bible are similar enough to say they are connected somehow. We need to think about how this information helps us understand what Genesis means and what we can expect from it.\u201d<\/p>\n In the quote above, Gunkel makes 3 basic points:<\/p>\n 1. The cat\u2019s out of the bag: Genesis contains \u201clegends,\u201d Don\u2019t let the word \u201cevangelical\u201d throw you in the\u00a0quote. That means \u201cLutheran,\u201d which along with Roman Catholicism made up (and still makes up) the state churches of German.<\/p>\n In my experience, though, America evangelicalism has essentially rejected Gunkel\u2019s pastoral\u00a0<\/em>advice in #3 above.<\/p>\n The results have not been pretty. Because of a pastoral failure to help everyday Joe and Jane pew-sitters\u00a0process<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0the kinds of data Gunkel is talking about,\u00a0a\u00a0lot of Christians over the last century or so have struggled in needless and unhealthy ways with their faith.<\/p>\n To remain a faithful Christian means to remain a child and \u201csuppress\u201d (as Gunkel puts it) information that is \u201cwidely diffused.\u201d To engage the Bible with our adult faculties means putting your faith at\u00a0risk.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not much of a choice.<\/p>\n The church, Christians colleges, and seminaries would be\u00a0the best<\/em>\u00a0place to have a faith crisis, provided their leaders embrace the call to help their people through it rather than hiding the crisis out of fear, under a cloak of piety.<\/p>\n But, instead of helping people process the information, the evangelical tradition has a strong track record of minimizing the deep impact of historical study on how Scripture is understood, or providing answers that strain and groan to maintain the old ways despite the evidence.<\/p>\n I really, really, really wish that hadn\u2019t happened. I really do.<\/p>\n I would like to see church\u00a0leaders do a better of job of training adult readers of the Bible. I don\u2019t mean dumping complex and potentially threatening information on the unsuspecting, but engaging with them\u2014in all wisdom and pastoral maturity, from the perspective of faith\u2014in ways of thinking about the Bible that has been convincing to scholars, many of whom are people of deep personal faith themselves.<\/p>\n Or at least helping them to see that biblical scholarship is worth taking\u00a0seriously, and not the devil\u2019s playground to run from and dismiss.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve put the question like this numerous times:<\/p>\n That question has been before us for a long time. How is the Bible \u201chistorical?\u201d Where do myth and legend end and history begin? How can we know and what difference does it make?<\/p>\n With cable TV and the internet, the kinds of things biblical scholars routinely discuss are not hidden, but, as Gunkel saw already over 100 years ago, have\u00a0\u201csurely spread to the masses, for the process is irresistible.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a holy, wise, and pastoral duty to raise adult readers of the Bible, rather than living in fear and\u00a0legitimizing childish readings.<\/p>\n ***The original version of this post appeared in September 2012. I talk more about the nature of the Bible and Genesis in particular in\u00a0The Bible Tells Me So<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(HarperOne, 2014),\u00a0Inspiration and Incarnation<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(Baker 2005\/2015) and\u00a0\u00a0The Evolution of Adam<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(Baker, 2012). I also discuss the fear of letting go of theological certainty in\u00a0The Sin of Certainty<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (HarperOne, 2016).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
2. Children may be thrown by this, but adults shouldn\u2019t be,\u00a0and . . .
3.\u00a0Rather than denying what is so widely known, church\u00a0leaders\u00a0have a sacred obligation to help their people process this\u00a0information rather than letting others do that who might put their faith at risk.<\/strong><\/p>\nToo often the issue is posed as \u201cyou can either believe that Genesis contains legends\u201d OR \u201cyou can be faithful to the Bible.\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cWhat is the Bible and what are we supposed to do with it?\u201d<\/h2>\n