The Agrarian bible is not an attempt to rewrite the Bible nor is it an attempt to write into the Bible meaning that was never there. Rather, it is an attempt to rediscover the agrarian wisdom of the Word of God. But to worthily pursue this aim, we must start with a premise that gives our efforts meaning. That premise is that the Bible is an agrarian text.

 

To justify this premise we must first realize that, since men must eat, the affairs of men cannot be separated from the process that feeds them. Our survival depends on the cultivation of food and, therefore, survival will appropriately be couched in the agrarian terms of everyday life -- terms with which everyone, at the time of the writing of the Bible, would be familiar.

 

God is aware of our frailty and of our daily needs and intentionally chose an agrarian context to first express His love and concern for us. We must recognize that agrarianism was a part of God's original plan for mankind. To validate our agrarian Bible adventure, we must be able to say with confidence that our agrarian past, present, and future have a spiritual foundation authored by God.

 

With that in mind, and without going in depth into things that will be covered more thoroughly elsewhere, I would like to lay a simple, scriptural foundation for the significance of the Agrarian Bible.

 

 

The New Testament makes a distinction between what is biblical and what is also Christian. Since the central role of the New Testament is to point toward redemption, though it may claim to be biblical, agrarianism that does not embrace redemptive goals cannot be Christian.

 

Yet, there is another aspect of Christian agrarianism that cannot be ignored -- a worldview of dependence on God that distinguishes Christian agrarianism from all other forms. Agrarianism that does not depend on God for purpose, inspiration, direction, and fulfillment, might be humanitarian and still not be Christian. What makes Christian agrarianism distinct from humanist or pagan agrarianism is the element of faith in God. Yet, it is not a passive faith waiting to be served. Rather it is an active 'kingdom' faith engaged, in every endeavor, in recognizing Jesus as Lord.

 

 

Michael Hennen