We had an interesting discussion topic tonight in my spiritual formations class.
Our conclusion came to this, when it comes to deciding what the Bible says about a certain topic, it is all about who gets to chose the verses.
We talked about examples like marriage, which you could have the Bible say that marriage is a last resort and a distraction from ministry, or that it is the best representation of our relationship with God. Both are biblical, its all about who gets to pick the verses.
Faith or Works, depends on who picks the verses. The Bible puts importance on both.
What is the "gospel" message? Depends on which verses you pick, there is no one solid answer.
I was glad to see how shocking this realization was to some of the students. Jenny and I try hard to point people to an understanding that the Bible says more than what they've been taught in tradition, that there is more to religion that heaven and hell.
It's all about who gets to pick the verses.
Monday, March 26, 2007
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3 comments:
then i choose Deuteronomy 23:1 (ESV). [recommendation for those reading this, if you dont want to be grossed out, dont read)
Hey Nate, I really enjoy your blog, and the different questions you present. I usually want to respond, but for one reason or another don't.
And just to warn you, this may be long. I tend to get going. But I do think it is interesting and worth the thought.
The danger of reading or building an entire theology around just one verse, or set of verses is a prevalent issue.
I have read, never to read just one verse, or even one paragraph. You should read at least the whole chapter to make sure you aren't putting your own meaning into the text.
I guess it all comes down to the fact that many don't take into consideration context.
I know this is nothing new to you or many out there who may read this. But for those who don't know you need to consider all of the factors involved in a verse. Who is saying this? To whom? When? is this pre/post-which covenants ect.
As far as your question of "who gets to choose?" While I know you may have intended it to be somewhat rhetorical, I feel that, again, for the sake of those who read here, and don't know the answers to the questions that you pose, it should be answered.
It's like when someone asks 'Well,how did they CHOOSE what books of the bible to include?
There is an implication that the choice, we as people make, somehow dictates God's intended message to us. That somehow we call the shots.
When the truth is; Gods meaning is there, irrespective of our interpretation. Right or wrong.
I understand that we still have to choose a stance on a particular subject, but I don't care for the word 'choose'. The bible tells us to test.
Like the example you pose regarding marriage.
I see nothing in either scenario that makes them mutually exclusive.
They are both true.
The failure of the pastor/student is when we single out one area at the expense of the other. We are to teach the WHOLE council of God.
In the case of Faith or Works. It is heavily, and specifically dealt with by the biblical text. But anyone can choose one part and make it representative of the whole.
And finally you raise the question regarding the Gospel message. Or 'the good news'. Specifically "What is the gospel message?"
Again I would stress that the answer to this question is not what verse we pick. It is what God says it is.
I'm sure you would agree with this, I just think it is misleading for anyone who is a follower of Christ, to make the idea of the Gospel some sort of complicated confusion. Something that we can never be totally sure of.
Now I do think that we can be sympathetic to the fact that many are confused. And I understand that may have been the intent. But if I may be nit-picky regarding the most important aspect of salvation and our faith, I would be remiss to say that there isn't "one solid answer".
The Gospel was specific enough, at its core, for the church to be warned against following even a being of light preaching another version. So It would seem to me not to be that confusing, or so easily left up to interpretation.
The short. The basic.
Jesus the messiah, God's own son, and God Himself, gave His life in place of ours, as payment for our sins. Died. And was raised again.
Anyone who truly believes and trusts in Him can die having their sins forgiven. Left to spend eternity with God in Heaven.
I do think that one can add more information (biblical) to it and it is still the Gospel, but that at its core this is it.
I'm amazed at all the comments i've gotten from this post. Only 2 show above this, but i have been e-mailed numerous other verses that people have "chosen."
Pat illuminates a lot of what I was getting at. I was asking a rhetorical question in one sense, that i wasn't going to answer my own question. I was even hoping that people would think about the answer themseslves, though I needed no response. I simply want people to ask themselves better questions.
I would also identify with Pat that the death and resurrection of Jesus as a substitute for me is the most crucial aspect of THE Gospel, though I would add to it, even to establish its core. What I would add is of great importance to me, but again, i'll leave that for others to think about.
Just random nitpicky controversy now though. You'll notice above that i chose to say "THE Gospel." I think that this distinction, though academic is important. "Gospel" is simply a word that means "good news" and was used in history well before Jesus was around. In fact, it was used by some of the Biblical authors to describe things that take place well before Jesus' death and resurrection.
Matt 4:23 says "Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people"
So, just for arguments sake, what "gospel" message was it that Jesus was preaching, as this is well before he begins to even make allusions to his own death.
Again, i'm only arguing semantics here. THE Gospel, as in the one the church refers to, and pretty much the only way the term is still used, demands the inclusion of Jesus' death and resurrection. I want that point clear.
But when Jesus preaches the "gospel" of the kingdom of God, what else did he include? I would take that highly into consideration (and do) as i think about the things i also include as "core" to the Gospel message.
Think hard. Ask good questions. Serve obediently. Live faithfully.
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