The freedom of faith

When we accept that our faith is in a living God who meets us in history but is not fully contained or defined by that history, it frees us to study the history with an open mind and genuine curiosity. In this way, the ancient look-alikes need not pose a problem to people of faith at all. In fact, rather than a problem, I might call it an opportunity. If other ancient peoples believed similar things about their deities, then we have even more opportunity to study and learn about the world the Israelites inhabited and how that world shaped their depictions of God. This, in turn, gives us more opportunity to come to understand our own story and the myriad ways God has entered into it to seek us. 125