lOMoARcPSD|22517024
Biblical Metanarrative Worldview
Paper
Theology Survey I (Liberty University)
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
BIBLICAL METANARRATIVE 1
Biblical Metanarrative/Worldview
The Bible can be a little confusing sometimes when trying to understand it in its entirety.
It is a long book made up of many other books. These books traverse through many time periods
and locations which leads to the question, “What is the story of the Bible?” The Bible is a
collection of accounts, letters, and stories that unify the overarching narrative of God and his
plan of salvation for humans. This narrative allows better development of a biblical worldview
and application of that worldview to careers, families, and lives in general.
Biblical Metanarrative
McKnight (2017) describes the different models for the Bible. These include the three,
four, five, six, and, as his personal proposition, seven-part model. The proposed seven-part
model presents a symmetric structure and puts Jesus in the middle of the story. This model is as
follows: Creation, Origin of Evil, People of God, Jesus, Renewed People of God, Defeat of Evil,
and finally Renewed Creation.
Creation
The creation is found in Genesis 1-2 when God is creating the world. He created the
heavens, the earth, light, and dark on the first day, oceans and land on the second, and vegetation
on the third; on the fourth, He made the sun and the stars, created animals on the fifth, and finally
created mankind in his image on the sixth. On the seventh day, known as the Sabbath, He rested
and proclaimed it as holy.
Origin of Evil
The origin is found in Genesis 3 when Satan, as a snake, tricks Adam and Eve, the first
two humans, into eating from the only tree God said not to, the Tree of Knowledge. After this
God knows they are ashamed and have picked fruit from the tree. He banishes them from the
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
BIBLICAL METANARRATIVE 2
Garden of Eden and punishes their sin to carry down through all generations. He also promises to
strike the snake down with the ultimate King.
People of God
The people of God (Israel) is the underlying foundation of the rest of the Old Testament,
which describes their struggle and continuously deepening corruption because of their
disobedience to God. In Exodus, God leads Israel out of Egypt’s captivity, and despite their
doubt in God, He continues to bless them and provide. In 1 & 2 Samuel, Israel wants a human
king. Saul becomes the first king and is taken over by David, with whom God makes the
Davidic Covenant, promising his line will lead to the ultimate King of kings.
Jesus
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. He is the only non-sinner in a world
corrupted by sin. He is the Son of God and forms a group of people known as the apostles.
This section shows Jesus talking to and saving people who many current religious leaders
would never talk to. In Mark 2:17, Jesus proclaims that it is not the healthy who need healing.
He was not there to call the righteous, but the sinners.
Renewed People of God, Defeat of Evil, and Renewed Creation
These steps all occur after Jesus is crucified. The renewed people of God are now not
solely Israel, but anyone who proclaims Jesus Christ as their savior. Christ died for our sins and
shouts in Luke 23:24, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. This story
continues as Christ’s followers spread his message of salvation to all who will accept it. This
all leads up to the proclamation of the eventual defeat of evil. In Revelation, Paul writes to Asia
Minor churches stating that even though they are persecuted, they need to have continuous faith
in God. He is always good and will deliver us from evil while hinting at what is to come.
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
BIBLICAL METANARRATIVE 3
Revelation 1-20 describes the second coming of Jesus Christ; how the believers will be
saved and the non-believers will be punished accordingly. After the Great Tribulation, evil
will be eradicated and it will lead to a renewed creation. In the last two chapters of the Bible,
Revelation 21-22, Paul explains the statement of a new heaven and earth as well as saying that
Eden will be restored.
Biblical Worldview
A biblical worldview is an important aspect of life. It allows the spread of God’s word
throughout daily living conditions, as well as trust and understanding of God throughout various
situations. It can be difficult to find purpose in what you do and follow His commands when a
biblical worldview is not established. Certain circumstances may provide a moral dilemma such
as the death penalty. A biblical worldview can help discern the possible decisions and lead to the
correct and most righteous choice to make. It can also be hard to stick to a biblical worldview
when initially beginning to use it, but Erdvig (2020) found “As these Christian emerging adults
continue to engage these prompts with effective means of processing, they deepen and expand
their biblical worldview,” (p. 303).
Application
I am majoring in Criminal Investigation which can be a very heavy and testing career. In
some cases, I may have to deal with injustice within the law system. Berger (2008) says the
burden of criminal law is not the violence that it creates, it is that it will not make sense of the
suffering it caused. In Job, God punishes Job for no reason but to prove to Satan that he will
remain faithful. I may also have to deal with important decisions. Alschuler (2020) gives a
metaphor of if a president pardoned a criminal just as how Jesus pardoned the lady who
committed adultery in John 8, he would then be impeached because it was outrageous. I will
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
BIBLICAL METANARRATIVE 4
have better knowledge on how to handle these potential situations while spreading the word of
God to criminals who may not know Him.
Conclusion
The Bible is the unified story of how we are saved by Christ and how he is coming back.
Understanding this unity helps develop a biblical worldview that can be used in our everyday
lives. Without understanding that we are saved through faith in Christ, we are doomed when it
comes to the Great Tribulation and we are not able to guide others away from eternal
damnation. Using a biblical worldview, I will be able to better understand what choices are right
in the eyes of God and what I can do to grow closer to Him and spread His word to others.
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
BIBLICAL METANARRATIVE 5
References
McKnight, S. (2017). Putting the bible together. Jesus Creed.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2017/09/08/putting-bible-together/
Erdvig, R. C. S. (2020). A model for biblical worldview development in evangelical Christian
emerging adults. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 29(3), 285-306
https://doi.org/10.1080/10656219.2020.1816517
Berger, B. L. (2008). On the Book of Job, justice, and the precariousness of the criminal law.
Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 4(1), 98-
118
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1743872107086147
Alschuler, A.W. (2020). Justice, mercy, and equality in discretionary criminal justice decision
making. The Journal of Law and Religion, 35(1), 18-32.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jlr.2020.8
