Books and Stories

The world of books opens a world of imagination.  I love to read.  I have fond memories of Saturday mornings at the library where one of the librarians would read us a story and then we were off to browse the stacks.  I would take out my allotment of books and then sit down to reading.  Often by the end of the weekend, they were all read.  I would complain I had nothing to read.  “Read them again,” my mom would say.  I could never figure that out . . . I’d just read them and knew what was going to happen.  Why read them again?  Of course, at that early age all I was concerned about was whether Encyclopedia Brown could figure out who stole the bike, or if Homer Price was going to capture the bandits with his pet skunk.  There wasn’t a lot of depth to the plot or structure to the narrative.  

Later on, I was introduced to C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.  This world of literature were literally worlds.  Narnia and Middle Earth became places in my mind.  I could see beavers and lions talking, trees walking, and smell the fires of Mordor.  There were times I couldn’t put the book down because I needed to know what would happen to Peter or Frodo.

And then I would read the Bible.  To be honest, it often seemed to lack the creativity and passion and intrigue of Lewis’ and Tolkien’s works.  While the adventures in Narnia and Middle Earth would keep me awake, often the Bible would put me to sleep.  I’m just being honest.

Then, something happened.  It wasn’t that I became more “spiritual” or suddenly had secret knowledge. My perspective on and expectations for reading the Bible changed.  Instead of being just a book that taught about God, I began to see the bigger picture; the drama that is encapsulated by these pages.  I realized this Book wasn’t hard-to-decode spiritual messages for the elite.  It was - it is - the historical documentation of the Creator’s engagement with His creation.  As I better understood the overall plot and structure of each literary unit (we usually call them the “Books of the Bible”), I gained a new appreciation for the events and characters of these poems, narratives, songs, and impossible-to-pronounce lists of names.  

This is real history.  These were real people.  I know I will meet those whose lives are examples of faith. There is no Peter (of Narnia) or Frodo.  I will meet Daniel, Nehemiah, and Peter (the fisherman).  Embarrassingly for some of these characters, we have a record of their many faux pas.  Thankfully, we also have the record of their growth in grace and the largess of God’s mercy and compassion toward them - the same mercy and compassion which God directs toward us.

Understanding the Bible as a historical document instead of just a religious or spiritual guide was the game-changer for me.  As the light of awareness began to illuminate, no longer was I satisfied with “God said it, I believe it, that’s good enough for me.”  The richness of the literary craftsmanship and historical veracity brought a depth and dimension to the text unequalled by another other collection of literary documents.  I began to see the Bible as an historical work of art.

The beauty of all of this is that I don’t have to rely on my imagination to know about God.  He is not a product of my creativity.  Each of us who reads Lewis or Tolkien will have a unique, internal vision of Narnia and Middle Earth.  That’s OK because it is fiction.  When it comes to the nature and character of Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, we do not have to guess.  Yes, each of us are going to have our understanding influenced by our life experiences.  But the more we immerse ourselves in the history, places, and experiences of the lives of those documented in Scripture, the more clearly we will understand the God who was present with them and is present with us.

Of this we can be certain - the God who these pages describe over the course of thousands of years is the same God who we worship and serve today.  His desire to be known and have relationship with His creation thousands of years ago is the same today.  His authority over all things (seen in some rather bizarre stories in the Old Testament) is as unchanged and effective today.  

If we can move beyond the “Bible says so” mindset, we can enter into the wonder of God’s grace.  This isn’t an idealized Narnia or Middle Earth.  This is the reality of knowing the goodness of our God in the place and space He has created.