A New Kind of Christianity - Brian McLaren [57]
Trueblood’s insight, in my opinion, is the best single reason to be identified as a believer in Jesus, and it is an unspeakably precious gift that can be offered to people of all faiths. The character of Jesus, we proclaim, provides humanity with a unique and indispensable guide for tracing the development of maturing images and concepts of God across human history and culture. It is the North Star, if you will, to aid all people, whatever their religious background, in their theological pilgrimage. The images of God that most resemble Jesus, whether they originate in the Bible or elsewhere, are the more mature and complete images; the ones less similar to the character of Jesus are the more embryonic and incomplete, even though they may be celebrated for being better than the less complete images they replaced.5
This is why we cannot simply say that the highest revelation of God is given through the Bible (especially the Bible read as a constitution or cut and pasted to fit in the Greco-Roman six-line narrative). Rather, we can say that, for Christians, the Bible’s highest value is in revealing Jesus, who gives us the highest, deepest, and most mature view of the character of the living God.
Several passages of the New Testament affirm this very thing. In Colossians, for example, we do not read, “The Bible is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…. For in the Bible all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through the Bible God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things.” Instead, we read, “[The Son] is the image of the invisible God…. For in him all the fullness God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (1:15, 19–20).
Similarly, in Hebrews, we do not read, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the Jewish prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us through the Christian apostles…. Their writings are the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.” No, we read, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word” (1:1–3).
Nor do we read in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became the Scriptures and was published among us…. The Bible is the light of the world…and the way, and the truth, and the life. Whoever has understood the Bible has seen the Father…. The Bible and the Father are one.” Instead, in John, we read that the Word was made flesh in Jesus, that Jesus is the light, the way, the truth, and the life, that whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father, and that Jesus and the Father are one (1:1, 14; 8:12; 14:6, 9; 10:30). In fact, Jesus says, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf” (5:39).
Of course, some will claim I’m dishonoring the Scriptures by saying these things, but in fact, I’m trying to properly honor Jesus as the Word of God to which the words of Scripture bear witness. The Scriptures are indeed unique and precious—inspired by God, as Paul said, and useful to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in right living so we may be fully equipped to do good works (2 Tim. 3:16–17). But just as the bronze serpent that had been an agent of healing in Moses’s day could later become something of an idol (2 Kings 18:4), so Christian individuals and communities can unwittingly become false Trinitarians, worshiping Father, Son, and Holy Scriptures.
When I am trying to