What makes the Bible Different…
Jun 24th, 2008 by ljkim
There’s something very suspicious about the idea of Moses going up on the mountain to speak to God – and descending with God’s words… How can you trust that what Moses said about God was true, and not some self serving political manipulation?
Not surprisingly whenever a man claimed this prophetic position, what “god” commanded tended to require ‘absolute obedience’…along with some typical guy things thrown in like polygamy, wealth, etc… I won’t name historical examples because this describes some of the founders of well known religions… Picture a 21st century prophet coming off the mountain to declare “God’s reign” part of which requires him to drive Ferraris, travel in private jets, and marry Hollywood starlets… Ha! You can’t blame him for trying can you? But shame on you if you fall for it you should have known better.
Ancient accounts are filled with kings and prophets who can do no wrong, and the gods who help them… But what makes the Bible different is the Bible is filled with kings and prophets who are weak (and sometimes stupid) who make poor decisions or fail in some way (Moses failed and was barred from entered the Promised Land), and a God who delivers them but also rebukes and corrects them showing mercy to them as well as their enemies… A God who loves them just the way they are, but loves them too much to leave them that way.
This is one of the key attributes of Bible narratives… it’s what makes the Bible’s accounts of Kings and prophets so radically different from every other ancient “history.” So here’s a question, what do you supposed God was getting at in pointing this stuff out?
[About the photo: I have no idea what kind of pic to put with a post like this! Here's a random shot from the 59th Street Bridge]
Related posts: