Ponderosity: Paradigms and Apologetics

“What are we to make of this violence in the Bible? An obvious answer is that the Bible is not a “nice” book that hides the sordid side of life. The bible is a book of thoroughgoing realism. The Bible’s stories of violence demonstrate the depths of depravity to which the human race descends. Paradoxically, though, the nadir of depravity represented by biblical stories of violence is also the climax of the Bible’s story of redemption. The violence of the cross is the pivot point of redemption. The song of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 hints at this paradox: written in a highly stylized poetic form replete with parallelism and an unusually high degree of patterning, this song uses the resources of artistic form to beautify its portrait of a person subjected to unfair violence for the sake of others.” pg 917 Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

I have begun what I think will be a long and ponderous task of understanding the more sordid and perplexing passages of scripture. About a month ago some friends and I met two atheists at a Panera. We talked for a good hour and a half … One of the atheists, Bob (I have changed his name out of respect) ended up giving me an assignment. He sent me a packet of assorted biblical texts highlighting the darkside of scripture in an attempt to disprove its authority and inspiration. Complete with parallel translations (KJV, RSV, Modern, and Living Bible) and graphic depictions, the pamphlet systematically documented roughly twenty of the most difficult passages. Clearly I had my work cut out, but I am always up for a challenge. If I can’t give credible answers to a nonbeliever then I ought to question my own belief.

I think it is important to unpack that last sentence. I am not saying that the unbeliever is the final determiner of “credibility.” I want to give a reasonable answer to the questions posed. I understand that he (or others) may not agree and even consider my answer incredible. But I am still obligated to give the best answer I can. There may come a point where I will simply have to say, “I don’t know.” And sometimes, that is all anyone can say. My purpose is not to eradicate mystery or uncover the exact meaning behind the passages (that would be pure arrogance, to think that I could solve what has been perplexing to so many great theologians for many years). My desire is to begin to answer these questions for my on inquiry and interest … and to seek to better understand this magnificent and mysterious God.

Paradigms
The interpretive lenses we use to see the world are of utmost importance. A paradigm is a model or pattern. A teacher grades a test using a “key,” which is essentially a paradigm, a model by which all other related actions are measured. Therefore, it could be said that paradigms or interpretive lenses are the “key” to properly seeing the world. How we see the world determines how we live. But the opposite is also true; how we live determines how we see the world. There is an interrelationship between praxis and belief. The paradigms we use are like road maps (from Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People). If we attempted to navigate Orlando with a map of Tampa, forget it! The more you use the wrong map the more you will end up lost and irritated. Thus it is important to use the map that properly corresponds to the region you are in. These maps can be categorized in two ways: maps of the way things are (realities), or maps of the ways things should be (values). For instance a road map of Orlando corresponds with reality while a blue print for the new toll road that they are constructing corresponds with value. The wrong map in either case results in the wrong outcome.

The Bible uses both maps and it is important not only to use the proper map, but the proper category of map. Not all the pictures that the Bible portrays are intended to be value maps, that is, they are not intended to be examples of the way things ought to be. The bible does not dodge the dark realities of man’s depravity. Therefore, it is imperative to determine if the Bible is portraying a value or reality. This does not mean that they cannot coexist; certainly I believe that Jesus embodied the perfect union of the two, but there are other instances in scripture that are realities intended to model values. In the words of one of my professors, “Is the passage descriptive (reality) or prescriptive (value)?”

In one sense there is no sense in me getting underway with these passages if my atheist friend refuses to accept God as a reality. Our conversation is then fundamentally incongruent. Therefore before even getting started in this exposition of Biblical texts I need to set forth an argument for the existence of God.

There are generally three approaches to apologetics: Classical Apologetics, Evidential Apologetics and Presuppositional Apologetics. Here is a grossly simplified explanation: Classical attempts to argue for the existence of God in the order: philosophical arguments (i.e. the ontological argument) à proof of God; Evidential argues: scientific evidence à existence of God; Presuppositional argues: presuppose God à evidence demonstrates existence.

In the next post I hope to argue my position.