As already noted, dependence on image and chat began with Adam and Eve – it erupted immediately following their fall; when confronted by God, they instinctively turned to it. With the passing of the centuries, these instinctive preoccupations have never lost their power to charm fallen man, especially in his relationship to God. Although it is the way in which this plays out in contemporary evangelical Christendom that concerns me, I need to take a glance at history. We, today, are living out our particular section of history, but we are not living in isolation. We are, all of us, deeply, inevitably, affected by what has gone before. And we will be somewhat impoverished if we do not have some understanding of what that past is and how it plays into our experience today. |