“Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.” -Psalm 78: 23-24 (KJV)
It was the first day of my freshman biology class. To my surprise, the teacher opened the class by opening the Bible. He read a passage from the King James Version, similar to the one above. My surprise quickly turned to defensiveness. He was trying to argue the inadequacy of the Bible as a modern book of science by quoting a verse of poetry from the 1611 translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. There was to be no debate. From his bully pulpit, he drove home the point that the idea of some doors in the sky opening up when it rains was literally untrue. Not that it was meant to be literally true since it is poetry after all, but this didn’t stop him. He concluded his sermon with the conviction that science and religion were radically opposed to each other and this class would leave the Bible in the dust as we learned the truth about human life on the planet. I knew intuitively this was a poor argument. But as a college freshman, I wasn’t ready to debate the subject with a PhD. But my major in academic religion would give me four years to learn how.
I realized that most Western disciplines only discussed Christianity because it was in the way of what they believed. This is a rather backhanded recognition of the deep and lasting impact the Bible has had on Western thinking. They were eager to move the stumbling block and get on with what they wanted us to believe was important and, therefore, true. So I was trained to view Christianity not only as a defunct science but as a flawed philosophy, a mostly fictional history put together to suit those in power, a psychologically harmful understanding of what is going on in our minds, a puritanical system of morals that threaten our freedom, a literature lacking the beauty, depth, and insight of our best writers, and a key source of a way of life-threatening our planet. I learned some important things from these perspectives. But they didn’t help me go deeper in my practice of the faith. There was no real dialogue with Christianity, no attempt to understand the Bible on its own merits. I wanted to study Christianity as one of the few human movements that has lasted thousands of years and spread across the vast majority of the globe. But that wasn’t their goal.
This, however, is the goal of this Substack channel. Today’s post is our second opportunity to “look the horse in the mouth” or to update the saying, to “look under the hood.”
Last week we listed nine claims about the impact of Christianity on the world. This week we list another set of nine focused on the nature of Christianity itself; not just how we can best understand it, but how we can best participate in it.
I have learned that Christianity, at its core, isn’t modern science. It isn’t an enlightenment philosophy. It isn’t a history, a psychology, a literary work, or even a set of morals. It is best understood and followed as a story. It is the story of a promise fulfilling.
This claim, with the claims flowing out of it, are listed in the nine statements below. Read them. Look “under the hood.” Test them. Ask yourself two questions: “Which of these make sense to me?” and “Which do not?” Then watch for future posts where these claims are defined in detail and transparently tested to see if they are true.
Nine Claims (Part Two)
Christianity is best grasped as a story.
The theme of the story is “a promise fulfilling.”
Jesus is the climax of this story.
The story continues to be written more than 2,000 years after Jesus, through the life of grassroots Christian communities across the world.
We are invited to participate in the chapters being written in our generation.
The Bible is our guide.
The testimony of 80+ generations who have followed Jesus before us inspires us on the way.
We participate by creatively integrating our faith into the rhythm of our everyday lives.
Deciding to participate in the story of a promise fulfilling will makegoodhappen in our lives, relationships, and communities.
One more note. Remember what Jesus said to all who seek to follow him:
‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them. -Matthew 7:15-20