Once upon a time I took a biblical Aramaic class at a local seminary. Consequentially, much of our time was spent translating portions of the book of Daniel. One day, forgetting I was the only “non-seminary” student in the class, I referenced the text with the words “written by the author of Daniel.”
Cue the shocked expressions from my classmates. I had deviated from the set “as Daniel says” expression, choosing to go with the view that the author is unknown. With confusion in his eyes, one student asked me what I meant.
Realizing my mistake, I mumbled a few bits about the Maccabees and apocalyptic literature as a product of the 2nd century. I wasn’t there to alter their understanding of the Bible; I just wanted to learn Aramaic! However, I was startled when both my professor and classmates asked me more. My evangelical peers were genuinely interested in hearing my critical analysis of Persian loan words, Hellenistic Aramaic, apocalypticism, and the history of the Maccabean era. I left that class beaming with excitement.
Fast forward to our next class session. The same student from before came bounding into class and proceeded to describe this horrific tale:
“I told the guys at work what you said about the book of Daniel. How it wasn’t written by Daniel at all! They tried to disagree with me but I told them not to be so narrow minded. I mean, you know this stuff, right? They should believe you.”
Facepalm. He went on to describe their workplace argument in detail, and the more he talked, the worse I felt. At that moment I realized an important lesson,
Do not attempt to shatter someone’s faith in the Bible unless you are going to be there to pick up the pieces.
On my last blog post, I wrote sincerely,
“I ask this question, not in an attempt to extinguish someone’s faith in the Bible or be the cruel child on the playground who insists “Santa isn’t real,” but because I think we miss something vitally important about the biblical text if we so adamantly insist each and every story must be historically and literally true.”
And my twitter friend James G. wrote this great response,
“Krista, that “Santa isn’t real” bit just hit me like a ton of bricks! I wonder if I, as a liberal Christian, have lacked empathy in my efforts to speak truth and free my more conservative brothers and sisters from the confines of fundamentalism.”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I write this not to get in a debate about the book of Daniel or the nature of fundamentalism, but to share a lesson I have learned in my spiritual and academic journey:
Not everyone is ready to hear what you are ready to say.
Not everyone is ready to feel what you think they should feel.
Not everyone is ready to take the journey that you are already on.
This is not to say I don’t love a good old fashioned Bible debate, wrestling over issues of dating, authorship, and interpretation. In my opinion, that is the clearest way for me to show my value for a text. But just as I was once a little kid on the playground, hearing the whispers that Santa may not be real, I wasn’t ready to have those conversations. And we have to learn to respect that space for others when we enter into dialogue about the Bible. Some people are just not ready for these conversations, and that’s okay.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
