Just some stuff about the Bible

I feel like I’m delving into to ancient mysteries that reveal deep and profound insight into the meaning of life. I’m puzzled by these things, but I’m glad to be thinking about them. For my history class, I’ve been reading my textbook and right now it is talking about some of the ancient civilizations, such as the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Sumerians, that existed back in Old Testament Biblical times. By studying this, I am getting some tremendous insight and perspective on the world and life at the time when the Old Testament was written. It is fascinating to me, and while my studies are for academic purposes, it’s true that I am looking for the spiritual meaning too. This is as much a search for spirituality as it is a quest for knowledge and understanding.

Today I read through a section in my textbook about history and the Bible. It went over briefly what historical and archaeological evidence suggests on the validity of the Biblical history of Israel. On the negative side, it does call into question the truth of the historical accounts of the Hebrews. The Bible paints them as a conquering, militaristic people but history suggests that they were not so much this way. It makes me wonder if part of the purpose in writing the Bible was to preserve and glorify Hebrew tradition, making up stories and fairytales of past glory in the process. I am skeptical of this position, because there is probably just as much evidence in the Old Testament to show that the Hebrew people were fools as there was to suggest they were great warriors. And the Bible is clear that anytime they won a battle, it was because of the Lord, not because of their own heroic efforts.

Even with the questions that have been raised, I did note some peculiar things about the history of this unique group of people. First of all, Israel’s God was revolutionary. In a world where polytheism ruled and where gods had very human qualities, the message of a loving, all-powerful Creator who existed outside of space and time was rare if not altogether new. The polytheistic gods of this time were often identified with various elements and things like that. So there would be a god of agriculture, a god of fertility, a god of war, a god of death, etc. The Hebrew God existed outside of all of that, laying the rules and foundations which the entire natural world follows. In these ancient cultures, there would be myths and legends explaining that these gods exist and how they came into being. One interesting thing about the Bible is that it just automatically assumes that God exists. It doesn’t address the issue of whether there is a God or not, it ignores the question altogether. It shows that God exists, has always existed, and will continue to exist forever.

Another fact that interests me about the ancient Hebrews is that they are the only ancient civilization that has succeeded in maintaining its identity in the modern era. In the ancient world, many powerful empires and nations rose to power only to decline and disappear centuries later; or to go through drastic cultural change. The Egyptians are still around, but I don’t think they still believe in the gods that their ancient ancestors did. The Mesopotamians, Sumerians, Hittites, and Babylonians are all gone, and yet the Jews still remain. Throughout centuries of persecution, conflict, exile, and countless other problems, they still exist with the same cultural identity that was created thousands of years ago. This is remarkable because as quirky, different, and unsettled as their past has been, they still managed to preserve themselves as a people and a civilization. In reality, they probably should have been wiped out a long time ago. It also is worth noting that throughout the Bible, the Israelites are referred to as God’s chosen people. Is it possible that the fact they still exist today as their own nation is a strong bit of evidence that shows they truly are God’s chosen people?

I know that some of you are probably reading this and the answers to these questions are probably obvious to you. Of course the Jews are God’s chosen people, the Bible says so. I understand where you’re coming from. It’s just that I am a person who is trying to understand the Bible while remaining true to the context that it’s put in, and to the reality that I have become familiar with. If there are inconsistencies between the Bible and common knowledge, then I want to know. In the same way, if there are consistencies that point to the Bible’s truth then I want to know that as well. I like to see evidence of things that took place in the Bible, because after all the Bible did take place in our world.

Anyways, just a few quick thoughts to chew on.