"...even if no one gives their heart to Christ, I will give Him mine."

The Apologetic Approach of Sandra L. Richter

     It has often been the case for myself that I spend a lot of time apologizing for Christians. Whether naïve, but well-meaning, or judgmental and bitter, the words and actions of “Christians” run the gamut to which I am expected to bear the wrath of the offended before me. I’m expected to take on many forms such as a verbal punching bag, or a laughable clown, or the most daunting of all, theological professor and at once defend my faith, apologize for the wrong-doings of past Christians, and, if I’m lucky, part on cordial terms with the accuser.

     It is a wearying cycle wracked with anger, guilt, and defeat. Just as Christ himself overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13) so I wish I could do the same to those who pollute and misrepresent the Gospel. At other times, guilt turns me into a continual apologizer, rather than a gentle apologist and more often than not, I simply give up in defeat. However, when questions or accusations come my way, I ought to be prepared to share this story of redemption, which is also my story, as Sandra Richer of The Epic of Eden writes. The “Gospel story” dwells not only in the New Testament, but is laced throughout all of scripture…yes, the Old Testament is our story of redemption as well.

     But, too often Christians are ill-equipped with proper knowledge and understanding of the Gospel, resulting in the spread of legalism, heresy, or a white-centric dominating culture (just to name a few offenses). While not making excuses for these wrongs, Richer names the “dysfunctional closet syndrome” as a key component to Christians who simply do not know their Bible. The Old Testament is left out of preaching and teaching (therefore two-thirds of the redemption story), leaving bits and pieces of the New Testament to be dimly understood. Simply put, most Christians have an amazingly cluttered and mismatched “closet” (i.e. understanding) of the Gospel, which has unfortunately manifested itself in most harmful ways.

     It is with this in mind that Richter wrote The Epic of Eden, in which she adeptly tackles key elements the cluttered Christian needs to properly understand the Bible as a whole. She asks the reader to rework in their mind what needs to be undone, offering a gentle apologetic defense of the full redemptive story.

     Biblical history itself is the bulk to her defense and framework structure to “decluttering” the closet; she refers to the “real space” and “real time” of the Old Testament patriarchs, painting a vivid picture of Israelite life. In particular, the common custom of covenant-making is given new meaning, Richter stresses, when it is a covenant between God and man. Often “covenant” is spoken from the pulpit, but reaches the congregation’s ears in an abstract form, yet Richter’s words bring this covenant to life into a realistic, understandable, and relatable relationship between God and man. When God “cut a berit” with Abram in Genesis 15:18 it is he who passes between the bloodied, sacrificed animals, rather than the lesser, Abram. “The Lord of the cosmos traversed the bloody ally in order to announce to Abram and his offspring that he would not fail.” Yet, man does fail, so “whose flesh was torn to pay the price for this broken covenant? […] It was the God-man, Jesus Christ—the representative of humanity and the embodiment of Yahweh—whose flesh was torn to appease the broken stipulations of the oaths taken.” (Richter – 79) The direct correlations to Christians today cannot be easily lost.

     Therefore, when God makes this covenant with Abram, he also renews it with Moses and the people of Israel. But, a key distinction Richter makes is that these are not a “perfect” people with whom God renews his covenant. Rather, by God’s covenant “a rabble of slaves was transformed, and the most amazing drama of redemptive yet known to human history occurred.” (Richter – 82)

     And in this rabble are included women, many of whom are specifically named throughout the narrative of the Old Testament, which represent a unique literary device in Richter’s mind…when the likes of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba are directly named the authors of the Bible are trying to tell us something…something important. All of these women are foreigners, some prostitutes, some poor, some widowed, yet all have been grafted into God’s covenant...and are the in the direct genealogical line to David. And, as the mothers of David, they too are the mothers of Jesus Christ.

     This is the nature of the deliverance that is promised with Christ. “This deliverance is for all people. Not just the Jews. Not just the righteous. Rather, the unclean, the foreigner, the sinner—if they will believe as Rahab did—are welcome. Not merely welcome into the new community, but welcome even into the lineage of the Christ.” (Richter – 29)

     The implications of these Old Testament women for the New Testament (and today!) are considerable. For, just as these women were declared righteous before God and grafted into his kingdom, so are we considered today. If we “will believe as Rahab did” then God will also extend the berit to us. Christ is the final berit, one who is for the lowly and downtrodden today, just as Yahweh was for the women of the Old Testament.

     This final berit, as Richter puts it, is the beginning of the end. Or, another way to put it would be is this berit is transformation of the beginning (meaning Eden) to the end. It is the full redemptive story coming full circle. From the fall of Adam and Eve to the redeeming work of Christ to the reinstating of Eden on Earth, the whole of the Old and New Testaments are enveloped in this complete story.

     In Chapter 4 of The Epic of Eden, Richter spends incredible detail on what Eden was supposed to be for us as God’s creation, and what we lost with the fall. One can only imagine what it must have been like for Adam and Eve to relate to their children and grandchildren (and great-great-great grandchildren!) why no one could approach the garden beyond the flaming sword of the cherubim. Perhaps apologetic, maybe angry at times, and most certainly guilty…the shame they held was heavy.

     Yet, just Adam and Eve had one story to tell, we have another; that of their redemption, and God’s promise of the new Eden…the New Jerusalem. (Richter – 127) Just as man falls, God redeems with his covenant, with the promise of the Eden to come.

     The final implications of the full-circle covenant are made clear in the opening pages of The Epic of Eden, when Richter poignantly states “Human, rather than recognizing the trappings of their own culture (and that their culture may in fact be very different from someone else’s), tend to assume that other societies are just like their own.” (Richter - 21) Yet, as the author makes clear, it is not through the Israelite culture, nor Western culture, that God’s redemption ultimately takes place. Rather, through time and space amidst culture, God’s redemptive work is accomplished.

     “The Bible is the saga of Yahweh and Adam, the prodigal son and his ever gracious heavenly father; humanity in their rebellion and God in his grace. This narrative begins with Eden and does not conclude until the New Jerusalem is firmly in place. It is all one story. And if you are a believer, it is your entire story.” (Richter – 15)

     If it is indeed all our story…which I am inclined to agree with (considering Richter’s years of knowledge and scripture itself!) then even the egregious mistakes of our forefathers are amended, when the future of a new Eden is considered. The fall of man is in effect today, just as it was in the garden, in the desert, and in Jerusalem, yet Christ’s fulfillment of the berit is also in effect...glory be to God.