The Light of Scripture

C. S. Lewis once quipped,

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.”

It’s typical wit from Lewis but within this short repartee a very important truth emerges. It is one thing to believe that the sun has risen; it is a completely different thing to live by the light that it gives.

The specific point Lewis was making in his article, “Is Theology Poetry?”, was that we know the truth of Christianity in two ways, one direct -- you see the sun itself by looking right at it (not recommended by the way) -- one indirect -- you see the stuff that the sun illuminates and thus you know that the sun is, indeed, real and shining. His point was that Christianity makes sense not just when examined through direct evidence for things like the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but also because Christianity makes the most and best sense of the world around us -- science, art, morality, etc.

It is the latter idea, that Christianity makes sense of everything in creation, that I want to comment on, or rather, gather together some comments from Kevin Vanhoozer from his book Hearers and Doers, and then make some comments. [All quotes below are from Vanhoozer.]

It is not surprising that a lot of Christians do not in fact live as though Christianity, as expressed solely in God’s word, is the best explanation of everything in the world around them. In other words, many Christians don’t live their life in the direct light of Scripture, choosing instead to make their decisions based on something else. Or in Lewis’ parlance -- they choose to live in darkness rather than light.

Vanhoozer notes,

“Many Bible-believing Christians profess the authority of Scripture but no longer take their existential bearings from its pages. They no longer walk by its light, perhaps because they have forgotten how to do so.”

And if we remember anything from the early stages of our walk through Judges, forgetting is very, very bad. It leads us away from God and leaves us wandering in the darkness of our own thoughts, attitudes, and decisions, makes us susceptible to the influence of the prince of darkness and the sinful world over which he presides, and, thus, it brings divine discipline. If we don’t walk according to the light of Scripture we no longer have the necessary light which provides the guidance we need for how to live in a fallen world. We are left to wander the wasteland of this fallen world on our own with nothing to light our path and nothing to protect us.

The Christian should be “trying to read our world in light of the story of the Bible.” Yet so many Christians actually do the opposite. We should be trying to figure out how everything in our lives -- who we are and what we are to do -- fits within the redemptive story of Scripture, rather than seeking another story from which to live. Scripture alone should be the lens through which we see everything. Scripture alone should be the sole influencer of our social imaginary and our plausibility structure (more on these ideas in future blogs). Scripture alone is the tether for us as we lean into our world. It is “the ultimate story from which [we] take [our] existential bearings.”

Which leads me to ask -- Which story defines your life? Is it the story taken from the pages of Scripture, or is it one of the many stories told to you by the world? God’s story of redemption in Scripture covers every aspect of life; it provides guidance for every question we may have about our existential existence; it makes sense of every experience we may have; it provides the framework for how we view ourselves and our activities (hobbies, relaxation, work, etc.); it provides the foundation for all of our relationships (friendships, marriage, family, co-workers, etc.), including those with whom we don’t get along. It does these things because Scripture is objectively true and therefore provides us the proper view of reality so that we can live to the glory of God in all things.

Only in Scripture are we deprogrammed from the stories the world is trying to convince us are true, but are not, and then reprogrammed to see the world according to the risen Son.

Soli Deo Gloria