The Bible as a Jigsaw Puzzle

I'm a huge fan of a minstry called IX Marks Ministries. The idea behind it is that there are at least nine things that characterize a healthy church. They have great articles, book reviews, and some absolutely fantastic interviews. But enough plugging.

The reason I am talking about IX Marks Ministries has to do with one of the aforementioned interviews. Dr. Peter Williams weighs in on Biblical authority and how the Bible is viewed by Pastors today, as well as addressing some "Bible difficulties."

In dealing with Bible difficulties he talked about viewing the Bible as a jigsaw puzzle. Taking this view can help alleviate some supposed difficulties. The example he gave was in the context of David's battle with Goliath. Saul had promised that the man who killed Goliath would be given one of his daughters in marriage and that his father's house would be made tax free. As we all know, David slew Goliath. When Saul sees what has happened he says in 1 Samuel 17:55-58:

55As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this youth?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know." 56And the king said, "Inquire whose son the boy is." 57And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

So far so good. Saul needed to know who he was going to reward, right? The problem is, David had long stood before Saul and played music. There was no real way in which Saul could have not known who David was. Is this evidence that the Bible is in error? Enter the "jigsaw puzzle."

Sometimes as we read the Bible we approach it with presuppositions that prevent us form seeing the solution to a supposed difficulty. In other words, we have a piece of the puzzle in the wrong place. So, in this passage in 1 Samuel do we have a wrong piece in place? Yes. Dr. Williams pointed out that David Gooding has developed a good solution to this problem. If we look back at the passage we see that our assumption that Saul was asking about David's identity was wrong. Instead, he was asking whose son David was. Though Saul was told David was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem when first introduced, it is much more reasonable to think that Saul had forgotten who Jesse was rather than David, who played his harp before Saul on many occasions.

Though this is just one small example, Christians should be assured that nearly all Bible difficulties can be resolved just as this one. We should approach God's word with confidence that what we are reading is the truth, and worthy of being a guide to living our Christian lives.