Quotes about History

Wisdom leads us to dialogues with the past. It doesn't lead us back to the past.

Wherever biblical writers talk about the past, we should expect them to be shaping the past as well.

These first seven books are Israel's stories of their deep past, or "origins stories" as they are sometimes called. They don't exist for entertainment or for idle curiosities about the past (and definitely not as fodder for children's Bible lessons). They explain how things came to be, why things are the way they are, and most important, how Israel got to be Israel—a kingdom with a land of its own.

The period of the monarchy is not only the meat of the Old Testament narrative of Israel. It's also the period when Israel's grand narrative was written.

Israel's beginnings are mysterious from an archaeological point of view, so we can't be dogmatic about explaining how and when Israel began. But it does seem that a nation eventually called "Israel" probably came on the scene gradually and relatively peacefully.

adapting the past to speak to changing circumstances in the present.

the ancient Israelites were an ancient tribal people.

It may be hard—sometimes impossible—to see the history in Israel's stories, but we do get a good picture of how these ancient Israelites experienced God.

How do biblical writers talk about the past?

the Bible is ancient, ambiguous, and diverse.

In reading the Bible we are watching the spiritual journeys of people long ago.

As quite distinct from Jewish interpretation, the history of modern evangelical interpretation exhibits a strong degree of discomfort with the tensions and ambiguities of Scripture.