iMurphy

Sometimes I get mad at the Bible for not being what I expect.  Pretty quickly I realize this is because I have assumptions dumped into me by the world and my own avoidance of God that result in false expectations about what possible solutions might look like.  One of the main areas that I keep stumbling over is the nature of the Old Testament: it’s just a story, almost without commentary and almost without ever revealing the thought-life of those involved.  Now, I know the New Testament is a footnote to the Old, but even there, the stories are told in a similar way.

When we read a story, see a film or hear a friend telling us an anecdote, we automatically fill in the bigger picture.  When we are handed the metanarrative, instinctually we fill in a bigger one.  When an author tells us the thoughts of a character, we imagine the feelings behind the thoughts.   God purposed to be in the middle, just giving us the story (most of the time), forcing us to think of the bigger picture and the inner life of those involved.  Anything else would’ve lead us to overvalue thoughts and feelings, or philosophy.