From Abraham to Jesus : have we reinterpreted or silenced the biblical narrative

When reading any historical book, one is caught up in the continuity of the story as the action projects the characters through time from the first dramatic movement to the final thrilling event. The Bible, the history book of the people of God, produces this same movement; the continuity flows from the genesis of creation to glimpses of the final day - the eschaton - as it is revealed in various passages throughout the book. These pages span thousands of years, and in them we see God's presence made known through the interaction with his creation, both humanity and nature. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." (Psalm 90:2). Although the canon has been divided into two testaments, the Old and the New, this division does not separate the Creator from his created ones. He is the same God in whom "we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28). Unfortunately, the history of the Christian Church includes both acts of violence and "teaching of contempt" that have driven a wedge, produced a schism, between the people of God found in these two sections of the canon. One writer refers to it as a "long, complex and often tragic history." Another refers to it as siblings battling for "ownership of Israel's heritage." Although there are still some descendents of the people of the canon who find it difficult to affirm the other as children of the one God, there are also those who are joining their scholarship and their voices in this endeavor. This paper will explore those historical events that both unite us and divide us. Because we affirm the existence of a living God who is concerned about all his children, we will consider possible avenues to inaugurate meaningful dialogue that is necessary for the healing process to take place