The Basics of Christian Belief

Bible, Theology, and Life's Big Questions

Strahan, Joshua

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781493423934
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

This reader-friendly yet robust introduction to the Christian faith explores the essentials of Christianity and the impact they have on life, worldview, and witness. Written in an accessible and engaging voice for college-age readers, the book connects the biblical plotline, the Apostles' Creed, the comparative distinctiveness of Christianity, and life's big questions. The author shows how the Christian metanarrative speaks to questions about purpose, worth, ethics, personhood, and more, and helps readers understand what it means to be a Christian in a post-Christian world.

Part 1: The Plotline of Scripture

1
The Old Testament

I’ve worn glasses since I was eight years old. Before that, my vision was blurry enough that I had to find creative ways to get by. For example, when people weren’t close enough for me to make out their faces, I learned to tell who they were by the way they walked, by their distinct gaits and strides. The odd thing is that I had no idea my vision was bad. I assumed that life was just as fuzzy for everybody else. I didn’t ask to go see the optometrist because I didn’t know that I needed to see the optometrist. Then came the day that someone realized I needed glasses, and soon after that I saw the world in high definition for the first time. It was life changing. Imagine seeing a tree for the first time in all its wonder—the majesty of this giant, living plant in sharp focus, top to bottom, with all the contrasts of shape and color and lighting and movement. Life with glasses was not only easier to navigate but also more beautiful, for I could really see.

I think the Christian worldview is a bit like putting on glasses that allow us to see the world in greater focus, revealing a world that is full of beauty and meaning. Over the next several chapters we will look both at and through the lenses of a Christian worldview. In chapters 1 through 6 we are primarily looking at the lenses. We might think of this as our way of ensuring that the lenses are free of smudges and that they’re the right prescription. There are a lot of glasses on the market that are labeled “Christian,” but some are knockoff products—trendy frames with cheap lenses that don’t actually help one see better. So we need to take the time to look closely at the Christian lenses, primarily by studying the stories and teachings that are found in Christian Scripture. Then, later in the book we will focus on looking through these lenses and consider how Christianity offers a distinct way of seeing our lives and the world we live in. Hopefully this will bring the beauty and brokenness of our world into sharper focus.

To know what Christianity is, we need to start with the Christian story. In the same way that we don’t really know people until we know their stories—where they’ve been and what they’ve been through—we can’t really know the Christian faith until we know the Christian story. And this story goes all the way back to the beginning. Technically, it goes back before there was a beginning.1

The Beginning

The first chapter of the first book of the Bible describes the creation of the universe in beautiful, near-poetic language. There is structure and symmetry and delight: God speaks, what he speaks happens, and it’s declared “good.” In fact, the term “good” shows up seven times in this first chapter of Genesis, making it abundantly clear that God approves of what he’s made.2 The high point of creation is humanity. Genesis tells us that humans are made in God’s image, male and female. This is a way of saying that men and women have special dignity and purpose and distinction.3 Humans are called to “image” God, representing God’s benevolent care by tending and wisely ruling God’s good creation. We’ll have to keep reading the biblical story to learn more about what this means.

Today the Genesis account of creation seems to clash with modern science. Genesis probably sounded bizarre to its ancient audience as well, though for different reasons. We can see this when Genesis is compared with other ancient creation accounts (such as Atrahasis and the Enuma Elish).4 Three differences stand out:

1. The Genesis account is monotheistic, which means it recognizes only one unrivaled God at a time when polytheism (multiple gods) was the standard religious view. It’s not surprising that there are multiple gods in Atrahasis and the Enuma Elish; it is surprising that there is only one God in Genesis.
2. In Genesis, God simply speaks the cosmos into order and declares it good, unlike in some other ancient creation accounts where the world results from the warring and violence of the gods. For instance, in the Enuma Elish the bloody remains of a slain god become building blocks for creation.
3. In Genesis, humans have inherent dignity and value: they bear the image of God and are tasked with caring for and ruling over creation. In contrast, in both Atrahasis and the Enuma Elish humans lack such dignity and are tasked with doing the burdensome work of providing food for the gods—because these gods (unlike the God of Genesis) need food!5

Although I’ll visit this in more detail in chapter 7, it might be helpful to go ahead and point out how what would have seemed odd in the ancient world has become commonplace today. That is to say, in popular culture it’s common to take for granted that the natural world has a “goodness” to it, that humans have inherent dignity, that monotheism is more likely than polytheism, and that a real god wouldn’t need food.

The biblical story starts out promising, but things quickly go south. After presenting a wide-angle, cosmic account of creation, Genesis zooms in to focus on two humans—Adam and Eve. The setting is the garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve are dwelling in something like paradise. Two trees dominate Eden’s landscape: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were permitted to eat from the tree of life, and as long as they ate from it, they wouldn’t die. They were forbidden from eating from the other tree, though. It’s never specified precisely why this was forbidden. Perhaps it was simply a way to train or test Adam’s and Eve’s obedience: Would they give God the obedience that was due their creator? Perhaps it was about pride and patience: Would they trust God, or would they take matters into their own hands? Perhaps it was about gratitude: Would they be content with the good life God had provided? Whatever the reason, a scheming serpent comes on the scene and successfully tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve, in turn, gets Adam to eat the fruit. The result of their transgression is commonly referred to as “the fall.” From this point on we’ll begin to see the gravitational pull of sin, which tears down the good creation that God has built up.6

Adam and Eve are exiled from paradise. They no longer have access to the tree of life, which means they will inevitably die. Other consequences result from their violation. In short, a pervasive corruption makes its presence felt in the world, causing damage physically, socially, and spiritually.7

• We see physical brokenness, as Genesis narrates how Adam and Eve will eventually die, how humanity’s labor takes on a burdensome quality, and how the plants and soil may have become corrupted as they no longer produce vegetation as they once did. Even the nonhuman creation experiences ramifications from human disobedience.
• As for social brokenness, we read that man and woman will be at odds. Instead of naturally appreciating and valuing each other as partners, they will develop an unhealthy power struggle.
• Next, Genesis captures the spiritual brokenness that has set in: Adam and Eve no longer feel so close with God, so unashamed and vulnerable (which is symbolized by their previous nakedness in Eden); instead, they feel ashamed and distant from God (symbolized by their hiding from God and clothing themselves). Their fractured relationship with God is the overarching consequence: to be less connected with the source of life and goodness will inevitably lead to a systemic breakdown, to death—physically, socially, and spiritually.

To be clear, the physical and social and spiritual are all intertwined and perhaps inseparable. I distinguish them to draw our attention to the holistic consequences of sin, so that we don’t think of sin as operating at only one specific level while leaving the rest of human existence and the creation untouched.

After the humans are exiled from Eden, Genesis narrates something of a downward spiral as sin and human rebellion grow more intense. This is especially captured by the narration of increasing violence: first one brother kills another (Cain and Abel); then Lamech brags of his murderous vengeance; and soon enough the earth is described as “filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11). How might God respond to this? What will he do now that his good creation is corrupted? In what seems to us an unexpected move, God sets in motion a plan to deal with the world’s brokenness, and his plan will start with a seventy-five-year-old man (Abraham), his sixty-five-year-old wife (Sarah), and their infertility.

Abraham

Without any backstory or explanation, God calls Abraham and says to him:

Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you. (Gen. 12:1–3 NIV)

This is an astounding promise. God is calling this seventy-five-year-old man to leave everything behind based on a promise to make his lineage great in number, blessing, renown, and impact. But isn’t Abraham a bit old for this? God better hurry things up! Instead, twenty-five years pass without God delivering on his promise. Despite the delay, God again reiterates his promise: a child will be born to Abraham (now one hundred) and Sarah (now ninety), and through this child God will make good on his promise. Sure enough, God is true to his word, and Sarah gives birth to a son, Isaac.

Isaac grows up and has twin sons, the younger of which is Jacob. God chooses Jacob’s lineage to fulfill the promise he earlier made to Abraham—the promise of land, numerous descendants, and to be a blessing to the world. Jacob is a fascinating and frustrating character, a bit of an antihero. He often seems more sinner than saint. For example, he exploits his hungry brother and deceives his ailing, blind father. Somewhat surprisingly, many of the Bible’s heroes are not one-dimensional characters. They’re not presented as perfect people who always make the right choice. Instead, their lives are often messy and complicated, sometimes showing incredible faith, sometimes showing cringeworthy doubt. Moments of sacrifice, vulnerability, and faith are followed by moments of deception, seizing control, and scandal. Even so, Jacob manages to distinguish himself as a particularly dubious character. As the story unfolds, Jacob has many children by multiple wives. This part of the narrative reads something like a dark comedy—some humorous moments played out in front of the gloomy backdrop of Jacob’s polygamy. Yet God appears willing to use Jacob’s broken circumstance to bring blessing, as though God realizes that if he’s going to partner with humans, he has to meet them in the midst of their messiness.

The biblical story eventually shifts its focus onto Jacob’s twelfth and favorite son, Joseph. In yet another head-smacking move, Jacob flaunts his favoritism for Joseph, thereby arousing envy among Joseph’s brothers. The brothers grow so jealous that they seize Joseph, sell him into slavery, and feed Jacob the lie that Joseph was torn to pieces by a wild animal. Joseph is isolated from everyone—except God. God does not abandon Joseph but works through this dire situation to bring about blessing. What follows in Genesis is a series of ups and downs in Joseph’s life.

Throughout Joseph’s roller coaster of a life, two things remain fairly constant: God does not abandon Joseph (even when it seems as though he has), and Joseph does not abandon God (even when it seems as though he perhaps should).

While Joseph is in Egypt, a great famine devastates the surrounding regions, which eventually brings Joseph’s estranged brothers to Egypt in search of food. This results in one of the most touching reunions in Scripture. When Joseph’s brothers recognize the brother whom they betrayed, they are terrified. Joseph, however, welling with tears, extends not only mercy but also an invitation to come to Egypt where they can escape the worst of the famine. And so the book of Genesis comes to an end with Joseph, his brothers, and his father all in Egypt.

At this point, the reader may be wondering how any of this fits into God’s earlier promises of land, descendants, and blessing. After all, the promised land was in Canaan, not Egypt; Abraham now has many descendants but nowhere near the multitude God had promised; and while the nations have been blessed with provision during a great famine, one might wonder about the larger blessing needed in light of the pervasive corruption that we found after Eden—that physical, social, and spiritual brokenness. We need to keep reading, because the story isn’t over.

Exodus

After Joseph dies, things take a turn for the worse. Jacob’s descendants—who are called “Israelites” (since Jacob’s other name is Israel)—become enslaved by the Egyptians. After hundreds of years of slavery, God sends a reluctant deliverer: Moses.8 Mos...