Friends,

Here is Common Christianity column #827 (9-20-22), “Literally Challenged.” How do we explain to skeptics which parts of the Bible are literal and which are not?  Whew … great question.  See the column below.

Tip of the Week: We saw the “Running the Bases” movie, starring Gary Varvel’s son Brett.  Outstanding Christian fare.  Don would love it.  Larry needs to see it, but would not … love it, I think (see column).

Spirituality Column #827

September 20, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Literally Challenged

By Bob Walters

Last week we discussed my good neighbor Larry who is not a believer.  This week’s mental spark came from my close Christian friend Don (real name), who is.

Inviting a conversation regarding Larry, Don emailed, “[How do] you help a skeptic understand which parts of the Bible we take literally and which parts we don’t since it is clearly not all or none. Looking forward to a chat!”

I thought I’d go ahead and serve first since Don lives out of state and these types of conversations are clearly superior in person with the spirit, so to speak, than over phones, emails, or texts.  It’ll give both of us a launching pad next time we’re together.

First understand that Don is a longtime church elder including several terms as chairman.  He’s not really looking for advice, just sharing a common concern and question many believers – including me – ponder as we endeavor to explain our faith to non-believers.  Generally, that could be anybody, most especially to people we love.

The faithful reality of Christ in a thinking, human life is so simple – once you have it – that explaining it to someone else should be a walkover, i.e., something that is easy and presents no difficulties.  Here is what that might look like:

The Creator of everything sacrificially loves His Creation and gave His favorite creation, humanity, freedom to find its own love.  That love should be God, but instead humanity wanted to be equal with God and came to love itself on its own terms instead of God on God’s terms.  Humanity’s rejection of God’s supremacy created – and still creates – in humanity miserable sins, chaos, despair, vacant purpose … and death.

In other words, humanity, the problem, says the world is awful and there appears to be no reason to be here, or an escape.  That’s doubling down on hopelessness.

So God, the solution, to reveal and prove His love rather than merely punish humanity’s sin and denial – or destroy it – sent His creative, righteous, authoritative Word, His Son Jesus, into humanity to teach, to sacrifice, to die, and then defeat death.

So far so good, right?  I get it!  1 Peter 3:15 tells believers to live “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you.”  There it is.  God is love and Jesus proves it.  What’s the problem?  Just, behave.

Except … notice two things, one obvious, the other, not so much.  One, this is “believer language” from the Bible so it is authoritative and cites “reason” as God’s true north of human understanding.  Of course there is a God … etc. Just go with it.

But … not so fast.  “Reason” is the great, worldly (i.e., non-divine), academic, Satan-co-opted enemy of what, to a believer, is actually a very rational faith in God. 

“Rational faith,” a Christian intellectual reality, is a secular conundrum.

As for sorting out the Bible’s “literal” from “not literal”? The most importantly literal thing – the real, physical, death and resurrection of Jesus – is the truest and most important – yet most attacked – “literal” event in the Bible.  It’s why we worship Jesus.

But “proving it”?  A fool’s errand, I fear, and perhaps beside the point.  The point isn’t “literal,” the point is truth.  Trust the Holy Spirit to sort that out for the human mind willing to believe it.   The thing that saves us is faith, not facts.  Final answer.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) knows the Bible is true.  And that’s OK.