The Bible’s Integrity
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5)
The Judeo-Christian tradition is a religion of remembering. The Old and New Testaments are the faithful's memories and interactions with God. Their brutal honesty has made the two Biblical Testaments an enduring blessing for thousands of years. Because later scribes presented all the writings in the two Testaments, some have declared that the writings were created to persuade the world to follow the one God. Because the scribes wrote to convince, they must have twisted them into fake news. I disagree because if the scribes had been twisting the Biblical stories from the oral tradition to gain converts, they would have done a better job.
The oral tradition was a blessed process of handing down the divine stories from one generation to the next. The scribes had integrity, trying to remember the stories just as they had been told for generations and even centuries. If the Bible were a marketing tool, the scribes wouldn't have included David's sin with Bathsheba or Jonah's avoiding his call to Nineveh. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have been described as less manipulative when she forced Jesus to declare his Messiahship through the miracle at the wedding at Cana.
In "Who You Are is What You Remember," Thomas Oppong rightly asserts that memory defines us. "Early experiences, joyful or sorrowful, shape our values and emotional responses." Oppong continues, "The true power of memory is not dwelling on the past but using it to influence who we are becoming." Memories do not come only from our physical experiences but also from the memories of the community we embrace. Just as people can be adopted into a family, we can adopt the memories of the Biblical characters as we make them part of our remembered family.
The more you internalize the sacred Scriptures, the better able you will be to remember and make them your own story. Read the Book of Exodus over enough, and soon, God's relationship with you will be like God's with Moses. Moses' memory will give you the strength to speak truth to power. You will become God's voice to 21st-century Pharaohs. Use today to think about your memories of faith throughout your life. Who were the people who enhanced and guided your faith journey? Then, consider the Scripture passages that speak to your heart and mind. God uses your memory to inspire your soul.