Asserting the Present and Settling the Past

This morning on the Baptist Press News, Rev. Henry Blackaby opens with these words:

Faith, or belief, can only operate in the present. It takes no faith to believe what has been –- that’s settled. Likewise, it takes no faith to believe what God can do, for with God all things are possible. Faith functions in what you believe God is going to do right now.

The assertion that "It takes no faith to believe what has been--that's settled" is an interesting rhetoric because it works to close down the possibility of re-thinking "what has been." Contrary to Rev. Blackaby's claim, history is the site of much struggle over just what did happen. Historical revision and the emergence of new primary source data continually challenge the dominant interpretations of "what has been." History, in other words, is far from "settled."

The act of saying that history is "settled" is a conservative move to hold in place a particular interpretation that one happens to be fond of. To say that it is "settled," is another way of saying that there is no debate, no disagreement, no alternative views, not chance for re-reading "what has been." Any close reading of the data, historical works on the topics of faith and God or the Bible itself, reveals a number of different possible readings.

Rev. Blackaby seems to be trying to stabilize a particular interpretation of faith and God. One that no doubt sustains his reading of the Bible--because, of course, we shouldn't assume that Rev. Blackaby is attempting to undermine his own faith in the vision of God that he articulates.

Faith is constituted by history. Rev. Blackaby fails to see this, because history for him is "settled," which is another way of saying the struggles out of which this history grew, has been forgotten or at least downplayed. Rev. Blackaby apparently sits at the edge of history--"in the present." And like the historical struggle that he has forgotten, Rev. Blackaby does not see his role, his effort in carrying forth this particular interpretation of faith and God. Rev. Blackaby does not recognize his concrete effort in the "present" to maintain a specific interpretation.

We are all carriers of some history. We all bring some history with us into the present. And with that effort, we contribute to the struggle that made that history the history and not just one of the many histories that could have been.