Romans 10:17
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Reflection: “Churchillian Drift”
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
I have been teaching in my Sunday morning “Foundations Class” about Jesus. The first two weeks I have taught 1) that Jesus was a historic figure, accepted as historic fact among historians within 100 years of Jesus’ resurrection, and 2) that Jesus appears in the Old Testament often. On the last point, we have made the case that, though the Old Testament does not explicitly say “this is Jesus,” the evidence as a whole makes a compelling case.
Have you ever heard the term “Churchillian Drift?” It refers to the idea that often a quote gets attributed to someone though that person never said it. This happens often. Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying things that he, in fact, did not say. Likewise, C.S. Lewis is very often mis-credited with sayings. And Winston Churchill is credited very often with things that he did not say… perhaps him more than anyone. Thus, the term, “Churchillian Drift.” Still, it is said that if you take all the false sayings of Churchill and compile them… and only those falsely attributed sayings were all that we knew of Winston Churchill… you would get a very good sense of who Winston Churchill was. In other words, those sayings are things Churchill would/could have said. They are fitting to Churchill! So it is with biblical evidence: the Bible may not explicitly say something like that Jesus is in the Old Testament, but if you compile up all the evidence you begin to see a clear picture. This has been helpful for me in my faith. There is not one thing that gives me great faith… it is the study of the whole Word of God that gives me confidence it is all true. The more you study the whole thing, the greater your faith is.
I encourage you: don’t rest your faith on one or two arguments or beliefs. Read and study all of it. Like a great painting by Monet, the farther away you step and see the big picture, the clearer it all appears.
Prayer
Lord, make clear to us the glory of Christ in the whole of the Scriptures so that we can have a great faith in you!
