history is important

As an arrogant emergent, I am often accused of throwing out the baby with the bath water.  As a relative conservative, this makes me laugh.  As a theologian it makes me cry.

History is important to the faith.

The story of salvation is one of history - a story told and retold and re-retold over and over again.

Take, for example, the 10 Commandments.  The core of the covenant between God and the people of Isreal begins with history - I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  REMEMBER!?!?!?

The story of the past cannot be thrown out.  It is too rich.  It is too important.  It carries too much weight.  God created out of nothing.  God saved for no real reason.  God forgives.  God wants to restore.  We need to hear these things over and over again.  We need to be reminded of the story, the history, of the faith.  As NT Wright says, without a knowledge of the history, there is nothing to draw on to improv.

History is important