Confrontation

In the last few weeks, I've had several encounters with people who, to my assumption, seemed to be trying to talk me out of my beliefs. Not just defend them, but turn away. One, in particular, was raised Christian, with a Christian family and fairly healthy church. He became a doctor of sorts and in taking that route steadily has convinced himself that science and religion cannot coexist.

I happen to disagree wholeheartedly. It all depends, however, on how literal you take some of the Old Testament to be. As I've gotten older, certain things have occurred to me that have softened my stance towards other views. For instance, do I believe that we started with two literal people named Adam and Eve, and a snake convinced them to eat from a tree that can make you aware of good and evil. I don't know. Maybe not. I do believe that whether evolution or strict creationism happened, it makes no difference to the point of the story. At some point, in the beginning, sin was introduced to Man, and God began the journey of aligning history towards Christ, as our atonement for sin. The Pentateuch (or the first five books of the Bible) sets the arc of themes for the rest of the Bible. It begins the story of redemption through Jesus Christ, looking to the end days. Whether dinosaurs existed or the earth is fifteen billion years old makes no difference to my faith. Facts are nice, but the Bible is more than a set of stories. It is THE story.

Another point made was how we came to recognize the canon as the authoritative Word of God. Originally, there were known to be at least 8 complete Gospel accounts, including Mary and Judas. How come we settled on only four? I don't have the exact answer for that, though we do have many historical records of that conference of decision. Okay, so that may be true, but if I am to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, spoken by God through men, am I then to believe that God's intervention in that work ended the day those books were written? Wouldn't it make more sense that He had as much influence over the choice of the canon as He did in the writing?

As for literal interpretation, I can see sense. Do I believe every single story of the Old Testament was factually accurate? Probably not. These were stories passed down through generations by word of mouth for years before they were ever recorded. So, I can see that there is probably a good mix of fact and, not fiction, but mythology in them. Does that change the point of the stories, however? No!

If people cannot read the Bible as much with their hearts as with their literal minds, then the point is lost. It says that in the Bible is everything we need for "life and godliness." Whether something is fact, to me, is secondary to the overarching point. It still points out the sovereignty of God, the fall of Man, redemption and salvation through Christ Jesus, a code for moral life, grace, forgiveness and the rest. The point is the most potent part.