Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Sacred Roots : Not Culturally Formed

In his Story, Jesus goes to heroic lengths to win the day and calls his followers to do the same. Epic stories provide people with a broader vision so they can escape “this provincial life.”

Brian Cavanaugh said, “Stories, parables, fables, anecdotes, illustrations, etc., help us to see the ‘bigger picture’ in life. They help us to understand there is more to life than our own limited spheres of experience. They create pictures in our mind and open up our imagination to comprehend a greater dimension of life than we are normally used to experiencing. Stories are vehicles that take us to far off places, places we’ve never experienced ourselves.” 120 More Bible, Not Less The Traditional Method may respond negatively to the idea of Truth as “Story.” For them, the word “Story” demeans the veracity of the Scriptures, reducing God’s Word to something trivial or mythical. Traditionals may even erroneously infer that embracing Sacred Roots shows allegiance with liberalism. Actually, the opposite is true. Adopting a narrative approach provides Christians with more Bible teaching, not less. When the Scriptures become an owner’s manual for my personal relationship to Christ , the Word of God is no longer the authoritative Truth, but a superficial list of “do’s and don’ts” that can be accepted, or rejected, at any time. To describe it as “Story” simply means that Scripture’s authority is broad and comprehensive, beyond “how it applies to me.”

Those who reject a narrative approach repeat the mistake of mid-20th century liberal theologians like Rudolf Bultmann. His

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