In “The Late War” and other early Christian writings, the authority of the Bible is not as clear as it becomes in later books. The New Testament uses words like “New Testament,” “Christian,” “Father”Son.” However, if we were to be more honest, most Christians would have to admit that the position of the New Testament authors was not always that clear cut as we see today.
Christian leaders and writers during the first century of Christianity sometimes used the same Greek word for Father and Son when discussing the relationship between God and Jesus Christ. Many of the first Christians did not understand the significance of these words. They believed they knew what these words meant, but lacked the understanding to put it into context.
In the book “The Late War,” the eponymous hero, William Marshall, tries to gain an advantage over King Jame KJV.Jame, but ends up losing to his “father.” The difference in the scriptural authority of the New Testament writers and the Roman Catholic Church led to a clear division between the Bible and the Catholic Church. As the line of separation between the Bible and the Catholic Church became blurred, many Bible scholars began to lose their religious beliefs.
In “The Late War,” King Jame KJV.Jame views the Book of Kings as one that is written by God. However, he reads the Book of Chronicles as one that is written by men. Even though some people might believe that Kings Jame and KJV.Jame are simply metaphors for Biblical history, they do not understand the importance of the language they use to describe their history. Some people cannot grasp a concept until they are able to put it into context, and this is the same concept we should apply to the Bible.
In the first four books of the New Testament, the New Testament authors often took certain words from other cultures and translated them incorrectly. They did not realize that their translations were based on their own cultural beliefs. When these words came into other languages, it did not mean that they had lost their meaning, but rather that their meaning was changed based on what they perceived as the original word to mean.
Many of the places mentioned in the New Testament have references to kings, and many Kings and Kingsmen appeared in the New Testament. Therefore, King Solomon and King Herod and many other Biblical Kings and Kingsmen appear throughout the New Testament. It is easy to see how even a person with a good grasp of Scripture could go back and add more context to historical situations.
Many Christians today have difficulty accepting the fact that we do not know what the early Christians believed. Some early Christians rejected the idea that the Bible was inspired of God, but others did not. In order to retain the Bible’s authority and create a distinction between the Bible and the Catholic Church, a means of doing so was needed.
I challenge all of us to look at the different ways that the New Testament writers used certain words and ask whether they are going to sound familiar to us in our own day. Even though some Bible scholars will continue to argue the relevance of the Bible, I am convinced that we must continue to study the Bible and take part in the discussion of the books of the Bible to become more aware of our Christian identity.