Biblical Chaos: Holding Opposites Together in Tension

Chaos, not something that you often think of when you think about the Bible. Kallas takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of biblical theology that could "alter all that follows" in Biblical Studies. Kallas begins Biblical Chaos with this explosive paragraph: "The Gospel of John relentlessly and radically reverses the theology of Paul and the message of the synoptic Jesus. The Gospel of John is powerfully and persistently opposed to the basic worldview underlying those earlier New Testament writings. The New Testament is split asunder. The two halves are at odds with each other."

Kallas proceeds to take the reader through this morass to convincingly demonstrate that the New Testament is bipolar in which the earliest books (the Synoptic Gospels and the writings of Paul) exhibit a worldview, a definition of sin, and an understanding of the work of Jesus that is ruthlessly rejected by John and the later New Testament writings. While that assertion is in itself astounding, his conclusions are even more stunning. He contends that the diverse theological contents of the New Testament can only be correctly understood when a reader holds the opposites in tension that are contradictory. Choosing one specific view that is at odds with another specific view leaves one with no truth, while holding the opposites together provides one with accurate biblical truth.