The last couple of weeks, at church, I’ve been answering questions that people submitted. Due to the limitations of time, I only tackled a few, so I’m going to use this space this week to try to answer a few more. My disclaimer is that I am not the Bible Answer Man. I don’t have all the answers to everything. But I do have some thoughts and ideas that I’m willing to share. Comments and further questions are more than welcome!
I get confused when people I know and respect their faith start to embrace what I would call “liberal theological ideas,” documentary hypothesis, questioning the Bible’s authority, etc. My doubts are raised whenever I encounter the “scholarly” ideas that threaten to shake the foundations of my faith.
My doubts fall in the interpretation and how people put so much stock in the written word at face value, not considering translations and changes in world view.
I picked these two questions – from two different people – because in many ways, they’re opposites. On the one hand, the first question, if I understand it correctly, is about how “scholarly” ideas tend to threaten this persons foundations of their faith. On the other hand, in the second question, the person’s doubts are about simply accepting traditions of the faith without subjecting them to good scholarship and cultural engagement.
It’s hard to answer these questions, because my guess is that there are particular ideas or situations behind them, but here are some rambling thoughts:
Recently, I was listening to a podcast, where they were reading from the Lewis and Clark journals. I was amazed at how the language is different. I could understand the words and all, but it was the way that things were phrased, that was so different from how we say things. I heard recently that due to the growth in technology, the English language is adding words faster than ever before.
All this to say, when we read the Bible, we’re talking about a document that is 2000-5000 years old. Words change, context changes, history changes. So, I’m skeptical when people talk about just opening up the Bible and reading it. Sure, there is some value there. And there are parts of the Bible that don’t need a lot of interpretation. But there are other parts that need all kinds of study & interpretation to understand.
As far as “liberal theological ideas” go. It’s hard to respond without knowing the specifics, but let me say this: ”Liberal” is sometimes just a code word for saying “people that don’t agree with me.” I grew up in a tradition where this was the case. Everyone who didn’t agree with our tradition was “liberal” and “didn’t take the Bible seriously.” What I learned, however, is that my tradition was just that, a tradition that had it’s own way of reading and interpreting, just as other traditions have their own ways of reading and interpreting. Furthermore, I found, that some of the ideas that were called “liberal” weren’t at all new, but were, in fact, very old ideas – ideas rooted in the church fathers.
So, here’s the deal for me: I highly value scholarship, but at the same time, I don’t feel like I have to chase down every new, scholarly debate. Again, I’m not sure what the issues are, but for me, there aren’t a lot of “scholarly” discussions that shake the foundations of my faith. My faith is rooted in the Apostles Creed – Trinity, the work of Jesus & the Holy Spirit. Lots of great Christian minds — men and women who loved God deeply — have disagreed deeply about a lot of things, and yet affirmed the basics of the gospel – that were were made good, we sinned, Jesus died & resurrected, that we are redeemed through believing in Jesus and that we are called then to a life of good works. I would argue that “scholarly” ideas outside of this simple confession is probably not Christian.
Final thought (sorry for the length): Because the Bible was written in a particular time to particular cultures with specific historical back drops, I take the study of culture very important. One of the first things I ask when I approach a text is: How did the original audience hear this text? Furthermore, I don’t fret a lot about English translations — they all have strengths and weaknesses. This is why I try to look at Greek and consider what the original language said. Then, I try hard to exegete our culture — trying, as I teach, to help our audience hear the text in the same was as the original audience, in a way that reflects our culture.
extra points if you’re still reading…
