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Saturday, December 07, 2002 A Rant with Honest Questions If the Bible is so powerful, the Word of God, and has more life and brings more conviction than any other text, why can people read it twice through or more and remain or become atheistic? J. Michael Straszcynski, for example, the creator of Babylon 5, frequently uses biblical imagery in the series--even biblical themes at points--and said that he's read the Bible twice straight through... but he's an atheist. Professor Ralph Williams teaches a class here at U-M called the Bible as Literature; he doesn't believe most of what it says either, and many students who come out of his classes think likewise. I went to a performance of Handel's Messiah tonight; the libretto is taken entirely from the King James Version. It's a Christmas tradition for many people, and the vast majority go to performances purely for entertainment or art's sake. Yet Handel himself said, "... I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better." How many have sung, "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive... But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," and gone away unchanged, simply thinking, "What lovely lyrics!" Does the Bible really have the power that Christians claim it does? Surely not that many people have such "hard hearts" against it. Yet we as Christians are so excited when someone is interested in coming to a Bible study or even reading on their own. We tell each other to study it, to read it daily. If it's so powerful, can't God reach past hearts that only want to read and begin to convict, to change, to renew? Does it truly have the ability to transform? Of course, the Holy Spirit comes into the equation--we like to say that the Spirit is the one that brings this metamorphosis. But then why such reverence for the text? Or if the emphasis on the Bible is correct, then why does the Holy Spirit work through it in some people and not in so many others? Perhaps not all are "elect" as the writing goes, but it seems strange nonetheless that so many people are apparently unaffected by their contact with the Word of God. We get so excited when singing a "Christian" song to an unbeliever or writing verses from Scripture on away messages, email signatures, etc. Yet every Christmas thousands of groups perform Messiah to large crowds. Three straight hours of bibical text is sung. A couple of years ago there was a rash of Jesus Made-for-TV films. One network did a project on Noah’s Ark. The University Musical Society even has a concert series entitled "Divine Expressions," namely choral performances held in a Catholic church with wonderful acoustics, usually with texts on the subject of religion in some form. Audiences listen to the music, sometimes calling it a "spiritual experience," but all seems to end there. But we as a society, non-Christians especially, tend to categorize pop/rock music with Christian themes "Christian music". It's categorized, so if you don't believe you don't have to listen to it. It holds no relevance for you. Yet the same people will go to see Handel's Messiah, a more overtly Christian piece in many ways than many a "Christian" rock band's albums. Are we not bold enough as Christians? Are we so afraid that we will be marginalized? But we are in some ways, and people do sometimes get upset with what they perceive as evangelization or proselytizing. And to be truthful, sometimes it is. So have some works lost the power to affect people? Does the messenger’s belief change the art that significantly? Can a person who reads the Bible be changed purely by that reading? Can a film about Jesus move someone to commit her life to him? Surely art cannot lose its power; surely the Word of God cannot lose its power. So where does this leave us? ^ Top | 3:30 AM | | | 
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