Master the Bible: How to Get and Keep the Big Picture of the Bible's Story

Chapter 4: F rom Before to Beyond T ime , Ser i es 2 73

importance of the study of stories and the understanding of Bible and theology. (William J. Bausch, Storytelling and Faith . Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 1984.)

1. Stories introduce us to the presence of God, the sacred and the holy.

2. Stories are always more important than facts.

3. In the Christian community, our stories are “normative,” i.e., they always have the last say on what God did and wants from his people.

4. Christian traditions define themselves through and around specific stories in the Scriptures, and their interpretation today.

5. Scripture’s stories precede, produce, and empower the Christian community.

6. Those who alter or change the Scripture’s stories are subject to censure and rebuke, and will be answerable to the Church in their telling.

7. The Scripture’s stories produce theology.

8. The Scripture’s stories produce many theologies.

9. The Scripture’s stories produce both ritual (e.g., Sunday worship) and sacrament (e.g., the Lord’s Supper).

10. The Bible’s stories are historically true; they are neither fiction nor invented.