Humans in a Changing World ...

Tuesday, July 3, 2012. Over the past days we celebrated 20 years of mobile phones. The phones which existed 20 years ago were large and heavy. Today, phones are small and have capabilities of a PC around 5-10 years ago … some parts of our society show a speed of development which is breathtaking.

History Continues …

When we talk about humanity, we need to set things right from the very beginning. Humanity is moving forward quickly, both on a cultural level as well as on a technical level and in terms of numbers. We are not living in a static world and we never have. History was, and is, and will be. History continues!

So we live in a changing world. Does that mean that everything is changing all the time? That is not the case. We are linked with history, and there are steady lines which link us to the people who lived 3000 years ago. When you read the old texts and books, which have been recorded over time, people become alive in a fascinating way. For example, reading the biblical books of the Old Testament: these guys had similar problems to us today, on all levels of their life …!

People always had fears and hopes. They always had other nations around, with a struggle about resources and power. They always had art and music, with classical authors and new songs. They always had the change of technology, changing their environment - though on a different level perhaps for quite a while, until modern science and the industrial revolution took off. Great inventions and the human mind have always made progress possible … and has been driving change ever since.

Biblical History is Now …

Quite a while ago I have been starting to look into historical books. You could think that it is an activity for people who are not in the middle of our world, more the strange scientist type of thing. But I discovered how close these old things are to us today. They are not at all distinct and unimportant. They tell us important things about the roots and even about the future of humanity!

Biblical history is now. That is the case on the level of basic humanity. The people acting in the early days of the bible are very similar and close to us today, perhaps with slightly different cultural environment, but with the same type of humanity, with our fears, our hopes, with our struggle. When we openly read about Isaac and Jacob, about Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David and many more, we can find our own life reflected in their experiences.

Biblical history is now. That is the case on the level of the range of the biblical books. They talk about creation, about God's way with his people, the people of Israel, about his salvation in Christ Jesus, about the church and its path throughout time. The bible talks about past and future - and about us in the middle of all of this. Also in this sense, biblical history is now, we are part of it. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts