This is a companion blog to Kingdom Come. The purpose is to explain some of the extra details left out in the posts there.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Repository of all knowledge
Some people say, “Everything I need to know I can get from the Bible.” This is just as foolish as saying, “Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten.” It sounds good when you first hear it. And it makes a catchy title for a book. But as anything more than intentional hyperbole, it is utter nonsense.
There has been a fair amount of nonsense uttered in the name of defending the truth of the Bible as well. It’s time for us to leave “kindergarten” and develop an adult understanding of God’s Word (Hebrews 6:1–2).
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness(2 Timothy 3:16).
With a little reflection you will realize that the Scripture of the early church was the Old Testament. However, the writers of the New Testament seem to be aware that they are writing under the inspiration of God and that they are continuing in the tradition of the Old Testament Scriptures.
In 1 Corinthians 7:40, Paul indicates that he is stating his opinion rather than speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, implying that he believes that everything else is written at the direction of the Holy Spirit.
In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter refers to Paul’s writings and “other Scriptures.”
There is much more involved in understanding the Bible than most Christian realize. Here are a few quotations you might find helpful: A biblical sermon is not a book report. It is a proclamation of what has been heard in and through the text. Leander E. Keck, The Bible in the Pulpit
We learn to “indwell” the story so looking out from within the biblical world with new eyes onto our postmodern lives and world: we stop trying to make the Bible relevant to our lives and instead begin to find ourselves being made relevant to the Bible. Philip Greenslade, A Passion for God’s Story, p. 42
Crassly literal minds will be blinded to the truth. Intriguing images, dazzling visions, majestic metaphors, stunning symbols are the currency of trade in the last book of the Bible. Philip Greenslade, A Passion for God’s Story, p. 191
There are many answers to this question. But the most important thing is even to ask the question. This is a question that never occurs to most readers of the Bible.
This took place at the pivotal point in Jesus’ ministry. Matthew places it just before the Transfiguration. By now the ground work had been done. It was now time for Jesus to begin to define what the role and purpose of the Messiah would be. In all the Gospels Jesus follows Peter’s confession with an explanation of the suffering that lay ahead of the Messiah. Of course, this was lost on the disciples because of their preconceived ideas about the Messiah.
This one is guaranteed to trip you up. When we read this, we immediately think of the second person of the Trinity. This is not what Peter has in mind here. Really.
In Exodus 4:22, God refers to Israel as his “firstborn son.” In 2 Samuel 7:14 God says that Solomon will be his son. Psalm 2:7 refers to the king as “my son.” God refers to David in Psalm 89:27 as “my firstborn.”
The phrase “son of God” in the mouth of Peter is primarily a statement about Jesus' role as Messiah who was of the house of David. There are some other overtones, but they are only overtones. We, of course, know that Jesus is in fact the second person of the Trinity. But this is not what Peter knows at this point.
This one is guaranteed to trip you up. When we read this, we immediately think of the second person of the Trinity. This is not what Peter has in mind here. Really.
In Exodus 4:22, God refers to Israel as his “firstborn son.” In 2 Samuel 7:14 God says that Solomon will be his son. Psalm 2:7 refers to the king as “my son.” God refers to David in Psalm 89:27 as “my firstborn.”
The phrase “son of God” in the mouth of Peter is primarily a statement about Jesus' role as Messiah who was of the house of David. There are some other overtones, but they are only overtones. We, of course, know that Jesus is in fact the second person of the Trinity. But this is not what Peter knows at this point.
The word “Christ” is a Greek word that means “the anointed one,” the equivalent to the Hebrew “Messiah.” This did not have divine overtone for Peter. The Jews did not conceive of the Messiah as being divine. In their view, the Messiah would be a great leader who would reestablish God’s rule in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah was the prophet who told the Jews that they would be taken into captivity in Babylon. He also prophesied about the time when their exile would come to an end.
This is a little more difficult. There is a variety of opinion on this. The first thing we must admit is that Jesus meant something different than what we think of when we hear the phrase.
This phrase is used 81 times in the Gospels. Every time is it is used by Jesus. (Twice his words are quoted by another person.) Clearly Jesus chose this title for a reason. One reason seems to be its ambiguity.
The title “Messiah” was loaded with meaning, much of it incorrect. The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would lead them against the Romans and become their new king. This is one of the reasons that Jesus was reluctant to tell people that he was the Messiah. He didn’t want to assume all the baggage that the term carried with it. He told his disciples in verse 20 “not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.”
There were two primary meanings associated with the phrase “the son of man.”
In Psalm 8:4 is used to refer to a human being in general.
In Daniel 7:13-14 it meant something very different.
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Now, you may not think the connection is strong between Jesus’ use of “the Son of Man” and Daniel’s phrase “one like a son of man.” (By the way, there are no capitals in the original documents. This is a translation decision.) But the question is not what you think but what Jesus thought and what his listeners thought.
So Jesus apparently used this title because it had messianic overtones but was also ambiguous enough so that Jesus could build into it the meaning he wanted it to convey.
It’s important to note that Jesus used this title before the Sanhedrin with a clear reference to Daniel 7 (Matthew 26:63–64).
The naïve reader of the Bible will assume that God dictated to each writer the exact words he wanted him to record. If this were true, we would not be able to detect the personality of the writer. Neither would we be able to detect the culture in which a particular text was written. But we can see these and more.
The Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God, but we must think carefully what that means.
I intend to explore this subject at length at a later date.
One of the key tools of hermeneutics is the Grammatico-Historical method. This method seeks to understand the context of a text within its language and culture. It takes into account the writer, the audience and the purpose for which the text was written.
For the New Testament (written in Greek) we have over 5,000 manuscripts of various portions of the text. And they are not identical. In addition to that we have early translations into other languages and quotations of the biblical text in early church documents. There is an entire sphere of scholarship that is devoted to determining what the original documents most likely said.
Now I don’t want to create the false impression that we are uncertain about the basic text of the New Testament. (There is a whole different set of issues with the Old Testament.) As our understanding of the language and culture deepens and as we discover older and better manuscripts, we are arriving at a greater and greater degree of certainty about the original text.
But there are still choices made in this process, choices that could affect the ultimate interpretation of the passage.
Now we have the Greek text. Translating that into English, or any other language, is both a science and an art. There is nothing straightforward about this. Many naïve students of language think that one word in the first language should always be translated by the same word in the second language.
But anyone who has gained fluency in a modern foreign language knows that this is not true. In fact, sometimes a single word will need to be translated by an entire phrase in the second language.
So there are more choices to be made in the translation into English.
Now we have the English text, one that was done by a broad group of scholars and has gained acceptance within the Church. In other words, we can trust this translation to be generally reliable. This is important since we don’t all have the time or inclination to become Greek and Hebrew scholars.
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23, NIV).
Unfortunately, this challenge has lost nearly all its impact for our ears. “Cross” means something different to us than it did to those who heard Jesus’ words for the first time.
You are the salt of the earth…. You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13 & 14).
This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9–10).
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19–20). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17).
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it (John 17:15–16).
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world (John 17:18).
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it (Luke 9:23–24).
In Luke 9:49–50, Jesus tells his disciples not to oppose others who were not a part of their group. And in Luke 9:54–56, he tells his disciples not to seek retribution against a town in Samaria that refused them welcome.
Our leisure, even our play, is a matter of serious concern. There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter claimed by Satan.
C. S. Lewis, “Christianity and Culture,” Christian Reflections, p. 33
