Walter J. Geldart

Sophia's Christmas Story: Epic Roles and Stories in the Bible Walter J. Geldart

Tells it like it is through the eyes of innocence and curiosity The Bible is an epic story that has inspired and guided cultural development for thousands of years. As such it has established staying power over TV cartoon characters, such as Sponge Bob, Sesame Street, and other popular stories squeezed between TV commercials. As a child I found the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson fascinating and they could be read very quickly - with no commercials. In contrast, the Sunday school lesson in my small country church took place in an hour on Sunday morning. The names of Biblical characters were the same as people I knew in my home town like Joseph, James, John, Jacob, David - and Mary, Martha, Elizabeth, Ruth, Margaret. The epic story of Joseph and his jealous brothers who sold him as a slave - lead on to the story of a baby Moses who was raised in the royal household of Egypt and latter lead 500,000 Jews back to the promised land. The Bible narratives show how God works through real people in history to advance their knowledge of what is true, and good, and beautiful - so that ordinary people and nations live more holistic lives. Advances in science were made possible by the idea of one God - the highest good. The three great monotheistic religious traditions today (Jewish, Christian, and Islam) all trace their origins to Abraham. The development of science and technology owes a debt to one monotheistic vision of God. Science looks for one clear explanation for how things work.