The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Reverend Gregory G. Parker Northminster Memorial United Church There has been increasing discussion recently, even in some Christian circles, about the important and relevance of the Bible in todayÕs world. There are critics who say it is old and therefore not useful, as if the age and timelessness of the message gets lost over the years. Others question the BibleÕs historical accuracy and consistency, as if holding the Bible up to some ÒmodernÓ standard of accuracy in historical reporting and accuracy. Given what we know of how history is written and news reported, we might all be careful to assume that what we see and read is always true. In any case, the Bible was not written as a dry historical record, though much of it is probably historically accurate, as far as we can tell. As one writer put it, arguing against those who question JesusÕ historical existence, we have more from independent and Biblical sources about Jesus and his mission than we do of Emperor Tiberius (14-37 BCE) who ruled during most of JesusÕ lifetime, and nobody has any questions about Tiberius. It is true that the Bible has slightly different versions of the same events, but to writers of that day it was the meaning of the events that mattered, not the precise facts as they are being remembered through word of mouth, half a century later. Their memory is coloured by their point of view. Therefore, MathewÕs presentation varies from Luke. Mark recalls different things of importance than John (who is not trying to write a synopsis in any case). They see the facts and ÒreportÓ them differently. The key is that the essentials are in agreement. Jesus lived. Jesus worked and did miraculous things in the world. Jesus dies, and the Holy Spirit lived and lives in disciples and in us. The exactitude of some variations of memory are not important next to his central messages of peace, love, obedience, and salvation. There are different streams of thought and opinion in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as well. They are all preserved, as the expression of a people debating and searching for a meaning and expression of the One God. Those searches are a sign of a vital and positive reflection and search for understanding and meaning, and the subtle nuances of opinion (and some not subtle) should be seen in the light of the constancy of a search for meaning by an often hurt and oppressed people, as we all are. The Bible is the written basis of the faith. It talks of everything in the human experience, good and bad things. It has withstood the test of years and is as relevant now as ever, once the specific references to time and place are set aside. Read it in small pieces; slowly and thoughtfully. You might be surprised about how much is really there and what it says to us now.
