A Walk Through the Bible Reflection

A Walk Through the Bible by Lesslie Newbigin literally ‘walks’ readers through his journey while experiencing the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. While walking alongside his readers, Lesslie emphasizes a few things. The first thing Lesslie makes note of in the first chapter of his book is the main characters of the Bible. Newbigin states that all stories have a hero, including the Bible. In the Bible, God is the hero or heroine. God saves the human race, that is characterized in the Bible as the Israelites. Newbigin, in the second chapter emphasizes the idea that God chose people to perform his will, as demonstrated in the title of the second chapter, “Chosen by God.” After betrayal by Adam and Eve, God wipes away the human race besides one chosen family, led by the patriarch, Noah. God gives humanity a second chance after the Fall and chooses Noah, Abraham, and Moses to perform His will, to do what Adam and Eve could not. This is a key moment in the Biblical story because God is giving the human race a second chance to gain back His trust after the betrayal of Adam and Eve. Newbigin also emphasizes humanity’s repeated inability to do God’s will. The third chapter follows Judges, Kings, and Prophets. Once the Israelites finally reached the Promised Land, each generation fell apart due to their idolatry and lack of faith. God made it clear that He is not like other gods, and He will only be satisfied “with a people in whom keep his justice and his mercy alive”(32). This line emphasizes God’s frustration with the human race’s inability to carry out His will, yet at the same time His patience because of the many chances He gifted the Israelites. Although the kingdoms of Isreal and Judah were destroyed, God gave the human race another chance by sending down two prophets. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were sources of religious strength in re-established a cohesive community in Isreal. Newbigin sees this as a key moment because Jeremiah and Ezekiel were another “second chance” gifted to the human race by God. Another key moment in the Biblical story is the appearance of the prophet John the Baptist. John was the first time the voice of the prophecy (God) has intervened in the lives of the Israelites for some time, and John’s ministry gave way to the ministry of God’s only son, Jesus. The life and death of Jesus is of course the most important moment in the Biblical story “Jesus himself is the presence of the Kingdom”(53). It is the most important event because Jesus’s death had a legacy, His resurrection. Because Jesus is the Son of God, His death is not another defeat of mankind. His spirit lives on in the form of the Holy Spirit, who had been promised by the prophets. The death and resurrection of Jesus brought about a new era for the world that involved “relating the new message of the Gospel to the old law” (75).