20AR25-47

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AR 25:47 - Addressing pop-culture attacks on the Bible

In this issue:

BIBLICAL RELIABILITY - cynicism meets reasonable faith in this new book for college students

SCIENCE FICTION - always presented with an "embedded germ of theology"

Apologia Report 25:47 (1,504)

November 27, 2020

BIBLICAL RELIABILITY

Those poor high school kids. Youth group at church was so fun! All of a sudden college life is so serious and teachers trash the Bible! Yes, they're talking about the same Bible used in our youth group. However, we've never heard what they're saying about it before. They hate the Bible because they bought into quick and sloppy descriptions of it. What they heard was a cheap imitation of the real story it tells.

The secular educational environment into which the church sends its high school graduates continues its accelerating, leftward slide. Resources for our students aren't keeping pace with the need. Into this vacuum comes How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture, by Dan Kimball [2].

Zondervan's Youth Specialities imprint explains: "Kimball introduces several critical principles to utilize when you open a Bible or read a verse. Then, he looks at five of the most common challenges that arise when people read the Bible today, including: the relationship between science and the Bible, the violence we find in the Bible, the treatment of women in the Bible, the odd and strange commands we find in the Bible, and the Bible's controversial claim that there is only one way to know God. Kimball highlights several of the most common passages people find objectionable and shows readers how to correctly interpret them. This is an ideal book for those exploring Christianity or new to the faith, as well as Christians who are wrestling with questions about these difficult issues and the challenges of interpreting the Bible. Filled with stories and examples, as well as visual illustrations and memes reflecting popular cultural objections, How (Not) to Read the Bible will motivate readers who are confused or discouraged by questions they have about the Bible and guides them - step-by-step - to a clear understanding of what the Bible is saying in context. The book can also be taught as a six-week sermon series or used in small groups for study and discussion."

Notice that this book was not pitched to young adults facing a hostile secular college culture. No argument with that here; nevertheless, we'd like it to have a mighty impact in that very setting. One of the internal design characteristics of the book is a strong link to the anti-Bible memes that young people encounter online. Kimball puts the scholar's craft of detailed source description into service as he presents these graphics to good effect. Students will quickly recognize the mocking spirit of these memes - and they will find a response from someone who has anticipated both their hunger and their need to approach this challenge with reason and creative thinking. This is clearly evident in the book's design and structure.

Part 1, "Never Read a Bible Verse," (credited to Greg Koukl), imparts the first of numerous sage examples. In this case, it's a necessary reminder that quoting a single isolated verse is insufficient to effectively share the meaning of many biblical texts. (However, Kimball shows how this technique is deceptively employed for mocking what the Bible seems to say at first.) Kimball develops the idea by pointing out that most pot-shot critics don't know or care that the sacred text is not just one book, but literally a library of them written to readers in the distant past and with the primary purpose of introducing the truth of the gospel.

One of Kimball's attention-getting examples is included in the title of chapter one: "Yes, There Are Unicorns in the Bible." Thank God for someone who can use straight-up approaches like this to start the oven. There's good stuff cooking inside.

Part 2 builds familiarity with the design of the Bible's structure and story centered on the Mosaic Law - frequently used by hostile critics who find easy targets for cynical interpretation. One of the greatest virtues of Kimball's approach is that it quickly lifts the curtain on such ingenuine attitudes on the part of the skeptic. It also fuels a motivation to properly understanding how things that seem morally inexcusable - such as ancient slavery - have distinct contrasts with our understanding of them in a modern secular context.

Part 3, "Boy's Club Christianity," lays out God's design for heterosexual harmony in marriage and contrasted to the abysmal perspective of how the same is viewed by cynics. Dubious claims that the Bible supports misogyny and polygamy are exposed as opportunistic (and careless) attempts at ridicule. Surprise! Biblical equality is more attractive and better-developed than most folks have imagined it based on their own experience. Another home run for Kimball.

If you haven't seen cartoon-frame examples (included in this book) ridiculing Jesus riding a dinosaur or playing with dog-sized young prehistoric creatures, your blood may boil when you do. Hopefully you can then more easily place yourself in the context which young people face in social media and college culture all the time. Part 4 drops readers into the very heart of the science-vs-Scripture attack. Here the question of fairness comes into play, addressing the unrealistic expectation behind criticizing ancient literature for not measuring up to current scientific standards. May we all develop growing compassion for those who foolishly offer cynical objections. (Beware the Bible's "talking snake!") Thanks to preparation like this, from the moment we first read such unfounded accusations we can more readily remember that they spring from an unconscious spiritual bondage that's far more insidious than our accusers can fathom.

Part 5, "My God Can Beat Up Your God," lays it on the table from the get-go. Kendall offers no excuses for the uniqueness of the Bible's misunderstood message: Arrogance meets love. Reason is presented. Hope is made attractive.

What to do with a violent God? Part 6 introduces reason in response to secular culture's free-for-all attack upon the perceived deity of the Old Testament. Surprise: God doesn't always approve of the violence depicted in Scripture. Surprise: The story of humanity's failure to find peace with God includes descriptions of nasty consequences. Surprise: Violence was more common in ancient times than today (and it was way more intense live-and-in-person than it is in any video game). Believe THAT.

Please understand that How (Not) to Read the Bible has a lot more to offer than what we've sought to summarize here. Join us in prayer for the book's readers. May the Creator use this valuable work so that many will meet compassion instead of hostility on the road to eternal life in Christ.

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SCIENCE FICTION

"'Raised by Wolves' Review: A Snarling Sci-Fi Provocation" by John Anderson -- reports this HBO Max series [1] "depicts an Earth left uninhabitable by religious war and the subsequent flight to another planet." Hmm. Pray it doesn't forecast events which begin in 2021!

Anderson opens by observing: "For all the science contained in science-fiction, there's always been a germ of theology embedded within it, a genre-specific commandment: Man shall not play God. Nothing good ever comes of defying divine will. Even if we're not quite sure what divine will is.

"And what if we're too sure? What if there's too much God? Among the many questions posed by the hotly anticipated 'Raised by Wolves' is whether the world will end not with a bang, or a whimper, but in prayer....

"In the middle of the next century, the series proposes, the Earth is left uninhabitable by a religious war involving fundamentalists and atheists, which necessitates flight to another planet (Kepler-22b, a real planet, one on which NASA believes water might exist). But before the Ark of Heaven can bring the cultists to their destination, a smaller craft containing two androids - Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim) - arrives there, along with six human embryos that will become the planet's first sextet of atheists. Over the ensuing decade, five will die, leaving only Campion (the terrific Winta McGrath) to await the arrival of the Ark. And the presumed resumption of religious warfare." (Oh boy! Ongoing media opportunity!)

"'Raised by Wolves,' created by Aaron Guzikowski, is a provocation. And an utterly absorbing one. The storyline is involved, but keeps a viewer off-balance in a good way. It looks great. And Mother, the lethal android 'necromancer' with the abundance of maternal instinct, is the most memorable female/female-like space entity since Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in 'Alien'...." Wall Street Journal, Sep 1 '20, <www.on.wsj.com/357VTuH> (paywall awaits)

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SOURCES: Films

1 - Raised by Wolves: Season 1 (Actors: Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Travis Fimmel and Winta McGrath; Executive Producer Ridley Scott; HBO Max, 2020, 10 episodes) <www.bit.ly/2Umcogr>

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SOURCES: Monographs

2 - How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture, by Dan Kimball (Zondervan, due Dec 1 '20, paperback, 336 pages) <www.amzn.to/3f6BWYD>

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