INTRODUCTION: How to approach a primitive language
The story of the Saskatchewan farmer and the thumbs up emoji
Q33: HOW SHOULD WE INTERPRET THE BIBLE?
PRINCIPLE #1: Stop
there aren’t impossibly difficult passages in the Bible!
“…one of the tests of actual faith, as opposed to bad religion, is whether it stops you ignoring things. Faith, is most fully itself and most fully life-giving when it stops you ignoring things, when it opens your eyes and uncovers for you a world larger than you thought–and of course therefore a bit more alarming than you ever thought. One difference that faith makes is what more it lets you see, and how successfully it stops you denying, resisting, ignoring aspects of what’s real.” - Dr Rowan Williams
“I read the Bible, cover to cover. And I think that anyone who is thinking about maybe being an atheist, if you read the Bible…cover to cover, I believe you will emerge from that as an atheist…. The Bible itself will turn you atheist faster than anything.” - Penn Jillette
‘ATHIEST-MAKER’ #1
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” 1 Timothy 2:12 ESV
PRINCIPLE #2: Don’t lift verses out of
and put them on posters!
Context:
1 - The Temple of Artemis
- Artemis all about fertility
- Women were perfect / men causes sin
- Ephesus created by The Amazons
2 - The Gnostic Heresy
Gnostic Statement of Faith…
1) There is a God…and what He created (the physical world) is evil!
2) There is One greater than God…Sophia. She created God!
3) Jesus was God’s Son, but had no physical body (because the physical is evil) only spirit.
4) Eve was a perfect spirit-being, who pities Adam and breathed consciousness into him! (Adam owes his existence to Eve!)
5) The Serpent isn’t bad…but rather is the hero for giving Adam and Eve ‘gnosis’ (knowledge)
6) Marriage is forbidden and will keep you from heaven.
7) You can be set free from the ‘prison bars of this world’ and ‘set your spirit free’ through sex.
8) Giving birth to children is simply trapping already free spirits into a physical body and consigning them to bondage. Women who give birth will be kept from heaven.
1 Timothy 2:11-15 in light of the Temple of Artemis and the Gnostic Heresy…
11 Women should learn quietly and submissively. 12 I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. 13 For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.
PRINCIPLE #3 Ancient
translated into English need to be examined!
(NKJV) 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.
hā-sü-khē’-ä = “quietness: descriptive of the life of one does not officiously meddle with the affairs of others…
‘ATHIEST-MAKER’ #2
3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” 1 Samuel 15:3 (NIV)
Q: Who were the Amalekites (Canaanites / Amonites)?
Q: Why did God flip-out and call for the extermination of the Amalekites? Couldn’t there have been a diplomatic solution?
Genesis 15:12-15 (NIV)
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward, they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Q: Why go after the civilians, women, children and livestock?
A: The call for total annihilation is
A: The order seems extreme but the
Illustration:
I believe, with complete conviction, that the use of the atomic bomb (in Japan) saved hundreds of thousands—perhaps several millions—of lives, both American and Japanese; that without its use the war would have continued for many months; that no one of good conscience knowing… what was probably ahead and what the atomic bomb might accomplish could have made any different decision. Let the facts speak for themselves. - Karl T. Compton, 1946 The Atlantic
To put it in perspective:
PRINCIPLE #4 - Don’t interpret the Bible through your 21st century
!
‘ATHIEST-MAKER’ #3
18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. - 1 Peter 2:18 (NIV)
Ephesians 6:5 (ESV) — “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling”
Colossians 3:22 (ESV) “Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters”
1 Timothy 6:1 (ESV) “Let all who are under a yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honour”
Biblical ’slavery’…
- debt
- survival
- prisoners of war
- not racially driven
The fact that the New Testament doesn’t condemn slavery isn’t an endorsement of slavery. The New Testament writers meant to lessen the impact by calling for fairness, respect, and by protecting the rights of the servants, which was all radically counter-cultural and shockingly progressive at the time.
CONCLUSION:
“How Pepsi Once Owned the World’s Sixth Largest Navy!” - headline
Q: HOW SHOULD WE INTERPRET THE BIBLE?
Bible interpretation needs to begin by embracing the challenges and acknowledging there are some very difficult passages. By delving into the context and historical background of passages, as well as understanding the original languages used, one can gain a clearer perspective on seemingly controversial verses. This usually results in tensions with the text easing and one’s faith in God and His Word growing.