Sarna: the point of the stories

Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Meditation:
    By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
    —Hebrews 11:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Exclusive concentration on the criterion of historicity obscures the intent, meaning, and message of the narrative which, after all, are its enduring qualities. If Abraham’s migration can no longer be explained as part of a larger Amorite migratory stream from east to west, it should be noted that what has fallen by the wayside is a scholarly hypothesis, not the Biblical text. Genesis itself presents the movement from Haran to Canaan as an individual, unique act undertaken in response to a divine call, an event, not an incident, that inaugurates a new and decisive stage in God’s plan of history. The factuality or otherwise of this Biblical evaluation lies beyond the scope of scholarly research.
    ... Nahum W. Sarna (1925-2005), in Biblical Archaeology Review, March, 1978, Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, p. 52 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 11:8; Gen. 12:1-4; Isa. 51:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to follow You in faith. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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