Tag: hermeneutics

Biblical Anachronism

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

old typewriter

Yes, I know I just used a big word:  anachronism.  The word simply means trying to fit something from the past into the present, or vice versa.  For example, chances are that submitting a job resume that was produced on a 1940 Cyrillic Royal typewriter probably will not land you a position in a Fortune 500 company.  That would be anachronistic. When it comes to applying the Bible to our lives, we may unknowingly settle for anachronistic readings of Holy Scripture.  That is, rather than trying to understand the Bible’s stories, characters, and teachings on its own terms, too many individuals dislodge Scripture from its historical moorings in order to make it relevant for today.  As a result, with the aim of trying to personally apply the Bible to present day problems, whole portions of God’s Word are ignored and never read.  If God intended for us to approach the Bible this way, he would have given us scripture memory packs from heaven.  It’s almost as if some folks believe that all we need do is simply read and memorize an isolated verse of the Bible, and be blessed.

The Bible is very much a collection of books that are immediately helpful for every believer in God for every age.  Yet, when we only approach the text of Scripture in order to be instantly relevant and useful, we actually undermine the integrity and history of God’s Word.  The Bible is not a random collection of verses to be ransacked by present-minded people for the sole purpose of finding personal fulfillment and inspiration to get through the day.  The Bible is an unfolding drama of redemption that moves its way through history with people tied to their particular time and place.  So, an evangelical anachronism asks present day questions of the biblical text before ever answering the crucial questions that the text itself raises for us.

To be able to see the characters of the Bible in their own time, surrounded by their own historical context, to be attentive to both their wisdom and their blindness; to recognize the extent to which they were caught up in situations beyond their control that demanded faith; and, to realize that they themselves were on a journey of knowing God – to know all this about the past and to be able to relate to it without any anachronistic distortion to our present realities – is what it means to have a biblical sense.  Yes, Holy Scripture is relevant and applicable to our present day situations.  But unless we gain a certain biblical sense about the Bible itself, we will only get a twisted understanding of how to use it for our life and ministry today.  What this means in making sense of particular Bible verses is that we must first understand the shape and flow and overarching argument of the biblical writer so that we can begin to develop a working understanding of that verse.

reading the bible

Some may mistakenly think that what I am advocating is that only the learned trained minister or theologian can make sense of the Bible.  No, instead what I am advocating is that we become eminently familiar with God’s Holy Word.  There is no substitute for actually reading the Bible for oneself, over and over and over again.  And we need to read through whole sections and books of the Bible – more than once.  If we are to have a solid biblical sense of the Bible, we will need to completely immerse ourselves in its contents daily.  The spiritual practice of plain old Bible reading needs to top the list of things we do on a regular routine basis.  We are to swim in God’s revelation to us, to plunge in headlong and come out dripping with his grace and truth.  If we are too busy for this most basic of spiritual disciplines, then we need to change and discover anew the forgiveness of Jesus Christ contained in, well, the Bible.

Don’t settle for anachronistic approaches to the Holy Bible.  Take it on its own terms and enjoy discovering its depth and richness.  Then you will truly know what it is to be blessed.

The Church and Bible Interpretation

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment



            I admit from the outset that not everyone is going to agree with me, or like what I say on the subject of interpreting Holy Scripture.  I might even get downright under your skin.  But this is an important discussion because no matter what church tradition we come from, there is going to be disagreement as to how to deal with certain Bible verses.  In fact, most parishioners within the same local church do not even agree on how to treat particular passages of Scripture.  Just so you know, I was trained in a seminary that largely looked through the lens or the starting point of biblical authority, as if we had the right view on it all.  Biblical authority, however, is not really the issue, in my opinion.  Before you pick up electronic stones, hear me out.  The issue, as I see it, is this:

 
No matter who we are, we pick and choose what Bible passages are authoritative and which are not.
 
Although we Christians say the Bible is our authority, we all have what I would deem as “boss verses.”  That is, verses which control other verses.  For example, I take Matthew 28:18-20 as boss verses that control other verses.  Because of this, I am not willing to concede that the mission of the church is primarily about something other than making disciples.
 
            Okay, you might be with me so far.  So, let’s pick a hot potato: gays in the church.  When it comes to homosexuality, it appears to me that there are those who would take seven verses out of the over thirty-one thousand verses in Scripture and make them boss verses.  Even if we camp on verses where the world “abomination” shows up, it only ends up talking of homosexuality once.  Things like worry, procrastination, and gossip are addressed much more in Scripture and are also much more prevalent no matter where one goes.  But we do not make boss verses out of these, so we pretty much let them slide.  I don’t see any Christian church or denomination anytime soon talking about biblical authority in the same breath as sins of the tongue; or, looking to bring discipline to gossipers; or, getting upset about chronic whisperings behind others’ backs.  Instead, we just live with it.  We wish it were different, but it does not make our blood boil.  If gossip began to take away our power or authority, then I am sure it would make it to the floor of denominational meetings and local church annual scream-festivals.
 
            Here’s the deal as I see it: all Christians hold to biblical authority.  To me, this is not the issue.  The real issue is which Bible passages call the shots for us.  Until we are able to confess this practice, it seems to me we will get nowhere.  So, in the meantime, I would rather be looked at as a friend of sinners, or a friend of gays, because that controls my thought and practice more than injunctions from the book of Leviticus.  I take loving my neighbor as a boss verse, so this determines how I speak more than whether I speak in tongues or not.  I will choose to go out of my way to emphasize that all people are made in the image of God because I take the Bible’s reference to God’s creation of humans as a boss verse.  This does not mean I ignore other verses; it just means I have identified which verses of Holy Scripture I believe control other verses.
 
            I am really not trying to stir the pot (well, maybe a little!).  I am simply making a plea for us to be honest about how we handle the Bible.  And if we have never read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation (and more than once) then it seems to me we are on thin ice to make pronouncements about what are to be the boss verses or what is the clear teaching of Scripture.
 
            If you need to go pet your dog after reading this, I understand.  Please just do me the respect to think about these things without immediately jumping to conclusions or condemnation.  After all, I believe that grace is the boss of everything in the Bible.

Biblical Colonialism

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
There is a certain kind of idolatry that is rampant within many churches today.  It masquerades as godliness, but is really full of dead men’s bones.  As with most idolatrous behavior, it is not easily discerned or detected by those who practice it.  This is why it is insidious and dark.  The sin I am referring to is what I will call “biblical colonialism.”
 
            What I mean by this term is the activity of some believers and churches to approach the text of Holy Scripture with the intent of doing hermeneutical conquering.  That is, coming at the text of the Bible in such a way as to determine the right interpretation and defend that interpretation with life and lips to the point of holy war.  This is to reify in a position that is believed to be the right and true teaching of the Word of God.  The Bible then inevitably becomes elevated to such a level of being the Trinity:  Father, Son, and Holy Scripture.  The Spirit of God is replaced with what such colonizing persons believe to be the only plain and authoritative truth of the Bible.  And they will not be dissuaded even by the blessed Holy Spirit to change their position.  They will die for it, or, at least, go on (un)holy campaigns and wage battle after battle defending their idolatrous behavior.  It is, some Christians believe, the biblical high ground.  But is it?
 
            Instead, could it be more of the modernist impulse to have answers for everything?  It seems to me that the Enlightenment project of sheer rationalist thought has left in its wake a draining of all mystery; the belief that every biblical problem can be answered; the endeavor and even compulsion to understand every cultural, social, and political issue through the modernist lens of sheer objective knowledge.  In other words, it is the aggressive attempt to colonize the Bible and conquer it so that it serves my need to have clear black and white answers to every issue there is, as if this is the real task of the church.  It is to try and master the text of Scripture, instead of putting oneself in the humble position of being mastered by the Scripture.  If we are so certain about our interpretations of Scripture, then no wonder so many women feel oppressed by the church and even more gay individuals will have nothing to do with the evangelical church, not to mention the wholesale flock of entire generations of young persons from institutional church life.  It is the height of hubris to think that when we get beyond the core cardinal doctrines of the faith as expressed in historic Christianity that we can colonize the Bible and conquer it so that our interpretations on a range of issues are on par with God himself.  It is to value hermeneutics over love; to esteem interpretation over grace; to seek conquered territory over hospitality.
 
            Perhaps alongside the commonly identified idols of money, power, and sex we must also include the Bible itself.  After all, Holy Scripture is the revelation of God – not God himself.  To treat it otherwise is to miss its central message of redemption in Christ, and the great need that the entire world has to come to grips with the person and work of Jesus – not with my interpretation of particular Bible verses that are ancillary to people knowing Christ.  King Jesus is the rightful ruler of the universe – not me or my supposed conquest of Bible passages that purport to have all the correct and right answers to all of life’s problems and woes.
 

 

            If I am “right,” the only real posture to take for many believers and churches today is to prostrate ourselves before the God who is jealous for his Name to be set apart as the only one to be worshiped and adored.  There is a great need for repentance – not for other people, but for us who claim to know Christ and serve him.  Instead of belly-aching and complaining that the world should be serving the interests of evangelical Christianity, we have desperate need to come back to the ancient practice of seeing the church as the continuing presence of Christ on earth and serving the world’s people.  Only then will we reverse the curse of biblical colonialism and spread the good news of new life in Christ.

Biblical Anachronism

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
            Yes, I know I just used a big word:  anachronism.  The word simply means trying to fit something from the past into the present, or vice versa.  For example, chances are that submitting a job resume that was produced on a 1940 Cyrillic Royal typewriter probably will not land you a position in a Fortune 500 company.  That would be anachronistic. When it comes to church ministry, we certainly need to be aware of not being so tied to past forms that we are irrelevant and unable to deal with present opportunities.  The concept, however, works the other way round, too.  Churches and ministers may unknowingly settle for anachronistic readings of Holy Scripture.  That is, rather than trying to understand the Bible’s stories, characters, and teachings on its own terms, too many individuals dislodge Scripture from its historical moorings in order to make it relevant for today.  As a result, with the aim of trying to personally apply the Bible to present day problems, whole portions of God’s Word are ignored and never read.  If God intended for us to approach the Bible this way, he would have given us scripture memory packs from heaven.  It is believed that all we need do is simply read and memorize an isolated verse and be blessed.
 
            The Bible is very much a collection of books that are immediately helpful for every believer in God for every age.  Yet, when we only approach the text of Scripture in order to be instantly relevant and useful, we actually undermine the integrity and history of God’s Word.  The Bible is not a random collection of verses to be ransacked by present-minded people for the sole purpose of finding personal fulfillment and inspiration to get through the day.  The Bible is an unfolding drama of redemption that moves its way through history with people tied to their particular time and place.  So, an evangelical anachronism asks present day questions of the biblical text before ever answering the crucial questions that the text itself raises for us.
 
            To be able to see the characters of the Bible in their own time, surrounded by their own historical context, to be attentive to both their wisdom and their blindness, to recognize the extent to which they were caught up in situations beyond their control that demanded faith, and to realize that they themselves were on a journey of knowing God – to know all this about the past and to be able to relate to it without any anachronistic distortion to our present realities is what it means to have a biblical sense.  Yes, Holy Scripture is relevant and applicable to our present day situations.  But unless we gain a certain biblical sense about the Bible itself, we will only get a twisted understanding of how to use it for our life and ministry today.  What this means in making sense of particular bible verses is that we must first understand the shape and flow and overarching argument of the biblical writer so that we can begin to develop a working understanding of that verse.
 
 
            Some may mistakenly think that what I am advocating is that only the learned trained minister or theologian can make sense of the Bible.  No, instead what I am advocating is that we become eminently familiar with God’s Holy Word.  There is no substitute for actually reading the Bible for oneself, over and over and over again.  And we need to read through whole sections and books of the Bible – more than once.  If we are to have a solid biblical sense of the Bible, we will need to completely immerse ourselves in its contents daily.  The spiritual discipline of plain old bible reading needs to top the list of things we do on a regular routine basis.  We are to swim in God’s revelation to us, to plunge in headlong and come out dripping with his grace and truth.  If we are too busy for this most basic of spiritual disciplines, then we need to repent of our sinful busyness and discover anew the forgiveness of Jesus Christ contained in, well, the Bible.
 

 

            Don’t settle for anachronistic approaches to the Holy Bible.  Take it on its own terms and enjoy discovering its depth and richness.  Then you will truly know what it is to be blessed.