The Bible is not a collection of rules of life, nor a book on ethics. It is a living history recorded over more than 1500 years and describes an even greater time span. Much of the Bible is about development. This is what this short article would like to point out.
History
If we follow the Bible’s chronology, Adam was created about 4000 BC. We are living about 2000 AD. From Adam until today it would be about 6000 years. This is what the text presents to us. The text is the issue here, not the “right” or “wrong” of the time. What I explicitly do not say here is that the earth is 6000 years old. That is not the issue here. See also the article “How we read the Bible“. The chronological data say something about the outlined, historical course of persons mentioned in the Bible.
This worksheet wants to invite to understand the Bible also as a history book. History, namely development in time, is an essential part of biblical narratives.
A simple time bar is drawn and on it, from Adam to Jesus, a person from the Bible is noted every 1000 years. This is followed by 2000 years of church history up to the present day. Why is this important? Well, there are fewer and fewer people who know the Bible. It is all too easy to assume that Moses and Jesus lived door to door, when in fact there are 1500 years between them. If you look at the Bible as a structureless and history-less mess, you will encounter many contradictions. However, they often resolve surprisingly easily when we include the progressive history of the Bible in our understanding.
