“God Said It. I Believe It. That Settles It.”
Two historical uses of this half truth.
Indoor plumbing in the church:
Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. —Deuteronomy 23:12-14
Slavery in the United States:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. —Ephesians 6:5-8
Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. —Exodus 21:20-21
The phrase “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it,” is selectively used for some passages of scripture but not others.
Examples where it is not typically used today:
- Exodus 35:2: If you do work on the Sabbath (Saturdays) you can be put to death.
- Exodus 21:15: Children who strike or curse their parents should be put to death.
- Leviticus 11:7-12: God forbids the consumption of pork and shellfish.
- Leviticus 19:19: God forbids us to wear clothing made of blended fabrics or sow two different seeds in the same field.
- Deuteronomy 22:21: If a woman is not a virgin when she is married she should be put to death.
- 1 Corinthians 11:5-6: If a woman prays with her head uncovered, she brings shame on herself and should shave her head.
- 1 Corinthians 14:34: Women should be silent in church.
- Matthew 6:19-20: Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” but many Christians have retirement accounts.
What does selective usage tell us about what’s going on here?
The phrase is used as an authoritarian, power move intended to shut down conversation and trump counter arguments that might contest a deeply held religious belief.
While people who use the phrase, “God said it, I believe it, and that’s the end of it,” claim they are not interpreting the Bible but quoting God, the truth is that all of us are interpreting the Bible and none of us are quoting God.
1. The biblical authors were not passive secretaries talking verbal dictation from God.
2. The problem with variants in the orginal languages.
3. Issues with translating from Hebrew and Greek into English.
4. All reading is interpreation.
Interpretation is not bad. God works through interpretation to speak to us.
Jesus interpreted scripture.
Liberal interpretation of Jewish Sabbath Laws.
Conservative interpretation regarding divorce.
The Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard it said … but I tell you.
The Apostles interpreted the words of Jesus (Compare Matthew 5:17-20 with Acts 15)
We are invited into a multigenerational interpretaive conversation.
From its inception, Jews have openly debated the meaning of scripture and how it should be applied to life.
Midrash
Talmud
Jesus joined this multigenerational conversation when he taught as a Jewish rabbi, and faithful Christians in every generation have followed the example of Jesus by participating as a community of faith. Now we are invited to join in this conversation by wrestling with scripture and asking, “What might this mean for us today?” We do this in a spirit of humility, without the expectation of certainty, trusting that God will speak to us thorugh the power of the Spirit.
Instead of saying, “God said it, I believe it, and that’s the end of it,” we can say: