1
Bible Metanarrative Essay
Erica Lebron
Liberty University
THEO 104
2
Introduction
The Bible is composed of 66 books including chapters, stories, letters, and more. Many
people have contributed their written part, some of which are known, and some are not, but all
write about our God and humanity’s relationship with God. Each book has its own individual
theme and story which come together to create one main idea which is known as the
metanarrative of the Bible. Two topics which run with this theme are Love and Hope which take
us from the beginning of time to the end of days. Through this theme we are able to identify and
dissect the smaller plots and see how they fit into the bigger picture.
Biblical Metanarrative
The metanarrative of the bible is outlined into four parts. First, is the creation “In the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 KJV). God created man in his
image and gifted us the free will to make our own decisions. The second is “Fall” where we have
failed to meet our expectations and obey the Lord “By the sweat of your face you shall eat
bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you
shall return.” (Genesis 3:19, KJV). The third is “Redemption” where we redeem ourselves for
our losses and become saved. The fourth and final part is “new creation” where we are re-born
and made new. To better understand the metanarrative, it is best we observe from the
theological doctrines of love and hope. The metanarrative plot starts with man, who was created
to rule over the perfect earth in the Garden of Eden, until the decision was made to break God’s
law and eat fruit from the forbidden tree. Our free gifts were revoked and at that point we
needed to work for our rewards and to survive. We redeem ourselves through Jesus Christ who
3
sacrificed himself for our sins and in the future, we wait for the time of the Revelations where
God will eradicate our wrong doings again and re-create a new Eden.
Love
I’ve chosen Love because the Bible says “...God is love” (1 John 4:8, KJV). Each and
every book of the Bible has some reference which ties into this theme as God is consistently
displaying how he loves us and his expectations of how we are to act in it. This is because
“Love is an attribute of God” (Etzel & Small 2020, Pg.43). In Genesis he shows his love by our
creation, using the soil in the ground, recreating his beautiful self-image which is reflective in us.
Then when we fall by failing to obey his law to eat the forbidden fruit in Genesis. We also fall
when we create the tower of Babel, and create false Idols, and commit every sin known to man.
God shows his Love for all of us is reckless and unconditional because despite all of our
disobedience, and failures he sought out the wicked and utilized them to do his good Works.
Moses for example was chosen to do some of God’s greatest works. Yes, he was born as a
Hewbrew slave, but he was also raised as an Egyptian, committed at least one murderer,
idolatry, and many other sins against God’s people. Jesus came later to redeem us in the
Redemption section. There is no greater example of Love than God’s sacrifice and suffering of
his only son which in turn allows us the opportunity to become a part of the new creation of
God’s new world in Jesus’ second coming.
Hope
I have chosen hope because of our theological doctrine of the Resurrection supported
by our textbook “...the resurrection provides hope for the Christian that there is life after death”
(Etzel & Small 2020, Pg.101). It describes our reward as a believer, through our hope that we’ll
join the Lord in the coming of Jesus Christ and that we will then receive the gift of eternal life.
Most people do not desire to die and end their life; however, this is the grim part of our mortality
4
as a person. God did not create us with the intentions we would experience death, however, our
actions have brought this reality into existence. Despite this, God in his grace, gives us hope
through his son Jesus. Before even Jesus, another example of a time hope used in the faith of
death is in Noah's Ark. People were living life by the desires of the flesh and trying to thrive
through self-destruction. Although God sent destruction in the form of a flood to cleanse the
earth, the Ark was used as a physical form of rescue but also a symbol of hope for continued
life. Even the rainbow which came after is another symbol of hope used to remind us of God's
promise.
Conclusion
Considering all of the facts, faith, and love present throughout our Bible, each story
overall is intertwined together to create one metanarrative. The creation, a fall, the redemption,
and new creation are all shown as smaller stories throughout the 66 books which are all
connected through the themes of Hope and Love. To love one another is one of God’s
commands, and to have hope in eternal life is a reward for keeping God's commandments.
Jesus, Noah, Moses, and countless others that have been omitted but deserve an honorable
mention are all intertwined to create the greatest story of all time.
5
References
Carroll, R. (2008). In Bible-KJV. essay, Oxford University Press, USA.
Etzel, G., Small, R. N., & Gutierrez, B. (1970, January 1). Everyday theology: Exploring the
Christian faith by Gabriel Etzel. Goodreads. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33542997-everyday-theology.
