We are looking at 4 shocking reasons the Bible is unique among the world’s religious literature. Yesterday we saw the first reason, that the Bible reveals mankind’s destructive cycle of mimetic rivalry and the scapegoat mechanism by which we escape the cycle.
The second reason the Hebrew Scriptures can be considered unique is that they are the writings which Jesus explicitly claimed to fulfill and which He said pointed to Him (John 5:39-40). The Hebrew Scriptures not only contain prophecy about Jesus, but all the stories, hopes, and longings contained within the Old Testament also find their fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
You may think, “This is not shocking. Most Christians believe this.”
Yes, but read on. It is about to get shocking…
I would argue that one of the primary reasons Jesus said what He did in John 5:39-40 is because He was speaking to a Jewish audience who taught and believed the Hebrew Scriptures.
Based on my own detailed study of other religious beliefs, practices, and writings, I believe that Jesus could have made such a statement about any stream of religious writings.
Jesus Fulfills All Religious Writings
If Jesus had been born Chinese, He could have said of the Buddhist Sutras, “These are the Scriptures which speak of me.”
If He had been born a Norseman, He could have pointed to the Poetic Edda, “These are the Scriptures which speak of me.”
If Jesus had been born as a Native American, He could have pointed to their legends and stories passed down from generation to generation and said, “These are the traditions that speak of me.”
I know this is a challenging and shocking idea (some might call it heresy), and I hope to defend this idea in a book someday (I am already compiling notes), but such a claim is not as outrageous as it may initially sound.
Jesus Fulfills Movies and Myths
Have you ever noticed that nearly all great stories and movies have a common theme and common plot? Almost all great stories, novels, myths, and movies have as their core plot the idea of a person who sacrificially gives of himself for others, to rescue and deliver them from some calamity, and in so doing, suffers great personal loss, but ultimately rises into glory. Is it just pure coincidence that this is the basic storyline about Jesus Christ as well?
Critics of Scripture think so, but I beg to differ.
I think the common storyline which all people around the world and throughout history long for is the storyline which God has placed in our hearts, and which the Holy Spirit is unceasingly whispering into our hearts and minds so that, when we hear the story about Jesus, it rings true in our hearts, and our souls cry in recognition. Jesus is the “true myth” (with the emphasis on true) which proves the validity of many of the themes and longings of men’s hearts which are found in the pagan myths of other religions.
I am not at all saying that the stories about Jesus are myth. Quite to the contrary, the stories of Jesus are some of the truest stories in history. I call them “true myth” because they resemble so many of the pagan stories and myths, and yet, the stories of Jesus are true. This “true myth” idea comes from C. S. Lewis, who said that his realization of Jesus being the fulfillment of the pagan myths which Lewis had studied his whole life is the realization that led him to move from atheism into Christianity.
Jesus Fulfills Culture
But more than that, I believe that the Spirit of God moves even today upon the whole earth, whispering and drawing people of every tongue, tribe, and nation to follow in the wake of Jesus. I believe that the gravitational pull of Jesus is so strong, that He pulls all people after Him, whether they call themselves “Christian” or not (No, I am not a universalist).
I think this helps explain why the church often gets it cultural cues from the world.
Much to our shame, though the church should be leading the world in issues like the abolishment of slavery, women’s suffrage, affirmative action, income inequality, taking care of the poor and homeless, and human trafficking, it seems that far too often, the church resists such changes while the surrounding culture cries out for justice and equality.
It usually takes the church thirty or forty years to come around and see that the surrounding culture was right after all. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit was slow in speaking to the church, but that the church is slow to listen to the Spirit. And while the Holy Spirit waits for us to take the earplugs of tradition out of our ears, He goes to the rocks and the stars (often in the form of Rockstars) to have them cry out the message that He is whispering to the entire world.
“If God can speak to Balaam through an ass, God can speak to a Baptist through an atheist. The key is knowing how to listen for God’s voice” (Stark, The Human Faces of God, 237).
God is Not Silent
So God is not silent.
He is whispering His truth and His message to the world all the time. And sadly, those who claim to know God the best are often the ones who hear Him the worst.
But thankfully, our deafness does not mute God. God whispers His truth to all people, and this truth shines forth (though often dimly) through the writing of other religions, through literature and art, through music and movies, through shifting political winds, through the longings of men’s hearts and dreams, and through the cries of people for justice and equality (Stark, The Human Faces of God, 238).
The church that refuses to listen to such movements of God upon the face of the earth is the church that also fails to hear the whisperings of God to their own hearts and minds.
So if this is true, that the Spirit of God whispers the truth of God to all people everywhere so that religion, literature, music, art, politics, and cultural movement all contain echoes of what God wants done in the world, why is it that Jesus came to the Jews to be a fulfillment of their Scriptures? The answer to this question leads us to the next reason the Hebrew Scriptures are unique, which we will consider tomorrow.
Until then, do you think this idea magnifies or undermines the authority of Scripture? Do you think it magnifies or undermines God’s work in the world? Weigh in with your feedback in the comments below!
I completely agree with you in that your statement, “Almost all great stories, novels, myths, and movies have as their core plot the idea of a person who sacrificially gives of himself for others, to rescue and deliver them from some calamity, and in so doing, suffers great personal loss, but ultimately rises into glory,” is no coincidence. It reminds me of what Superman says in “Superman Returns” (the superman movie that nobody liked…I kind of liked it though). He said to Lois Lane, “You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one.” This desire of a savior is everywhere.
Great post.
Angela,
For over a decade I have wanted to have a “movie Bible study” where a group of people get together, watch a movie, and then point out where Jesus (or the longing for Jesus) shows up in the movie. I almost always do this in my head as I am watching a movie, and can almost always find something in every movie.
Music and art are the same way. They all contain echoes of Jesus, or the longing we have for what Jesus offers.
“Many will come from east and west and north and south…” Who are they? Contextually *not* those who did things in “my name.” Surprise-surprise.
Interesting… I will need to look at the context better…
This is a very interesting and enlightening picture of Jesus as the fulfillment of all of mankind’s spiritual yearnings for peace, love and union with God and each other.
I didn’t catch how this makes the Hebrew bible unique or more inspired than all other religious/spiritual texts, but it doesn’t matter, the message is what matters. The message is that the Spirit of God, as personified in Jesus, has been in the hearts of men and women before the beginning of time.
We are all manifestations of the Divine, regardless of our cultural setting.
Good points. That word “inspired” is so tricky because it means so many different things to different people.
Many years ago as a young (and legalistic Christian) I caught the last half of the movie “Pretty Woman” on TV. By the end of the movie I was moved and in tears but also a little ashamed that such “worldly” entertainment had struck a chord in me. As I wondered about that, it occurred to me that what I was responding to was the romantic story about how a “savior” took a harlot and turned her into a bride! It was a story about grace.
And they lived happily ever after….
Lisa,
I am glad you have come to see that! Even if there are elements of the story that we might grimace at, it still reflects the human heart for grace, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and being made new.
Well said and couldn’t agree more. I also feel that since we are made in Gods image that since the separation due to choice of sin the garden, we have a designed longing that only can be filled by God. Like we are missing something. We were created to be in a relationship with God. Why would that be different now? The theme and cultural aspects tie into this since the longing is universal. I am not a universalist either. As to the deafness of the institutional church. Many Christians that I know place their focus on being part of a church, replacing the true relationship with one associated in membership or through the person in the pulpit. The focus should be toward God and a deepening understanding through the higher degree of our knowledge of our need for God. A deeper longing yielding a deeper relationship. But most become complacent in the thought that being part of a church some how is what God desires. He desires us, always, everyday, and in everything. Not just Sunday and Wednesday night when it fits in our schedules. Deaf? Yes. We just don’t get it. Reminds me of the nation of Israel during the exodus. Led by fire and smoke but due to discomfort they would rather go back to slavery. We see glimpses of Gods nature and desire but would rather stay in our current state. Familiar and comfortable. ‘Tis a pity.
Thanks, Kevin.
Yes, we have that sense that we are missing something, and we try to fill it with so many things … even religion sometimes … but in reality, we were made for the ongoing, day-by-day relationship with God. Thanks for the great input!
This is a very elegant flip-side to the ideas in Francis Shaeffer’s work, in which the arts anticipate and even lead changes in our societal condition through the connection of the artists to the spiritual to create their ‘great’ works. (What a mouthful that summary is!)
I see your argument as being there’s an even deeper human condition that the arts can’t ignore, no matter how much the artists want to, even if the spiritual world they are picking up on is godless or serving a different god.
Yes, I forgot that Shaeffer had written that. I agree with this insights about art, but as you point out, I also believe that art reflects the longings of the human heart.
Hello,
I am agree with your article. The reasons are not only 4, there are other too many reasons also which makes Bible unique.
~Diana
Very true! I just came up with these 4 which are hardly talked about elsewhere.
Hi Jeremy, I’m sorry for my poor English grammar, I’m using Google translate!
I agree with you, even Paul wrote that men are WITHOUT EXCUSE because they already know in their heart about the true God: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..”
I love the way CS Lewis explained that “…He (God) sent the human race what I call good dreams; I mean those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions about god who dies and comes to life again and, by his dead, has somehow given new life to men.”
I remember the story of Hercules: he is the Son of god (Zeus), he must complete 12 tasks to atone his sin, one of the task: he must go to underworld (to steal Carberos) and then made his way back. Later, he ascended to Olympus and became god.
And if we compare to the story of Jesus, we’ll find similarities.
Jesus is Son of God. He must atone sin, not his sin, but our sin. He died / went to Hades (underworld). He Rose and ascended to heaven.
I’m no Bible scholar, but maybe that’s not a bad thing, because what you say rings true in my heart and my mind. If the One True God is love, He loves all, and makes his message of love apparent universally. Naturally, the flip-side is apparent too, that All have profound need of his love and redemption, and that can’t help but be expressed in every culture and every individual. It just makes sense. It’s painful that some have made Christianity a message of exclusion.
On the other hand, a heard a pastor make the bold statement that “God is bigger than Christianity.” He has come under fire. It took me awhile to see this perspective, but I get it now. It answers many questions. It rings true.