I have been reading in Judges. It was a bloody time. There are chapters that have no purpose or teaching that I can see. Does that bother me? Yes, but it is so far down my list I don’t think about it much.
Some people approach the Bible with the doubt of pride. They are committed to tearing it apart and proving it wrong. So they focus on things like the massacre of Ai. Others approach it from the questioning of faith. They are looking for answers to life. I count myself in the latter.
Do I have the answer to some of your questions? No, not yet. I will someday. Until then I am too busy trying to understand the rest. I may not get to your questions until I have been resurrected for a few millennia. Of course, by then I might already know the answer from something else I was studying.
Are questions good? They can be. They can also just be an expression of a desire to agitate. What is the difference? When you tell your children to take out the trash and they ask “Why?” It might be genuine curiosity about why you want them to empty something they just took out without you asking. It could also be nothing but rebellion if things are running over onto the floor.
So ask away. Question. And be satisfied with a frequent “I have no idea” and an occasional “Because I said so.”
homo unius libri
Could the chapters in question simply be a matter of recording history?
ReplyDeleteI would regard it as history because the Christian faith is grounded in history. I would regard it more because God put it together for a reason.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace