Christians and Jews have always been \u201creimagining\u201d God\u2014adapting the sacred past of their tradition to discern God\u2019s presence here and now. <\/p>\n
That process of adapting the past is also baked directly into the Christian Bible itself, Old and New Testaments. The biblical authors accepted their sacred responsibility to employ wisdom<\/a> when engaging their sacred tradition.<\/p>\n As should we\u2014always respectful of the past, but never assuming that we are meant to recreate it and live in it; always tied to this ancient tradition, but without expecting it to do the heavy lifting for us.<\/p>\n The life of faith has always been about respecting this Earlier in the book I confessed that I no longer think of But let\u2019s not forget that those very images were part of their ancient Mesopotamian world. Other than to put myself in their place as an intellectual exercise, I cannot believe as they did. <\/p>\n No part of my faith can steer clear from wisdom I ponder these questions by taking seriously this That may ring a bell with some of you. I am echoing the so-called Wesleyan Quadrilateral<\/a>. We are always processing God and faith not from a high place free of our entanglements, but from the vantage point of our inescapable humanity\u2014our reason, experience, tradition, and scripture. <\/p>\n And in the midst of all that sometimes exhilarating, If the incarnation is true\u2014God with us in Jesus of Nazareth\u2014what else could we say? If this core mystery of the Christian faith (which I believe can never be truly articulated) is true, and that the Creator not only took part in the human drama, but suffered in that drama, perhaps we have an understanding and compassionate God, not one out to get us?<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n That\u2019s really my point. As I said near the beginning, this book may be called How the Bible<\/a><\/em> <\/a>Actually<\/a><\/em> <\/a>Works<\/a><\/em>, but the deeper topic is how we think about God here and now. Processing that question happens in the arena of wisdom, which, as the Bible shows us, has always been the case<\/p>\n whether we are talking whether children are whether Manasseh or the whether the exile will ever All these questions are really about what God is like.<\/p>\n That was the struggle of the ancient Israelites, like the That was the struggle of the Judahites in exile as they That was the struggle of Jews living under the thumb of And that is the struggle of the New Testament writers, as The Christian tradition itself, for 2,000 years, in all its variety, has always been about the business of reimagining God, which is to follow this trajectory of scripture.<\/strong><\/p>\n Christians today, living when and where we are, have no choice but to be intentional in following the Bible and the entire history of Christianity in accepting the sacred responsibility to ask how we can talk about God in a way that is both connected to the tradition and also mindful of today. <\/p>\n It is most fair to ask whether at some point we will cross But I am reminded again of the Bible itself and how its a mighty warrior who slays or a sovereign king who or male, <\/p>\n or seated in the midst of a All our language of God, including that of the biblical writers, is inescapably enmeshed with how people of any time think and talk about anything\u2014even as they speak of One who is not bound by time and place.<\/p>\n Even the climax of the story for Christians\u2014Jesus\u2014is Jesus is called Lord, Savior, and bringer of the Good News of peace and grace. That language mimics how the Romans talked about Caesar\u2014the language of the Empire is now repurposed to speak beyond it. <\/p>\n The New Testament refers to the God of Israel as theos<\/strong><\/em>\u2014<\/a>the Greek word used to speak of Zeus and the other gods is now used to undermine. <\/p>\n Jesus was Messiah, a Jewish royal term charged with political meaning, but now redefined around suffering, death, resurrection, and hope for all humanity.<\/p>\n Whatever any of us think about the Bible as God\u2019s inspired word, it should make us take a step back and reflect for a moment that scripture itself portrays the boundless God in culturally bounded ways of thinking.<\/strong><\/p>\n And all that brings me to ask the question that I have been asking over and over again, it seems, throughout this book in one way or another: <\/p>\n If that is how the Bible itself actually behaves, who are we to think that the Bible\u2019s purpose<\/a> is to help us escape this responsibility for ourselves rather than embrace it?<\/strong><\/p>\n If that notion is still a bit unnerving for some, and I understand if it is, it might help to know that we are all already doing that very thing whenever we talk about God\u2014and the biblical writers were already doing that very same thing long before any of us came on the scene.<\/p>\n Whatever fear there might be, grace and peace are also to be found by taking the Bible seriously enough to accept the challenge of wisdom and truly own our faith here and now. <\/p>\n That, as I\u2019ve been saying, is our sacred responsibility, and by accepting that responsibility we will learn to let go of the fear of the unfamiliar and move toward wisdom and maturity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>How the Bible Actually Works\u00a0<\/em><\/a>is now available. Grab a copy\u00a0here<\/a>!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\ntension between there and then and here and now\u2014and how central wisdom is to
\nliving in that tension. <\/p>\n
\nGod as \u201cup there,\u201d because my experience won\u2019t let me. For me, there is no \u201cup\u201d
\nabove a flat earth in a small cosmos topped with a dome. This is where ancient
\nIsraelites might have imagined God to be, and they communed with God by those
\nimages authentically. <\/p>\nI live in a different world and so I have to think of God differently.<\/h2>\n
\nquestions: \u201cWhat is God like here and now?\u201d \u201cWhat do I mean when I say \u2018God\u2019\u201d?
\n\u201cWhat does it mean to believe and trust in this God?\u201d <\/p>\n
\nancient, ambiguous, and diverse Bible we have as well as honoring my
\nhumanity\u2014my experiences, my reasoning, when and where I was born\u2014and I try to
\nget all these factors to talk to each other. <\/p>\n
\nsometimes anxiety-provoking, but never dull work of wisdom, I have come to
\nbelieve that this God we speak of, if this God is worthy of the name love, is
\nnot surprised or put off by our human limitations, even if some around us are. <\/p>\nThis God, I believe, is not shocked when we \u201cdon\u2019t get
\nit,\u201d but understands who we are and what we are and is fine with it.<\/h2>\n
\nabout fools, wealth, or slave laws; <\/p>\n
\npunished or rewarded for their parents\u2019 deeds; <\/p>\n
\nAssyrians repented; <\/p>\n
\nend. <\/p>\n
\npsalmists who pleaded with God to deliver them from their enemies. <\/p>\n
\npondered what kind of God would do this and whether it will ever be over. <\/p>\n
\nthe Greek and Roman Empires, seeking how to be faithful to the past while
\nliving in a world that the past never accounted for.<\/p>\n
\nthey sought to understand how the new wine of the gospel and the old wineskin
\nof Israel\u2019s ancient tradition can coexist.<\/p>\n
\nthe line from adapting the tradition to obscuring it. But the fact that this
\nconcern is valid does not mean we can avoid the wisdom task altogether. The
\nlife of faith isn\u2019t that easy.<\/p>\n
\nportraits of God are deeply rooted in the cultures of the time. When Yahweh is
\ndescribed as <\/p>\n
\nthe enemy, <\/p>\n
\nmakes treaties with his people, <\/p>\n
\ndivine council of gods, <\/p>\nI am reminded that there is no God-talk that can keep its distance from our humanity. <\/h2>\n
\nexpressed in the language of the time as it tells a story that transcends time.\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thebiblefornormalpeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ENNS_HowBibleActuallyWorks2_3D.png\")
<\/figure>\n