skipper – Page 9 – blogwoods

Bible as Literature, part 1

The idea of treating the Bible as literature was controversial among the conservative Christian set when I was younger, probably because “literature” often meant “fiction” and conservative Christians didn’t want to have anyone think the Bible is fiction. Of course, the Bible is technically literature in that it was written down, but there was this idea that if we started treating it the way we do any other piece of literature (say, Hamlet), then that would be the first step down a slippery slope toward liberalism and worse.

I don’t see it that way. In fact, I propose that by not reading the Bible as literature, we actually miss significant theological truths that its authors are trying to tell us. Here’s what I mean.

Original sin and spiritual death

Proponents of original sin uniformly state that we are all born spiritually dead as a result of the sin of Adam. But just what does it mean to be spiritually dead?

Original sin and our own tendency to sin

I’ve often seen this question posed as a defense of original sin:

Wouldn’t we all have sinned just as Adam did in the garden? Doesn’t that make it justified for God to impute Adam’s guilt to us?

On the surface, this sounds like a great argument, and it’s powerful — because we are so in tune with our own sin. It only takes me a moment to consider my sinful ways, and how easily I give in to sin, and I quickly respond in the affirmative: I absolutely would have sinned if I were there in the garden instead of Adam.

What we would have done in Adam’s place is irrelevant.