The second edition of history is the most accurate because the oppressed and marginalized will have had a chance to share their story and set the record straight. Unexamined history is a very dangerous and abusive thing if not explored and evaluated outside our blind acceptance of its veracity.
I am thinking of the many powerful women recorded in biblical history who did tremendous things for God. If they walked into some of our churches today and listened to our edited version of their history and potential they would be amazed at our level of misunderstanding and ignorance. I am also thinking of young men and women held back by institutional forms of reverse ageism that refuse to release emerging generations into the fullness of their calling. I am thinking of law-based systems of theology that paint a picture of God as distant, cool and without goodness. This list could go on adding to its catalog a variety of issues that religion has used to control its followers with fear, not faith, hope and love.
Each generation of culture will hopefully write a more accurate rendition of the history of our faith. This is a dangerous job. Labels of dismissal get attached to these new historians. Their work is not a revision of truth. It is a process of editing our misinterpretations that will take us back to the simple and unpolluted truth of God’s Word and most importantly, our understanding of His heart.
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