The pastor at our church recently preached on John the Baptist — specifically, his words and actions in John 3:22-36 — and observed in the course of the sermon that John 3 and Romans 8 are, for Christian theology, perhaps the top texts. So this led to a discussion in our small group the next evening: (1) Besides Jesus, who is the most admirable person in the New Testament?; and (2) Which two Bible books would you rank at the top?
Regarding 1: There were plenty of New Testament martyrs, including all the apostles except John, but most of them had at least some period of time when they basically chickened out like Peter or, most dramatically in the case of Paul, had an abominable record before becoming an apostle. Not John the Baptist: He played his part unflinchingly from the time he and Jesus were in their respective wombs to the bitter end. He repeatedly spoke truth to power, which is why his head ultimately ended up on a platter, and in the passage from John’s Gospel cited above, modestly stepped aside when the time came. And Jesus’ mother Mary? There’s no reason to think she wasn’t a terrific mom, and Catholicism teaches she was sinless, but I would still say that John the Baptist was more admirable. Mary’s sacrifices and courage were not as great; I guess I’m saying that sometimes a bigger sinner can still lead a life that is, on balance, more admirable than a lesser sinner’s. What do you think of that, gentle reader? This conclusion sort of surprised even me.
Regarding 2: I already have a post along these lines (“Top Books of the Bible”) here. Deciding if a text is a “top book” does depend on how the book will be used: For instructing a grandchild versus learning theology yourself, for example. I’ll just add this: Many “Read the Bible in One Year” programs for Christians would probably begin by toggling back and forth between Genesis (first book in the Old Testament) and Matthew (first book in the New Testament). And alas we all know that, a few weeks in, many readers will falter. But consider: If after doing this for several years you at least became quite familiar with Genesis and Matthew — well, that’s time pretty well spent, isn’t it, and are there two books we’d prefer people to be expert on more than these two?
Concluding footnote: Returning to the first paragraph, in our small-group discussion I said that I’d still prefer the two books to be Genesis and Luke, since having the one and only non-Jewish biblical author included would underscore God’s universal message.