Making Sense of the Bible - WEF January, 2015

Making
Sense of
the Bible
     WEF
 January, 2015

Why is it…
Well meaning Christians
interpret the same
passage in the Bible in
such radically different
ways?

Adam Hamilton addresses these
issues in

 Making Sense of the Bible
Section One ~ The Nature of
Scripture
Section Two ~ Making Sense of the
Bible’s Challenging Passages

The Bible is a long and
complex book…
Depending upon whose Bible you
read … there are 66 books…
   Almost 1200 chapters…
       … Over 31,000 verses!
Written over a period of at least
one thousand years in languages
and in a culture foreign to ours!

Week One ~ What does it
mean to say the Bible is
inspired? How is it
different from other
inspired words?
Week Two ~ Are there
mistakes, and if so, how do
we know what to believe?

Week Three ~ What does it
mean to take the Bible
seriously in our lives?
Tonight ~ Putting these
lessons to work with case
studies from the pages of
Scripture.

“All scripture is inspired
by God and is useful for
teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for
training in
righteousness…”
         II Timothy 3:16

Observations:
Biblical texts are written by
real humans in real historical
situations addressing real
issues of their time.
These writers also reflect
their own biases and
limitations.

Key Insights:
To speak of the Bible as
inspired does not mean it was
dictated by God to robotic
human writers.
In situations where the Bible
is difficult to interpret, it is
Jesus who serves as the final
Word by which other words of
scripture are to be judged.

A High View of Scripture:
Assumes you read and study
the Scriptures!
Assumes that your life is
shaped by God through the
Scriptures!

An Observation:
“We are all a bit spiritually hard
of hearing. Our own convictions
sometimes get intermingled with
what we believe God is saying to
us… This is in part why the God
of preachers who are staunch
Republicans inevitably sounds
like a Republican and the God of
preachers who are staunch
Democrats sounds like a
Democrat.” p. 155

An Observation:
We all “pick and choose” what
Scripture we read and what
Scripture informs our life.
Even Jesus and the apostles
did that!
 (Ezra, Esther, Song of Songs,
 Lamentations, Obadiah,
 Nahum, Zephaniah are never
 cited in the NT)

A Case Study: Science, the
Bible, and the Creation
Stories ~Were Adam and Eve
Real People? ~Were There
Dinosaurs on the Ark?
(Chapters 19, 20, & 22)
These questions raise issues of the
conflict of modern archeology and
the Biblical record of Adam and Eve’s
creation, along with the historicity of
the story of the flood.

Science and the Bible
Issues raised:
 How old is the earth?
 Are the two creation stories
 consistent?
 Were Adam and Eve historic
 figures?
 Was there really a flood over
 all the earth?

Science and the Bible
The larger question:
 What is the purpose of the
 creation stories in Genesis?
 Is the purpose of Genesis to
 teach science, or to teach
 about God and humanity?

Science and the Bible
“Science teaches one kind of
truth, and it is really important
and wonderful. The Bible
teaches another kind of truth –
about the meaning of our
existence, the nature of God, and
what it means to be human. The
latter, in my experience, is the
kind of truth that I draw upon
every day.” p. 192.

Science and the Bible
The Hebrew word “Adam” means
human… the word “Eve” means life.
Are they meant to be real historical
figures… or are they meant to
represent each of us?
  The Biblical language is of God
  breathing and they become
  “living beings.”
    The scientific language is of an
    evolving species of hominids.

Science and the Bible
Similarly, the flood describes
both a scientific phenomena and
a biblical truth.
How do we define truth in the
Bible? Is a story true because it
teaches us about God and
humanity or is it true because it
occurred in history?

Science and the Bible
“That (the story of the flood) is filled
with truth is relevant for today, but
the important truth found in this
story has little to do with the size of
Noah's ship, the number of animals it
could contain, or whether the
floodwaters literally covered the
entire earth. Once more we find in
Genesis an archetypal story that
reveals who God is and who God calls
us to be.” p. 205

A Case Study: God’s
Violence in the Old
Testament (chapter 22)
Many of these OT texts give
credence to the argument that
religion is the source of much
violence in our world.
They gave rise to the heresy of
Marcion that split OT/NT god.

God’s OT Violence
Three categories:
1. Death penalty for certain
infractions.
2. God’s anger and wrath.
3. Genocide in the name of
God.

God’s OT Violence
1. Death penalty for certain
infractions.
 •Sacrificing to another god
 •Persistent rebellion of a child
 •Child who hits/curses parent
 •Working on the Sabbath
 •Sex with maried person
 •Premarital sex
 •Male homosexual intimacy

God’s OT Violence
2. God’s anger and wrath.
Exodus 32 …
And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord
God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side
each of you, and go to and fro from gate to
gate throughout the camp, and each of you
kill his brother and his companion and his
neighbor.’” And the sons of Levi did
according to the word of Moses. And that
day about three thousand men of the
people fell.

God’s OT Violence
3. Genocide in the name of
God.
I Samuel 15:3 “Now go and
strike Amalek and devote to
destruction all that they have. Do
not spare them, but kill both man
and woman, child and infant, ox
and sheep, camel and donkey.”

God’s OT Violence
Hamilton suggests two
categories of responses:
1. For those who support
verbal, plenary inspiration,
the emphasis is on the need of
God “to demonstrate a firm
hand to the Israelites.”

God’s OT Violence
For others, there are other
options:
1. Those who perpetuated this
violence were representing the
culture in which they lived
rather than the will of God.

God’s OT Violence
For others, there are other
options:
2. Those who perpetuated this
violence were recognized as
needed heroes in the history
of Israel’s development.

God’s OT Violence
“Where a particular teaching
in scripture is at odds with
what Jesus said, we are right to
consider that the passage may
reflect the culture, worldview,
or the perspective of the human
author of scripture rather than
the timeless heart, character,
and will of God.” p. 216

God’s OT Violence
Not reading these passages, or
ignoring them, is not an
acceptable solution!
We need to be careful that
they are not used to justify war
and bloodshed in our day.

God’s OT Violence
“Ultimately, the violence –
affirming passages of the OT
serve as a reminder of how
easily we might still be led to
invoke God’s name as a
justification of violence in our
world.” p. 217

Final Thoughts:
“You are not dishonoring God by
asking questions of Scripture that
seems inconsistent with modern
scientific knowledge or geography
or history. And you are not being
unfaithful to God if you ask
questions of a verse that seems
inconsistent with the picture of God
seen in the life, teachings death,
and resurrection of Jesus.” p. 299

Final Thoughts:
“Daily I hear God speaking to me
as I read the scriptures. Its words,
with few exceptions, are life
giving… Through the Bible, God
has spoken and continues to speak
to the human race. It contains
every truth we need to know God
and God’s will for our lives… I love
the Bible… and sometimes I wrestle
with it.” p. 299-300