{"id":3361,"date":"2018-12-06T04:12:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T04:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/v2.garykinnaman.com\/?p=3361"},"modified":"2018-12-06T04:12:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T04:12:03","slug":"are-you-biblical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/2018\/12\/06\/are-you-biblical\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Biblical"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was with my daughter Shari recently. She\u2019s a mother of four, works fulltime at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado, as a career and academic counselor, and is deeply committed to Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

She and her husband Jeff are obsessive readers, and their house is cluttered with great books. One that caught my eye is A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband ‘Master’. <\/i>Yes, for a whole year she did exactly what the Bible tells women to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ok, here we go. Objections please. Correct me. Correct her. Join the Rachael Held Evans boycott. Misquote me on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because, really, she\u2019s not \u201cbiblical\u201d even though she put that holy word in her title.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those of you who are troubled right now, I\u2019d like to recommend another Christian book: Adventures in Missing the Point<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe your reaction is actually proving Rachel Evan\u2019s point, that \u201cbiblical\u201d isn\u2019t just what you<\/i> think. Or that what you believe is more <\/i>biblical. <\/span><\/p>\n

Did you know Jesus talked about how being really biblical may not be really good? He said this to the biblical scholars of his day, \u201cYou pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life\u201d (John 5:39-40, Berean Study Bible<\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the point? Some God-followers have come to believe that those who have most correctly interpreted the Scriptures are those who are closest to God. They are people who know the Word\u2014and also know that, more than others, they know the Word most correctly. In obsessively searching the scriptures, they think they have eternal life, that eternal is somehow related to biblical correctness. Yes, even people who believe we are saved by grace alone can be downright legalistic.<\/span><\/p>\n

It makes me uncomfortable to think that the biblical scholars of Jesus\u2019s day were, perhaps, the most legalistic people in the Jewish community. Why does this happen to us, that though we are following Jesus, we slip into the religion of? Jesus came full of grace and truth, but it seems that often I\u2019m filled mostly with truth and not too much grace. <\/i>Like Saul, later Paul, before he met Christ. He was a biblical scholar on steroids, and what was the outcome of his fanatical correctness? He killed people who had a different view of the Jewish Scriptures. Saul is an example of how Christians, for centuries, have tortured and murdered other Christians over heresy and false doctrine. Except when Saul did that, he wasn\u2019t a follower of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

People are surprised and sometimes confused when I tell them that Greek word for \u201ctruth\u201d (al\u0113theia<\/i><\/span> <\/i>) does not <\/i>mean \u201ccorrect concepts, doctrines or beliefs,\u201d which is the way we use our English term \u201ctruth.\u201d Al\u0113theia<\/i> means, more precisely, \u201creality.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

On trial, Jesus told Pontius Pilate, \u201cYou say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth [al\u0113theia<\/i>]. Everyone on the side of truth [al\u0113theia<\/i>].\u00a0 <\/span>listens to me.\u201d Pontius Pilate famously replied, \u201cWhat is truth<\/i> [al\u0113theia<\/i>]?\u201d Those hearing him in way back then would have understood it this way: \u201cWhat is real<\/i>?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Or when Jesus announces he\u2019s \u201cthe way, the truth<\/i> [al\u0113theia<\/i>] and the life,\u201d it could be translated: \u201cI am the way, I am what\u2019s real<\/i>, and I am the life.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I discovered this important truth about truth, al\u0113theia, <\/i>when I did research for my book Experiencing the Power of the Cross <\/i>(Bethany House, 2005). A year or so ago, I asked John DelHousaye, about this. He\u2019s Professor of New Testament Greek at Phoenix Seminary. \u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cal\u0113theia<\/i> is not equivalent to our English word \u2018truth\u2019 and means \u2018reality\u2019 or \u2018what is real\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, don\u2019t get me wrong. Getting it right is important. I should know. I have two graduate degrees in theology and ministry, and I\u2019ve been obsessive about correctly understanding the Bible. It\u2019s why I did research on al\u0113theia<\/i>. But like the ancient Pharisees, I don\u2019t get eternal life because I get it right. <\/span><\/p>\n

Biblical scholar Paul put it this way: \u201cIf I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge \u2026 but didn’t love others, I would be nothing\u201d (New Living Translation<\/i>). And in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes, \u201cWe know that \u2018We all possess knowledge.\u2019 But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God\u201d (1 Corinthians 8:1-3).<\/span><\/p>\n

I think some people should rewrite the old tune, \u201cMy hope is built and nothing less than Jesus blood and doctrinal correctness.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The earliest manuscripts of the Athanasian Creed date from the late 8<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> Century. This classic description of the Trinity, written to counter the ancient Arian heresy (in a nutshell, Jesus is not God) has no less than forty-four statements to explain the nature of the Triune God, the Three Persons of the Godhead, and how they relate to One Another. It remains the dogma of Catholics, Anglicans and most Protestants.<\/span><\/p>\n

The extraordinary creed ends with this warning: \u201cThis is the catholic (small \u201cc\u201d) faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved<\/i>\u201d (italics mine). I remember reading this years ago as a student in my Lutheran college and thinking, wow, I\u2019m not sure many people can be saved. My guess is that most if not all you reading this article have not even heard <\/i>of the Athanasian Creed, let alone read it. It\u2019s a beautiful but complex document. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can only imagine an illiterate dirt farmer in the Middle Ages trying to explain this to his shoe maker in the local, smoky tavern. How could the common people at that time understand the creed\u2019s theological nuances and depth? And at what point did their ignorance risk the loss of God\u2019s love and life after death?<\/span><\/p>\n

And what about today, with the wide range of Christian doctrines searchable on the web? Putting right-and-wrong aside, how do we deal with rampant polarization and hostility over just about everything? Have you seen the popular sports talk show \u201cUndisputed\u201d? Two \u201cexperts\u201d essentially take opposing views and yell at each other. Or Democrats and Republican on a panel on CNN? I feel pain just writing about this!<\/span><\/p>\n

We live in a culture of rage. Is there hope? Yes, indeed! But only as we bring our ethnic, cultural, doctrinal and personal differences to the foot of the Cross. Paul says this so simply: \u201cSubmit to one another out of reverence to Christ\u201d (Ephesians 5:21).\u00a0 <\/span>Our differences don\u2019t go away, but in the presence of Jesus, the Cross puts our sin, our self-centeredness, our hostility ad rage to death. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hear this: \u201cFor he [Jesus] himself is our peace, who has made the two groups [Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and non-Catholics, Democrats and Republicans?] one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall [not of differences, but] of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations [believing and doing everything correctly]. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility<\/i>. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to believe that the more I think I\u2019m correct, the more difficult it is for me to love others the way God loves me. God is a mystery, not a matter of fact. God is love, something we can practice. We can do love. We can experience love. We can describe love, but we can\u2019t really define it. Like love in marriage, it\u2019s a mystery (Ephesians 5:31-32).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLove is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.<\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/sup><\/span> I\u2019m indebted to my good friend for this dreadful thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/sup><\/i><\/span> It is a Greek word variously translated as “unclosedness”, “unconcealedness”, “disclosure” or “truth”. The literal meaning of the word <\/span>\u1f00<\/span>\u2013\u03bb\u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1 is “the state of not being hidden; the state of being evident.” It also means factuality or reality (Wikipedia<\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

3<\/sup><\/span> A doctrine without mystery. Gnosticism is one of the most sinister ideologies because, while unduly exalting knowledge or a specific experience, it considers its own vision of reality to be perfect. Thus, perhaps without even realizing it, this ideology feeds on itself and becomes even more myopic. It can become all the more illusory when it masks itself as a disembodied spirituality. For Gnosticism \u201cby its very nature seeks to domesticate the mystery\u201d, whether the mystery of God and his grace, or the mystery of others\u2019 lives. When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road. They may well be false prophets, who use religion for their own purposes, to promote their own psychological or intellectual theories. God infinitely transcends us; he is full of surprises. We are not the ones to determine when and how we will encounter him; the exact times and places of that encounter are not up to us. Someone who wants everything to be clear and sure presumes to control God\u2019s transcendence. (Pope Francis, Rejoice and Be Glad<\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

4<\/sup><\/span> https:\/\/www.ccel.org\/creeds\/athanasian.creed.html<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was with my daughter Shari recently. She\u2019s a mother of four, works fulltime at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado, as a career and academic [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garykinnaman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}