The Source, by James Michener

This isn't a book review.  Instead, I want to make the case for you to read this book.

I was once asked who my top five theologians were, and I included C.S. Lewis on my list.  Lewis? I was challenged.  He was wrong on several points.  Tashlan, Scriptural infallibility, etc.  Yes, I agreed - he was wrong on those points.  But when he was right, he said it so clearly and beautifully it can't be missed.

The sign of an important writer is not only that they are free from error, but that they convey truth powerfully.

James Michener is no C.S. Lewis.  But he depicts life in Bible times so well, it's worth sifting through the weirdness and errors.

The Source is in one sense a book version of walking through a secular history museum.  You're going to get a lot of evolutionary and old-earth assumptions about history.  I'm a young-earth, Darwin-rejecting Christian.  So why would I be interested in this?

1. The place.  

Michener surveys the history of the land of the Bible, especially the Old Testament.  Modern Christians generally are clueless about how people lived and thought back then.  Michener may not have it all right, but he certainly makes one think in non-modern categories about people of Bible times and places.  As Michener expands on the history museum's secular assumptions in story form, The Source helps us to better filter through them from a biblical lens.

2.  Old Testament context.  

There are 2-3 chapters in the Source that especially deal with this theme: what were the religious thoughts, the worldview of people, during the time from Abraham to Samuel?  Christians know the Bible's perspective.  What was the other side in the culture war - the Philistines, the Baals - thinking and doing during Joshua and Judges?  When we learn about that, it greatly illumines the Bible, and the culture war in our own day.

3.  Archaeology.  

The Source conveys well the science of archaeology.  It isn't about proving the Bible right or wrong.  It seeks simply to uncover as much history as possible.  Most archaeologists are indifferent to Scriptural revelation; they take the Bible as one historical source among the rest, at best.  Most archaeologists also cannot write compellingly to describe the history they unearth.  Michener does a stellar job making up for this.

How do we engage with a culture or a book that rejects most of our assumptions, as Bible-believing Christians?

One side of the spectrum is to ignore and reject anything produced without all of our pre-suppositions.  This makes Christians too insulated, insular and isolated.  But you can't take in everything that's out there, either.  That's the other side of the spectrum.  Lots of Christians take in way too much junk because they think they need to stay abreast of what the culture is thinking.  We should be really picky.

Take in some of the best of the mainstream culture, engage with it, filter out the unbiblical truth, and talk with people about it.  This assumes the truth of common grace: non-Christians will hit upon important truth and convey it well in ways that edify all.  I'd put some Pixar movies in that category, as well as Michener's The Source.  Both have humanist assumptions, and miss a lot that could be said.  But part of what they say is true and depicted with excellence.