Readers Reply

Shocking Some of Our Readers

I would like to express appreciation for the article by David Aune entitled “The Gospels—Biography or Theology?’ BR 06:01.

Professor Aune presents the Gospels in the context of their times, and especially in their literary context, in the clearest and most balanced way I have yet seen. His article is full of insights and understanding for anyone truly seeking to understand the Gospels better, and deserves to be read and read again, and meditated upon.

It may shock some of your readers to learn that the Gospel writers were in many ways products of their time, and that they express the conventions and worldviews of their age. It may also shock some readers to realize that the same is true of us today! But if we can once grasp the fact that true objectivity is an ideal not attained in any age, and that all men see through a glass darkly, it is at once humbling and enlightening. Giovanni Garbini has pointed out in his History and Ideology in Ancient Israel that the ancient Israelites were not immune from bias either.

It is now becoming evident that whether we are considering history, politics, science or theology, the essence consists in the continuing tension between the ideal and the real. This is the human predicament, and Professor Aune has reminded us that the Gospels were written by men in the same circumstances we find ourselves in, and they can speak to us today if we have ears to hear.