This is another post in the series on characters in the Bible. We have already looked at the fact that characters in the Bible lack great detail, function as mirrors for the reader to see themselves in, and teach us great truth and theology through their dialogue. Today I want think think a little about the good and the bad characters in the Bible.
If you have read a single fiction story, you know about good and bad characters in a story. Take these few examples of the good and bad characters in fictional stories (both novel and movie stories); Robin Hood is the good guy and Prince John is the bad guy, Frodo is the good guy and Sauron is the bad guy, Sherlock Holmes is the good guy and Dr. Moriarty is the bad guy, Batman is the good guy and the Joker is the bad guy. We even think in terms of good guy and bad guy in real life, both historically and in the present time; Abraham Lincoln was the good guy and Jefferson Davis was the bad guy, Hitler was the bad guy and Winston Churchill/FDR were the good guys, Osama Bin Laden was the bad guy and President Bush was the good guy. We as humans, in the narrative of life (both real and fake) think in terms of good guys and bad guys.
So when we come to the Bible, in its narratives, we look for the good guys and the bad guys. The problem is, the Bible does not present its characters in terms of good guys and bad guys. Yes, the Bible has protagonists and antagonists in its stories. Yes, the Bible has the same depth of characters that all our modern stories have. But the Bible does not match our modern characterization.
The dictionary defines a protagonist as: the leading character in a story, the character that the story and all of its struggles are about, the character that changes and grows throughout the struggles of the story. We tend to think of the protagonist in the story as the good guy that changes throughout the story as they grow and solve the challenges. The dictionary defines an antagonist as: the person who actively opposes or is hostile to the protagonist. When we think of an antagonist, we think of the bad character in the story.
The problem is, when we come to the Bible, the protagonist and antagonist are not necessarily the good and bad characters in the story. And what is really alarming for us, is the truth that in most of the stories in the Bible, God functions as the antagonist. And we would never say God is the bad guy.
Take a few of these examples in Biblical stories...
Cain killing his brother Abel. Cain is the protagonist in this story. He changes and grows and is the focus of his evil act of murder and jealousy. Cain would never be identified as the good guy. But he functions as the protagonist of the story. God, on the other hand, is the antagonist in this story. He speaks to Cain and forces him to grow and change (for the worse) through his words and actions in the story. God is clearly the good guy yet he sits as the antagonist (the bad guy in modern stories) in this story.
David and his sins with Bathsheba. David is the protagonist yet he makes evil choices and commits horrendous acts (where as other stories he makes right choices and good acts). He is clearly not a good guy, in this story. God in this story is the antagonist. He pushes and works in the story to change and grow David. Yet God is clearly not the bad guy in the story.
Saul's conversion to the faith. This is a story where the protagonist changes greatly in the story. Saul goes from being a persecutor to being one of the persecuted. He goes from being the bad guy to being one of the good guys in this story. God in Saul's conversion is the antagonist. He changes Saul forever.
So seeing just three examples, we come to the important conclusion, characters in the Bible are complex. We can't go to the characters in Biblical stories and look for a good guy and a bad guy. Too many times a character will shift from one story to the next. Yet God never changes and is always the antagonist when He is in the story.
So as you are reading the Bible. As you are enjoying and growing from the many stories in the Bible. And as you see yourself in the characters of the Bible. Do not look for the good guy (becasue God is the only one) and do not look for the bad guy (becasue you will see yourself, every time). Instead, go to the characters in Biblical narrative and see how they grow, change, and are transformed by God. As we see ourselves in the Biblical characters, we will also begin to see ourselves grow, change, and be transformed in faith by God.
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