There seems to be a contradiction at the heart of
fundamentalism, or at least of many fundamentalists.
When it is suggested that maybe Jonah was not literally
swallowed by a fish, or that the sun didn’t actually stand still for Joshua, or
that Lazarus was not literally raised from death after being buried for four
days, the cry goes up about arrogant ‘liberal’, ‘rationalist’ scholars trusting
in their own reason rather than the word of God.
But when preachers suggest that following Jesus may mean
giving up our financial security, opting out of the consumer society,
dispensing with nuclear weapons, or creating a society that makes caring for
the poor a greater priority than economic growth, it is usually the
conservative Bible-believers who accuse them of being hopeless unrealistic and
irrational. Who’s trusting in reason now?
It’s easy to say you believe in impossible things that
happened thousands of years ago. There’s no evidence either way, and it really
doesn’t make that much difference. Surely the real challenge to hearing God’s
word in the Bible is to believe some of its ‘impossible’ assertions that have a practical effect on the way we
behave now.
Surely the real meaning of the question ‘Do you
believe in the Resurrection?’ is not what you think about the empty tomb or the
appearances, or whether it was a physical event or a spiritual experience. Its
real meaning is: ‘Are you prepared to live dangerously in the cause of Jesus,
knowing that whatever happens life will prevail over death?’
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