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Our yesterday’s discussion on biblical historicity/ interpretation seemed to have brought more confusion to many of our Christians here. Well, I am not surprised that it did. Neither you nor I is the problem. Our poor educational background especially with religious knowledge is to blame.
How can we explain the fact that over 99 percent of our Christians are ignorant of primiary biblical historical analysis and interpretation?
I keep on saying it, most of the things we bring up here should have been taught in our primary and secondary schools so that we are not misled by charlatans as is the case today.
The Bible, like other religious books did not fall from the sky, neither was it written by God, an angel or any spirit. It was written by men and women like us to teach and the guide believers.
In the 4th century when Emperor Constantine made christianity a legal religion and even a state religion, there arose the need to compile them. During the compilations, some were rejected whereas others were approved by the Church.
The Church believes and teaches that all those books approved were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. By this the church means that the authors were being guided by the Holy Spirit as they wrote them. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit dictated to them what they wrote. You have the right to believe this or not.
Since those authors were influenced by their traditions, culture, environment, language, mentality and so on, the church teaches that to understand the Bible one needs to take cognizant of all these.
This approach of studying the Bible did not go down well with some Christians especially our African Pentecostal brothers and sisters who pay little or no attention to biblical criticism or analysis. For many of them the Bible should be understood literally.
Who wrote the Bible? Are the authors written on the Bible actually the real authors? In what language/s were the books of the Bible originally written? Who decided which book should belong to the Bible? What is the best way to interpret the Bible?
These and other questions should have been raised and addressed in our religious knowledge classes but unfortunately they were not. This is the reason for the whole confusion today.
Be grateful that you are a member of this noble family where we teach you what you should have learnt in your primary and secondary school-days.
Since you are hearing most of these things for the first time and even too late, it is quite normal to feel confused and even angry. Do not worry. Just relax. You will be fine.
