What are the images typically perceived in the Bible? What do people imagine when they think of God’s Word? In the next chapter, I will review various aspects of the typical biblical worldview, however first I will illustrate the primary biblical images that people use to form their biblical worldview. Perhaps everyone uses their own particular set of images to form their worldview, and perhaps many rely solely on the images of Jesus on the cross and a few key NT verses (John 3:16, Rom 8:1; 10:9). However, in this section, I will try to summarize what I consider to be the primary images that are typically used to develop one’s biblical worldview.
Books of Moses
From the five Books of Moses, certainly four popular images are 1) the creation of earth and man, 2) the fall of man, 3) the selection of Israel as God’s people, and 4) the giving of the law. First, perhaps all Christians perceive the images of God’s creation of the world around us and His creation of man and woman. Notably, many perceive the image of life in Eden as utopia and the current “fallen” world as hell-ish, so the future hope of many is a return to a world imagined as Eden. And the creation of man and woman is certainly an image that greatly influences the Christian worldview.
While everyone forms their own meaning from the image of the fall of man, many use that image alone to drive their reasoning for why there is the need for a savior. Presumably, man’s rebellion caused separation from God, and Genesis 3:15 is God’s promise to send a savior. Notably, that verse states that God will cause enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, but I rarely see anyone using that image to form their biblical worldview. The image is simply perceived as Satan will bruise Jesus through the cross, but the resurrection will result in Satan ultimately being crushed.
Regarding the selection of Israel as God’s people, I suspect many view them simply as an image of the ancestral line of Jesus. While God made promises to Abraham that Israel would be blessed and receive a promised land, ultimately the perceived image is that Israel rejects God thereby forfeiting those promises. So, for many, the selection of Israel is just a means to deliver Jesus in fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15.
Significantly, a primary image from the Books of Moses is the giving of the law. The ten commandments are often viewed as a lasting image, whereas many of the other laws are considered particular to that time. It is often said that the ceremonial law was eliminated with Jesus, but the moral and judicial laws vaguely remain to some degree. It is that vagueness that will cause much of the variation in the biblical worldviews of today.
Wisdom literature
Perhaps the wisdom literature contains innumerable images, but the primary images perceived come from Psalms. The image of David seeking God’s heart is perceived by many, however the biggest challenge I have for the worldly perspective is how to perceive David’s pleadings for God to destroy his wicked enemies. Perhaps they are encouraging if you sense your battle is against flesh and blood, but is that the proper perspective? From the very beginning of Psalms there are images of God favoring the righteous and destroying the wicked. Who or what do the righteous represent, and who or what do the wicked represent? How one perceives those images is critical, because that perspective is perhaps the most powerful influence on one’s biblical worldview.
The other books of wisdom are often reduced to simple worldly images. Job is a book about why bad things happen to good people. Ecclesiastes is about vanities. Proverbs is about proper living. Esther is about God’s providence and our moment in time. Ruth is about attracting others to the faith, while Jonah is about evangelizing to them. Is that all God wanted to convey? Once you believe you generally understand a book, why would you have any motivation to dig deeper?
Narratives and prophets
The remainder of the OT is typically summarized as the narratives and the prophets. For most people, the narratives give the image of a people who consistently disobeyed God even though God showed them steadfast love. A powerful perception is that God would either bless or curse the nation “temporally” depending on whether they obeyed the OT law. And certain Jews, like David, become character studies of proper and improper behavior. The stories of the kings of Judah and the northern kingdom are simply more images of people who constantly disobey and reject God. From the prophets, many view them mostly as a foretelling of the coming of Jesus. They are also viewed as messengers from God to call the people to repentance, but again the perception is that the Jews ignore the warnings and reject God.
Summary of OT
In summary, the OT is generally viewed as a literal historical record of a people who reject God, but God used those “broken” people to deliver Jesus to us. Sadly, approximately 75% of God’s Word is often summarized as that image alone. If that is your overall image of the OT, why read it? It’s no wonder why most people find it tedious to read the OT. If people had the choice, I suspect many would vote to eliminate most of the OT from the Bible and just keep the NT. The folks at Gideon apparently agree with that sentiment.
Summary of NT
Whereas the OT is perceived as tedious, many perceive the NT as a different image of good news with Jesus coming into this world to offer salvation. “Out” with the old covenant; “in” with the new covenant. They perceive the incarnate Jesus as the fulfillment of OT prophecy such as the virgin birth in Bethlehem and the suffering servant. And the NT images of the resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit are perceived images that form the foundation of the biblical worldview. Many also see the NT as providing images of the establishment of the new church with its mission to spread the good news to the world. And while the images are vague and confusing, the perceived NT images of the second coming of Jesus have created various end-times scenarios. Consequentially, all of these NT images will greatly influence the typical biblical worldview.
Gospels
For many Christians, the four gospels are used as the historical proof of Jesus coming as the promised messiah. They use the eyewitness accounts and the fulfillment of many prophecies as irrefutable proof points. Presumably, how could someone perform so many miracles and be raised from the dead unless He was the Son of God? Supposedly the odds of someone fulfilling all the OT prophecies are astronomical, so they say it’s safe to assume that Jesus was not just a regular person. As argued by many evangelists, the perceived images from the gospels are the logical reasons to believe in Jesus as the messiah.
Acts
The images from the book of Acts are used to validate the formation of the new church, with the image of Peter being given the keys to the kingdom as justification for the papacy. Others perceive the images in Acts as the roots of evangelicalism; with the new covenant being perceived as starting in the NT. Certainly God made the promise back in Genesis 3:15, but most believe that the reality of the new covenant did not occur until after the cross. Of course, how one secures the grace of the new covenant is an image that remains a conundrum from the worldly perspective; is it based on man’s free will or God’s sovereignty? The image of Pentecost is widely perceived as the beginning of the Holy Spirit actually indwelling people, so many perceive that image as the key differentiator from OT times. In doing so, however, they add to the conundrum. Were people saved before Pentecost? If so, how? I will be challenging you to reconsider your thoughts on the first and better covenants.
Epistles
I suspect many perceive Paul’s, James’, and Peter’s writings as images of right relationships and a call to battle against evil. Supposedly, their writings provide images depicting the forgiveness of all sin past and future without any fear of punishment. Also there is the perceived image that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit provides a power to be righteous to some degree, so the perception focuses on the behavior of people. Importantly, the perception is that a Christian is not only saved, but also that he is supposed to become a better person. And while Christians say they still sin, their perception from the Bible is that they should sin less than others. This image greatly influences their biblical worldview.
Revelation
The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is full of imagery; and I’ll never forget the first time I listened to the bizarre descriptions. It was obvious to me why many think Christianity is a cult; that is weird stuff. Of course, these images are combined with other biblical images to create perceived images of the second coming of Jesus. A popular perception is the image of believers being “raptured” from this earth while unbelievers are left behind. The images are vague, and there is much debate on which view is correct. And while some Christians today can tell you which end-times image they believe, most take the pan-millennial view. They don’t know what image to believe, they just know it will “pan out” in the end. So, the image of the end times creates perhaps the most confusion of any truth; that is an odd thought. Is that God’s intent?
A thought that is just as odd is that most do not perceive God Word as providing clear images of life after death. Very few people see images in the OT of either heaven or hell; and many suggest that Jesus speaks much about hell, but very little about heaven. The perceived image of hell is vaguely described as separation from God with everlasting torment where there is constant weeping and gnashing of teeth. And even more vague is the perceived image of heaven as being in the presence of God. Oddly, Jesus gives many parables about the kingdom of heaven, but the worldly perspective sees the parables as images of this world. So, the meaning of salvation and the future hope are vague images at best. Is that God’s intent? Did the good news of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus as noted in Matthew 4:23 result in a similar vague understanding?
Perhaps I mischaracterized to some degree everyone’s perceived images of God’s Word, but I sense that many would generally agree with my assessment of the biblical perceptions of a typical present-day Christian. If the Bible is perceived as being primarily about this temporal world, then what I describe are certainly reasonable perceptions. And the outcome of those perceptions is the formation of the typical “biblical” worldview which is the line of thinking that a person uses to answer the three great questions in life. Let’s survey my perceptions of the typical biblical worldview to determine whether that line of thinking results in simple yet deep explanations of biblical concepts, or whether approaching God’s Word with a worldly perspective results in lines of thinking that are confusing and debatable.