Studying the Bible; believing the Bible; doing what the Bible says; are these not the hallmarks of today’s “good” Christians? Don’t the divisive judgments against abortionists, homosexuals, Jews, and sinful infidels of all size, shape and color have their basis in Scripture? Do we not determine who is elevated to positions of religious and moral authority based upon their intimate knowledge of the Living Word and their adherence to it? We American Christians do love our bibles, and it is understandable how outsiders might believe that Scripture has become our real Godhead.
What I’ve never really understood is how “true” Bible-study excludes the historicity of the document being examined. Take, for example, what the New Testament of the Christian scriptures tells us about Jesus of Nazareth. My background has afforded me more than a passing familiarity with this subject, and I continue to be surprised and amazed that Saul of Tarsus (later to be known as Paul; later still to identify himself as the Apostle Paul) managed to come in with the earliest recorded assessment of Jesus and his significance that continues to be profoundly influential to this day. By his own admission, Paul never knew the man Jesus!
So, is it Paul’s ‘Jesus’ that I’m to be following on this Lenten journey to Easter? I have to admit that I like the ‘personal savior’ qualities that Paul has incorporated. It’s only a minor detail that his eschatological timing was (again, by his own admission) a bit off, because that is far outweighed by the knowledge that when the Apocalypse does finally arrive I can save myself by following Paul’s example of professing the man we never knew as our Lord and Savior!
No comments:
Post a Comment