The documentary hypothesis

Last week I mentioned the documentary hypothesis, which is about how the Bible was formed into its current form. When I was searching for a website to link my more curious readers to, I was surprised by how negatively Christianity seems to view this idea. When I searched for "Documentary Hypothesis", my first two pages of results consisted of the Wikipedia article about the hypothesis and extremely hostile refutations of the hypothesis on Christian websites. Why are Christians so hostile to this idea? And why are those Christians the ones whose websites appear first on a search? I know plenty of Christians for whom the documentary hypothesis is something they have no problem accepting, or at least considering.

Yes, I know the documentary hypothesis is not perfect. There are plenty of things about it that don't make total sense, like why the sources were put together the way they were (why so many duplicates? Did s/he/they really take sentences from two or three sources and smoosh them together?) (here is where wikipedia talks about it). But the basic idea is sound. I trust the people who've thought about it, much more knowledgeably than me. I've read enough about it and seen enough evidence that I'm willing to say that it makes sense and explains a lot (like why have two versions of creation in Genesis 1-2? Why does the same event, like Moses striking the rock to bring forth water, happen so often on the Exodus?).

So why do so many Christians argue so vehemently against the documentary hypothesis? It is jarring to think of the Bible as something written by real people, with their own culture and personalities and sins and situations, and not just as "perfect" and "one unified book". The Bible wasn't just handed down from heaven on a golden platter in its current form; God worked through broken humans to write the Bible, as He does to accomplish anything here on earth. It raises uncomfortable questions--how should I read the Bible? How do I take the original context into account? Does the Bible contain mistakes?

Yes, such questions are uncomfortable. But what is life without questions? I never want to live in a way that I stop asking questions--even when those questions are uncomfortable, even when I'm not sure that I want to know the answers, even when those questions are deeply unsettling and faith-shaking.

God is big enough for my questions.

Scribbling in the Sand

Book: Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and Creativity by Michael Card

Description: In this book Michael Card explores the biblical foundations of true Christian creativity. Whether we think of ourselves as creative or not, all of us are created in the image of our Creator God, and thus creativity is a vital expression of our discipleship. With Jesus as his model, Card shows how understanding God's creative imagination leads to a lifestyle of humility, obedience and servanthood. And he invites us to follow God's creative call through worship and community. (from michaelcard.com)

My Thoughts: What a wonderful book!

Scribbling in the Sand is meant as a book to induce thought, not necessarily as a way to encourage creativity. Card spends the first part of the book describing Biblical instances of creativity (Adam naming the animals, Jesus' creativity in his ministry, the prophets and poetry...), which I really enjoyed. He then described several traits that any Christian artist should have. This section challenged me a lot and made me think about so many things, because these traits were exactly the traits that any Christian should have: humility, servanthood, obedience, love. The fact of being an artist is not the thing that defines any Christian artist; rather, their identity as a child of God and everything that implies (humility, etc.) is what defines any Christian artist. The 'Christian' is the important part, not the 'artist.'

The other of Card's points that really, really struck me was that any art that we create, however good or bad, however many people do or don't see/read/hear it, is worship. Art, in its purest form, is a form of worship of God. Why else would we use music in worship services? Why else would the psalmists and prophets speak in poetry (and probably accompanied by music)?

As an artist (I write), I enjoyed and struggled with this book. I have always struggled with finding a proper balance between my writing and God; it is so easy for me to fantasize uncontrollably about my stories and forget the God who is the ultimate Creator and Author (I've written a lot about it on my blog A Light to My Path, especially this post from a little more than a year ago). And so I immensely enjoyed and was challenged by Scribbling in the Sand: it painted a picture of what my writing could be while highlighting all the places I've fallen short. It gave me hope.

Perhaps the section that I most enjoyed was the last one, where Card included letters from various famous Christian artists about their views of art and artists in relation to Christ and His mission. I loved their advice and wisdom.

Incredibly highly recommended to anyone who sees themselves as a Christian artist of any kind--and perhaps even to those Christians who don't see themselves that way, because Scribbling in the Sand was so much more about Christianity than it was about creativity. That was rather the point of the book--our Christianity is so much more important than our creativity, even if the two are intertwined.

The Gospel of Ruth

Book: The Gospel of Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules by Carolyn Custis James

Description: Traditionally, the book of Ruth is viewed as a beautiful love story between the submissive Ruth and Boaz, the Kinsman Redeemer. But when author Carolyn Custis James began digging deeper, she found startling revelations. Three lives converge in a powerful alliance that transforms their lives and changes the world. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz discover God makes much of broken lives, that he calls men and women to serve him together, and that he's counting on his daughters to build his kingdom. (Back of the book)

My Thoughts: The Gospel of Ruth was an excellent, excellent book, written passionately, thoughtfully, and knowledgeably. As a woman, I deeply appreciated her candid, well-researched look at women and their place in God's kingdom, as examined in the book of Ruth, as well as her own honesty with the reader.

James provides excellent historical and cultural context to help readers understand what was truly going on in the book of Ruth, such as the true desperation of widowhood in Biblical times (and in many patriarchal societies today) and how little power women had in such societies. Her explanations deeply richened and changed my understanding of the book of Ruth and of the lives of all women in the Bible.

The Gospel of Ruth argues against the idea that the book of Ruth is just a romance; instead, James views it as a story of suffering and passionate seeking after God. I especially appreciated that she didn't shy away from the suffering of most of the characters in Ruth or try to minimize it in any way--Ruth having a new husband at the end if the story doesn't lessen the loss and pain of the death of her first husband, or eliminate the memory and pain of her earlier hard times in Bethlehem. James also didn't shy away from the suffering in her own life, opening up about several difficult times in her own life.

Finally, The Gospel of Ruth was a passionate cry for women to be a part of God's kingdom and God's redemption of our broken, fallen world. He loves us and calls us to be a part of His purposes just as much as any man.

A beautiful, well-written book about women and men, and their place in the Kingdom of God. I literally enjoyed The Gospel of Ruth so much that I read it in three days, and I can't wait to read more of James' books. I so highly recommend it!

Is God a Moral Monster?

Book: Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan

Description:  A recent string of popular-level books written by the New Atheists have leveled the accusation that the God of the Old Testament is nothing but a bully, a murderer, and a cosmic child abuser. This viewpoint is even making inroads into the church. How are Christians to respond to such accusations? And how are we to reconcile the seemingly disconnected natures of God portrayed in the two testaments?

In this timely and readable book, apologist Paul Copan takes on some of the most vexing accusations of our time, including:

God is arrogant and jealous
God punishes people too harshly
God is guilty of ethnic cleansing
God oppresses women
God endorses slavery
Christianity causes violence
and more

Copan not only answers God's critics, he also shows how to read both the Old and New Testaments faithfully, seeing an unchanging, righteous, and loving God in both.

This book was very enlightening for me. The seeming differences between the God of the Old Testament, who at the very least seems much more legalistic and violent than the God of the New Testament, are something that I've had questions about for a long time. I was therefore pretty excited about reading this book, and I wasn't disappointed. 

Copan did a very good job explaining why God seems the way that He did in the Old Testament. He mostly focused on the Law and explaining how and why they came to be. He also talked, surprisingly a lot, about how those laws apply to us today. I'm not saying Copan calls for us to follow the Law today, because he definitely doesn't. Instead, he examines what aspects of God made Him create the Law the way He did. One example that really struck me was the food laws, about unclean and clean animals. Copan argued that these laws were so all-encompassing to remind the Israelites that God should be everywhere in their life. A reminder we could all use, huh?

Although I have no background in Biblical scholarship or anything of that kind, I found Is God a Moral Monster? easy to read and understand. Copan's knowledge of and use of Scripture was also extremely impressive. My one complaint was that Copan's chapters became repetitive at times, as he seemed to be making the same point over and over. But it was a small problem for me as a reader, and I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who's interested in the topic.