There aren’t many more emotive topics than that of faith; even those who don’t claim to be part of one generally have an opinion on the subject. It is a debate littered with absolutes, moral high grounds, by its very nature unproven theory and high emotion. It is something people are willing to kill for; it is something people are willing to die for.
Thankfully, A N Wilson’s discussion about ways of approaching, reading, understanding and appreciating The Bible takes a gentler tack. Whilst acknowledging but then putting to one side the more extreme elements surrounding the subject, he steers his talk through more appreciative waters and looks at the culturally positive and aesthetically pleasing effects of the book. From the writing of Proust to Handel’s Messiah, from fantastic architecture to any number of works of art, all inspired by this writing.
But it is when he starts to unpick some of the modern predispositions that the excited historian in me wakes up. Referencing Arch-Bishop James Ussher’s infamous calculation of Biblical ancestry and the surprisingly accurate 22 October 4004 BC date for The Creation, he points out that it is only after the Reformation and the arrival of The Bible as a continuous volume that people could even think along those lines. Martin Luther has a lot to answer for! The Bible, in its original form, takes the Jewish model, a series of teachings, some historical, some allegorical, some imparting wisdom but never seen as continuous family tree or chronological series. Once you dispel such a paradigm (and thereby kick many fundamental teachings into touch along the way) the Bible becomes a less volatile thing to be around.
Like any good debate he plays devil’s advocate. Fundamentalists, he points out, manage to promote certain lines of scripture, which suit their argument, ignoring any which may indeed argue equally well against them. Rationalists, likewise, plunder what they see as facts to discredit as they front their counter attack without understanding that this was never a tangible, journalistic record.
A. N. Wilson is the master of threading history, cultural development, theology and humour together into deliveries that appear to be highbrow and academic but which are in reality accessible, relevant and surprisingly fun. As someone who has moved from a self-confessed “wishy-washy believer” to “wishy-washy skeptic” and back again, he manages to see, engage with and explain both sides of the argument both very eloquently and very well.
