What the Bible Is
The written documents that constitute our Bible are snapshots of an evolving, developing, dynamic faith frozen in time. The faith reflected in these written sources thrived in an oral culture that did not depend on written materials. Writing materials were expensive and few could actually read and write. So the stuff of faith – stories, poetry, wisdom sayings, etc. – were passed down orally. This oral tradition was flexible, fluid, and easily adaptable to different situations and historical contexts. This process meant that faith was constantly on the move – changing, growing, branching out into new forms, and always finding fresh expressions in different settings. Consider one example: The various ways the Jesus saying, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first,” is interpreted and employed with other Jesus sayings in the Gospels. In Mark it occurs in a context where Jesus assures Peter that those who have left much to be his followers will gain much, ...