The Bible: A Story that Makes Sense of Life

Andrew Ollerton

• Publisher: Hodder Faith
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781529327014
• eBook ISBN:
  9781529327021
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

'Honest, revealing insight into the bestselling book of all time.'
Bear Grylls 'A stimulating and accessible survey of history's most influential book.'
Tom Holland, historian and author of Dominion 'Personal and profound; informative and practical. If you want to experience the Bible as a rich source of guidance and hope, this book is for you.'
Simon Thomas, former Sky Sports and Blue Peter presenter When we make sense of the Bible, the Bible makes sense of us.The political, social and cultural upheaval of our times can leave us feeling bewildered and wondering where to turn for trustworthy guidance. As unlikely as it may seem, could the Bible provide ancient wisdom that helps us flourish today?Join Andrew Ollerton as he explores the storyline of Scripture, connecting six major biblical events with six definitive human needs: for meaning, freedom, peace, community, love and for an ultimate home. In short, digestible chapters, Andrew reveals how the Bible story makes sense of our human story.Discover for yourself a limitless source of guidance and hope in the face of so much uncertainty.Underpinned by a depth of scholarship, the book is non-technical in style, making it accessible for the widest possible readership - including Christians and seekers interested in the Bible. The book will also provide a model for Bible communicators and church leaders wishing to engage more deeply with the relevance of the Bible in our cultural moment.Contains discussion questions for small groups, as well as suggested Bible readings and reflection questions to accompany each chapter. The structure of the book makes it ideal to read during Lent.This book has been chosen for the National Big Church Read in January 2022.

PART 1

ORIGINS

Our human desire for meaning

Introducing origins

Who do you think you are? is the question posed by a popular British TV series, in which celebrities trace their ancestry and discover secrets about their past. As the title suggests, there is an important relationship between our origins and our identity, where we’ve come from and who we are. Through DNA testing and powerful search engines, it’s easier than ever to retrace our family tree back through the centuries and discover some surprising relations. My American mother-in-law is a past master at this. She claims to have hard evidence that my wife, Charlotte, is related to Pocahontas and Lady Godiva . . . that’s right, not just a Disney character. Pocahontas was a real Indian princess, the daughter of Powhatan, who married an English settler called John Rolfe. And yes, that’s right, Countess Godiva allegedly rode naked through Coventry on a horse. Anyway, let’s not lose our train of thought. The question of origins is not a retired, antiquarian interest. We humans want to feel part of a larger story that secures a deeper sense of belonging in the world. That’s why ancestry.co.uk has the slogan: ‘Bring your backstory to life’. Tracing our origins is crucial to knowing who we are and where we fit.

Back in the Middle Ages, this would have been more straightforward as family stories were etched on to a small footprint of land, generation to generation. But in our modern era of mobile living and family breakdown, our sense of heritage and belonging has become fragmented. We know where we live but that’s not the same as knowing where we belong. Personally, I find it hard in polite conversation to answer the simple question: ‘Where do you come from?’ I normally reply ‘Lancashire’ as this northern county in England is where the Ollerton family originates. It’s where my granddad taught me to skim stones and my grandma shot a rabbit with her air rifle. But the truth is, I’ve never lived there. My parents relocated before I was born and now I live somewhere different again. But I say ‘Lancashire’ because it summons a sense of heritage that runs deeper than my own short existence.¹

The opening scenes of the Bible provide a narrative portal through which to revisit our ultimate origins. The first book is entitled Genesis, which means ‘origins’ or ‘beginnings’.² It takes us back to the dawn of time and tells the story of how the universe came into being, who we are as humans and how we can discover meaning in this complex world. By meditating on these opening sequences we can situate our small, fragile lives within a larger story that is coherent and enduring. Genesis therefore sets up the backstory to our entire human story and makes sense of many realities we still face today: work and rest, family and society, nature and culture, birth and death.

Have you ever wondered why life is such a rollercoaster of emotions? Moments of intense beauty and pleasure – birds tweeting, lovers loving, your team winning – leave us singing with Louis Armstrong, ‘What a wonderful world’. But then life throws a curve ball and suddenly we face dark realities – the boss issuing redundancy, the doctor telling us it’s malignant, our partner announcing it’s over. Now we’re singing with Travis, ‘Why does it always rain on me?’ The Bible doesn’t shy away from these complexities or hide them in a corner. It faces up to reality and provides the best explanation for why our world is so beautiful and broken all at the same time. The book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament puts it succinctly:

 

There is . . .

a time to be born and a time to die . . .

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance . . .

a time to search and a time to give up . . .

a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1−8

In order to live with a secure sense of meaning amid the paradoxes of life, we need to rewind our story to the beginning. While science can investigate our physical origins and explain so much of the natural world, it cannot answer deeper questions that itch away in the human soul. As cultural critic Neil Postman argued:

 

In the end science does not provide the answers most of us require. The story of our origins and our end is, to say the least, unsatisfactory. To the question ‘how did it all begin?’ science answers ‘probably by accident’ and to the question ‘how will it all end?’ science answers, ‘probably by accident’. And to many people the accidental life is not worth living.³

 

When Charlotte and I tuck our kids into bed at night and whisper that we love them, we are affirming that they are not mere accidents or primates. They have purpose and significance beyond their material composition. Of course, genetically they may be advanced mammals whose short existence traces back to our DNA. But relationally and spiritually, there is another story to tell and deeper truths that need to be affirmed if they are to become emotionally healthy and socially responsible. I believe the ancient text of Genesis gives a compelling narrative of our ultimate origins, with profound truths that enable humans to flourish.

This section will explore the opening eleven chapters of Genesis, which form the backdrop to the rest of the Bible. Most of the Old Testament follows the story of one particular nation (Israel). But Genesis 1−11 starts further back and tells the story of the world through epic scenes of creation, temptation, a great flood and a Babylonian tower. In doing so, Genesis attempts to answer deep existential questions: Where have we come from? What does it mean to be human? What is the key to flourishing in the world? This last question is increasingly critical. As environmental commentators such as David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg testify, human mismanagement is jeopardising the future of our planet. Could it be that Genesis can help us recover a way of being human that models sustainable stewardship? Equally, as we experience the unpleasant symptoms of our social fabric unravelling – loneliness, family breakdown, stress and anxiety – perhaps revisiting our origins story can root our fragile lives in a more transcendent source of meaning and hope. According to Genesis, the universe is not a cold empty space, an unfortunate accident or a sick joke. If we trace our family history all the way back to its source, we discover things about ourselves and where we’ve come from that satisfy our human desire for meaning.

1

Origins and Genesis

Reading an ancient text today

The other day I overheard our two sons having an argument in their bedroom. At school they’d been learning the difference between ‘fiction’ and ‘non-fiction’ and decided to rearrange their bookshelves accordingly. However, a dispute arose over where to house their illustrated edition of the Bible. My oldest son was convinced it belonged on the non-fiction shelf, insisting, ‘It’s true!’ But my youngest son was not convinced, pointing to a cartoon picture of Noah’s ark with a giraffe poking out of one window and a polar bear in the other. It was left for me to settle the matter. In a cowardly move, I suggested the Bible belonged on their bedside table in pride of place not on ordinary shelves anyway.

However, the underlying issue of whether the Bible can be taken seriously is not going away. In particular, the credibility of Genesis has been relentlessly challenged in our scientific age. The famous atheist Richard Dawkins mocked Genesis, claiming: ‘It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West African tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants.’⁴ His underlying assumption is that science has disproved the Bible and we need to grow up and move on. Perhaps you respond like my eldest son: ‘It’s true . . . no matter what science says.’ But that response risks making a false choice: the Bible or science? Instead, if we understand Genesis on its own terms, we realise that it operates at a deeper level than a scientific explanation of our origins. Before we dive into the detail, this section considers how to make sense of an ancient text like Genesis today.

I should confess that I’ve gleaned the following principles from other scholars over the years. In particular, I am grateful to my former tutor, Dr Ernest Lucas, a kind-hearted genius who holds two PhDs – one in scientific research and the other in Old Testament studies. When I was grappling with the credibility of Genesis, he taught me to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the Author
• Title Page
• Imprint Page
• How to Use this eBook
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Prologue
• How to navigate the Bible
• Introducing the Bible
• PART 1 - ORIGINS
• Introducing origins
• 1 Origins and Genesis
• 2 Origins and God
• 3 Origins and beauty
• 4 Origins and human identity
• 5 Origins and human purpose
• 6 Origins and evil
• 7 Origins and hope
• PART 2 - EXODUS
• Introducing freedom
• 8 Exodus is a freedom story
• 9 Exodus begins with encounter
• 10 Exodus confronts idols
• 11 Exodus means crossing over
• 12 Exodus brings us to God
• 13 Exodus sets boundaries
• 14 Exodus is a journey
• PART 3 - EXILE
• Introducing peace
• 15 Peace breaks the negative cycles
• 16 Peace silences the giants
• 17 Peace is found in God’s presence
• 18 Peace in the storm
• 19 Peace away from home
• 20 Rebuilding peace
• 21 Peace and the Prince
• INTERLUDE
• PART 4 - MESSIAH
• Introducing love
• 22 Messiah is a new beginning
• 23 Messiah puts a face to the name
• 24 Messiah launches a new humanity
• 25 Messiah brings Jubilee
• 26 Messiah gathers a team
• 27 Messiah launches an agape revolution
• 28 Messiah triumphs over death
• PART 5 - SPIRIT
• Introducing community
• 29 The Spirit empowers ordinary people
• 30 The Spirit fires up the fearful
• 31 The Spirit forms a new community
• 32 The Spirit forges unity under fire
• 33 The Spirit changes what he touches
• 34 The Spirit transforms society
• 35 The Spirit gives us a part to play
• PART 6 - HOPE
• Introducing hope
• 36 Hope is rooted in history
• 37 Hope is based on Revelation
• 38 Hope includes Judgement Day
• 39 Hope is new creation
• 40 Hope is a garden city
• 41 Hope beyond the grave
• 42 Hope in the here and now
• Epilogue
• Discussion questions
• Further Resources
• Notes