As argued, everyone has a perception of God based on their perception of scripture, and those perceptions influence their answers to the three great questions of life, such that everyone forms a biblical worldview through which they perceive reality. So, what images are typically perceived, and what worldview is typically formed when the biblical images are considered? The next chapter will review various aspects of a Christian’s typical worldview, and the goal of this chapter is to review the primary images that they employ to form their “biblical” worldview.
Arguably, everyone perceives scripture uniquely through a lens formed by their experiences, particularly their unique religious experiences. Obviously, if you are raised Catholic, as I was, then your perceptions are mostly formed by the church during your upbringing, and not so much directly from scripture. So, my perception of scripture, and the particular biblical images that influenced my perception of God, will not be the same as someone who was raised by a southern evangelical church, or someone who has actually read God’s Word for themselves. Perhaps everyone employs their own particular set of images to form their worldview, and perhaps many rely solely on the image of Jesus on the cross, and a few other key NT images (e.g., John 3:16, Rom 8:1; 10:9). Therefore, while everyone is uniquely impacted by their perception of various images, I will try to summarize what I consider to be the primary images that are typically employed 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, all Christians perceive the images in Genesis as depicting 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 that the current “fallen” world is hell-ish, so the future hope for 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 perception of the fall of man, many employ 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, while that verse depicts that God will cause enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, rarely anyone employs that image to form their biblical worldview. The image is typically perceived as Satan will bruise Jesus through the cross, but the resurrection will result in Satan ultimately being crushed.
Regarding the depiction of Israel as being God’s chosen people, I suspect that many perceive Israel simply as an image of the ancestral line of Jesus. Because, while God made promises to Abraham that Israel would be blessed and receive a promised land, typically the perceived image is that Israel rejected God thereby forfeiting those promises. So, for many, the selection of Israel is perceived as 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 perceived as a lasting image, whereas the many 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 perceived images come mostly from Psalms. The image of David seeking God’s heart is perceived by many, however, the biggest challenge for the literal perspective is how to perceive David’s persistent pleadings for God to destroy his wicked enemies. Certainly, the images are encouraging if you perceive that your battle is against flesh and blood, but is that the proper perspective? From the beginning of Psalms, there are images of God both favoring the righteous and destroying the wicked. So, who, or what, do the righteous represent, and who, or what, do the wicked represent? How one perceives those images is critical, because that perception is perhaps the most powerful influence on one’s biblical worldview.
The other books of wisdom are often reduced to simple images. Job is simply 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 perceive that 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 being the narratives and the prophets. For most people, the narratives depict the image of a people who consistently disobeyed God, even though God had steadfastly pursued them with His love. Notably, a typical perception is that God would either bless or curse the nation of Israel “temporally” depending on whether they obeyed or disobeyed the OT law. Consequently, particular Jews, such as David, are perceived as depictions of proper or improper behavior. Similarly, the narrative stories of the kings of Judah and the northern kingdom are simply more images of people who disobey and reject God. Finally, from the prophets, many view them mostly as a foretelling of the coming of Jesus. They are also perceived as the 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 perceived as a literal historical record of a people who reject God, however God employs those “broken” people to deliver Jesus to us. Notably, approximately 75% of scripture is often perceived as being that image alone. However, if that is your sole image of the OT, then why read it? It’s no wonder why most people find it tedious to read the OT. Arguably, if people had the choice, then I suspect that many would vote to eliminate most of the OT and just keep the NT. Apparently, the folks at Gideon agree with that sentiment. So, how do you perceive the OT; as being the “Jewish” bible, or as being part one of a two-part gift to all mankind?
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 a new way of salvation. The perception is often “out” with the old covenant, and “in” with the new covenant, where the incarnate Jesus is perceived as the fulfillment of OT prophecies, such as the image of the virgin birth in Bethlehem, and the image of the suffering servant. Also, the NT images of the resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit form much of the foundation of the biblical worldview. Many also perceive that the NT depicts images of the new church being established with a mission to spread the good news to the world. And while the images are often vague and confusing, many perceive the NT as depicting images of the second coming of Jesus, such that various perceptions of the end times are often promoted. Consequentially, the NT images of the end times will greatly influence the typical biblical worldview for many.
Gospels
For many Christians, the gospels are perceived as depicting the historical facts of Jesus coming as the promised messiah. Many perceive the eyewitness accounts and the fulfillment of prophecies as being the irrefutable proof points for their faith. 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 anyone fulfilling all the OT prophecies are astronomical, so they say it is 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 employed to validate the formation of the 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 beginning 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. The image of Pentecost is perceived as the start of the Holy Spirit actually indwelling people, which many perceive as the primary differentiator from the OT. However, this perception creates a huge conundrum; how were people saved before Pentecost? Arguably, this temporal perception of Pentecost is at the root of a rotten tree that will be uprooted.
Epistles
Many perceive Paul’s, James’, and Peter’s writings as images of right relationships, and a battle call to fight against all evil. Supposedly, their writings depict images of the forgiveness of all sins, past and future, without any fear of punishment. Also, there is the perceived image of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who 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 to some degree, their perception is that they should sin much less than others. This perception of sin greatly influences their biblical worldview, but does religion perceive the image of sin as God intended? Notably, much of this effort is inspired by religion’s misperception of sin.
Revelation
The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is full of imagery, and I will never forget the first time I heard the bizarre depictions. Arguably, anyone could perceive Christianity as a cult based on the weird images. Notably, these images have been combined with other images to create perceptions of the end times, with the popular image of believers being “raptured” from this earth while unbelievers are left behind. The images are often vague, and there is much debate on which perspective is correct. And, while some Christians today can tell you the end times image that they perceive, most take the pan-millennial perspective; that is, they don’t know what image to perceive, they just know it will “pan out” in the end. Oddly, the image of the end times creates perhaps the most confusion. Is that God’s intent?
A thought that is just as odd is that most do not perceive God’s Word as providing clear images of life after death. Very few people perceive images in the OT of either heaven or hell, and many suggest that Jesus speaks much about hell, but very little about heaven. The image of hell is vaguely perceived as being a separation from God with everlasting torment where there is the constant weeping and gnashing of teeth. And, even more vaguely perceived, is the image of heaven as being somehow in the presence of God. Oddly, Jesus depicts many parables about the kingdom of heaven, but the literal perspective perceives the parables as depicting images of this world. So, the meaning of salvation, and the future hope of heaven, are vague images at best. Is that God’s intent? Did the good news of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry result in a similar vague understanding (e.g., Matt 4:23)?
Summary of typical perceptions
Perhaps I mischaracterized everyone’s perceived images of the bible to some degree, but I suspect that many would generally agree with my assessment of the perceptions of a present-day Christian. If scripture is perceived as depicting images of this world, then the perceptions are reasonable. And, the outcome of those perceptions is the formation of the typical “biblical” worldview, which is the line of thinking that every Christian employs in their attempt to answer the three questions in life. Certainly, everyone is unique, but the next chapter will provide my perceptions of the typical biblical worldview with the goal to consider whether that worldview promotes lines of thinking that result in clear and irrefutable explanations consistent with the expected nature of God, or lines of thinking that result in confusing and debatable explanations which are inconsistent with the expected nature of God.
While I was able to summarize the biblical perceptions of the typical Christian in just six pages, millions of books have been written about the implications of those perceptions. Therefore, this is far from a trivial matter, because everyone who has ever been exposed to religion has had their life influenced in some way by those perceptions, regardless of whether they consider themselves a Christian. With that in mind, please know that I once held the basic core beliefs that I am attacking, so I fully understand the powerful strength of the perceptions that must be overcome. Yet, I can compare the different lines of thinking that result from each perspective, and there is no doubt in my mind that the symbolic perspective is what God had intended, whereas the literal perspective is a deceptive work of Satan.