It seems that many biblical scholars saw the branch on which they’re sitting. Those interested in the Bible—who can’t escape it—are typically the churched or the formerly churched. But the academic study of the Bible does, by and large, tend to lead people out of the church. If enough people are unchurched, then the Bible ceases to be a cultural icon. If it’s not a cultural icon, then it becomes irrelevant and a biblical studies program is viewed as unnecessary. Then people with PhDs in Bible and religion can’t find jobs. Actually, it’s already happening.

Many biblical scholars got into the business for the same reason. They were raised in the church. They got wrapped up in Jesus, and wanted to learn more to advance his kingdom. Then disaster struck. The learning itself eroded their childhood faith and now Christianity—and religion itself—is the enemy. The emotional manipulation of Fundamentalist churches primes people for atheism, but critical scholarship is what cognitively brings them there.

That’s not my story. Mind you, I have no problem with atheism. I always say that New Testament studies needs a few good atheists. But I don’t fit the classical Evangelical fall narrative of, “he became a scholar then lost his faith.” Faith needs transformation, sometimes daily transformation, to survive. One person’s faith is another’s folly. One person’s folly is another’s spirituality. For me, critical scholarship is a kind of spirituality. There is spiritual wealth in the historian’s trade. The imagination is actually redeemed by history, freed from the prison house of dogma and ideology.

In proving the Bible “human, all too human” I don’t disenchant the book. I want to reenchant it in another way. History is one of the coolest ways to reenchant a story, to draw it out of the muck of superficial piety, out of the apologist’s playground in which the Bible must be right and we’re wrong, but apologists just ventriloquize the Bible, making it say what they want it to say. A vulnerable Bible can also be authoritative, authoritative because it is also more authentic.

I don’t fit the apologist’s narrative. I’m a secular historian, but being secular and spiritual are perfectly aligned. That’s the gnostic way—and Hermetic—way. That’s what sets my scholarship apart. I write about the evil creator, but I don’t believe in him. He’s a myth, a human creation designed to justify military ideology and tyrannical government. He’s a trap that people create for themselves. He is a god only to those who have sold their souls.  

I believe in a wholly good God. “That’s a myth too!” you say. Of course it is. Every story, whether good or evil, we first have to make up. There are true myths—myths which make us better, more fruitful people. But my myth has evidence. I know that we’ve coated the world with concrete, but when I see the signs of nature, I behold a rich, beneficent universe exploding with growth and abundance. I choose to think that the universe wants me to grow and be abundant too. It wants me to die, eventually, but I choose to die like an autumn leaf—more colorful than when I was born.

I’ve seen the news; I know the world is messed up. But despite the human tendency toward extremes, the universe will one day right itself. It might take a million years for the flares of emotion and traumatic memories to dissipate. But they will. And all that’s left will be the silence of moving stars. We humans don’t need to be here to make the universe good. But while we’re here, we should see that goodness.

So for those of you who know me, here I am–the apologist’s nightmare, a critical scholar and believer, a spiritual scientist. They said that Socrates did not believe in gods. He replied that he believed in them in a much deeper, more authentic way.

Join me in finding your true myth. It might be a thousand miles deeper than the religion you practice in your local congregation, but keep digging. Find like-minded people and good mentors. The internet means that the world is your oyster. Ignore the advertisements, and take advantage.

When you find gold, invest in it. In a perfect search engine, truth would be easy to find. But in this world, she always plays hard to get. You’ve got to dig deep for truth; the algorithm won’t give it to you (it’s just a titillation machine). You’ve got to invest time, energy and—yes—financial energy to secure transformative education in this life. The average price for one year of a four-year liberal arts school in the States is over $36,000. Obviously, we recognize the value of education. How much are you willing to invest?

How do you know that you’ve found transformative education? You’ll know. You’ll know it because it won’t let you be a consumer anymore and will make you into a creator. It will take you out of your 9-5 mentality and make you an entrepreneur. It will change you from cog in the clock into master of your own destiny, from tumble-weed into the engineer of your own fate.

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