THE BIBlE

Essay 9 FEBRUARY 2008

THE BIBLE

The Bible has been the foundation of Christianity for two millennia. However it has three parts, each with different messages.

THE GOSPELS are a little over 10% of the text. They report God’s purpose and teaching through Christ.
These are His sacred Messages to mankind and the foundation of Christianity.

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES are about 15% of the text, they recount the awesome power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Apostles. They received the gifts of foreign languages to enable them to teach far and wide. They had enormous strength and power to teach, convert and support the faith of the original Christians.
They, and their subsequent converts, had the courage to keep their faith to face persecution torture and even death. Churches spread under persecution for 300 years until Christianity was recognised by Rome.
This is the greatest ever intervention by God in human affairs.
The Holy Spirit is still available to any individual with faith, who asks for it.
The Acts also include letters from some of the Apostles to their new Christian communities, whose earlier beliefs were quite different from the revelations of God brought by Jesus. This teaching was a vital foundation of Christianity.
However most western societies have evolved as Christian for centuries since then. They have also changed considerably since the times of the Apostles. Individuals now are independent and well informed members of the Global Village. They deal with large numbers of others, including strangers. The Christian Teaching which they need should help then to live by Christ’s Teaching in their daily lives, (Essay 11). Quoting the teaching of the heroic Apostles distracts attention from the issues facing Christians today.
Finally the book of Revelations was reportedly written about 50 years after Christ. It contains prophecies about the end of the world, preceded by great disasters and the emergence from the sea of a seven headed monster. These prophecies are from the imagination of John of Patmos. Surely Christians should not revere this just because it was included in the Bible.
IN CONCLUSION the Acts of the Apostles report the awesome power of the Holy Spirit in guiding and strengthening faithful Christians. This should still be emphasised today. Their teaching however concerns issues that were long ago and faraway and may be less relevant to Christian living now.

THE OLD TESTAMENT amounts to over 70% of the Bible. It reports the very real and remarkable intervention of their God Jehovah in leading and protecting the Jewish nation in a hostile world over centuries.
It records the beliefs and scriptures of pre-Christian worshippers of God.
The Prophets certainly had God’s help and inspiration for their leadership and prophecy.
God had not yet revealed Himself through Jesus. Their religion therefore originated from their own human beliefs and imaginations.
These pre-Christian scriptures of Judaism were included in the Bible by the Apostles who wrote the Gospels. Although they spread Jesus Teaching and founded Christianity, they still retained the beliefs from their strict upbringing of Judaism. The problem is that the faith and values of Judaism were the earlier beliefs in God, which He sent Jesus to replace. Yet their scriptures are now included in the Bible and regarded as equal to Jesus’ Teaching.
TWO DOCTRINES
The doctrines and beliefs of Judaism differ fundamentally in many ways from the divine Messages brought by Jesus.
God was revealed as a loving and forgiving Father who cared for every individual. He is served, not by praise and glorification but by loving service to our fellow man. (The parable of the sheep and the goats is a critical statement that makes this clear.)
His love and forgiveness was so great that He rejoiced when sinners repented and turned to Him in repentance. (The Prodigal Son) This brought a new dimension of God’s love for man.
Jesus came to save sinners.
The 10 commandments were a negative declaration of what was not acceptable to God. He was portrayed as a harsh judge, on a throne, who would condemn sinners to hell.
The Pharisees even believed they themselves were justified to kill Jews who preached other beliefs than Judaism. After crucifying Jesus, they stoned the apostle Stephen to death, and plotted, unsuccessfully to kill Paul. The Pharisees claimed the power to stone sinners, such as adulteresses, to death, in the name of God.
This is a quite different concept of an authoritarian God who conferred the power to punish sinners on his priests.
SPIRITUAL BELIRFS Jesus revealed God’s purpose that men should love each other and that He cared for every individual.
He showed God’s power with many miracles of healing and even raising the dead. The Resurrection of Jesus was the ultimate miracle.
This is Divine and simple.
His power was also shown by His inspiration of the Apostles to found Christianity.
All this is clear evidence of God’s purpose and power.
Jehovah was seen, in human terms, as their powerful Lord. He was an omnipotent protector who spoke to the whole nation through prophets. Judaism was exclusive to Jews and there was no call to spread their teaching to the Gentiles who were regarded as outside Jehovah’s concern.
Protection on earth was not promised by Jesus. He even warned the Apostles that they would be persecuted, tortured and even put to death for preaching in His name.
He did not promise protection from setbacks or disasters, but rather help when they occurred. He said instead “come unto me all those who travail and are heavy laden and I will refresh you”.
In contrast, the psalms, which are certainly beautiful literature, promise protection and prosperity to the faithful.
Jehovah was also supposed to be propitiated by sacrifices. Abraham was even prepared to sacrifice his own son when he believed that was what God wanted.
Jesus angrily rebuked those who sold animals for sacrifice in the Temple.
Judaism included a variety of spiritual beliefs of the worshippers pf Jehovah.
The spirits of the Prophets were worshipped and believed to still have power over worshippers.
Their descriptions of the spiritual world originated mainly through men’s imagination. For instance, both Isaiah and Ezekiel told how God’s favourite angel, Lucifer, revolted and descended from heaven to become Satan in hell.
These beliefs in spiritual forces, conceived by men were accepted as holy truth.
Preaching by Jesus was informal teaching without rituals and ceremony. He did teach sometimes in the synagogues where people naturally came to worship. Other times out in the country when large crowds gathered to hear him. He did not follow any rituals in his preaching but merely taught how to live to fulfil God’s will.
He promised that when even two or three gathered in His name God would hear them and give help through The Holy Spirit. They did not need to pray through senior religious leaders, but direct to God.
Judaism revered the Prophets as the Holy men of God. Their beliefs and deeds were recorded as scriptures.
Worship centred in The Temple supported by local synagogues.
Great crowds were gathered to celebrate feasts, such as the Passover. Scribes and Pharisees had authority, as representatives of Jehovah, and led the worship. They were confident in their own righteousness and they condemned those they regarded as sinners e.g. publicans and tax collectors.
The differences between the two doctrines are fundamental, particularly as to God’s purpose for mankind and how He should be served and worshipped.
Examples of how Church worship is distracted by carrying forward this outdated doctrine are considered below.

TRUTH
Many many preachers exhort their listeners to study the Holy Bible as the word of Truth. Any quotation from the Old Testament can therefore be justified as Holy Truth “because it is in the Bible”. This can result in misleading sermons and conclusions.
For instance, the discrimination against Blacks in the apartheid era was justified by a quote that they should be hewers of wood and drawers of water. This may be justified in terms of an Old Testament text but it is contrary to Christianity. Yet it was used, as a quote from the Holy Bible, to justify a heinous policy.
This is one of many examples from the Old Testament that mislead people about Christian Truth.

OUR ORIGINS
Jesus preached how we should live and not where we came from.
The Old Testament describes creation in seven days starting with Adam and Eve. The fall to temptation, as the Original Sin of man, is described. Man was created in the image of God.
This account of our origins is now considered to be a vital cornerstone for many Christians.
Some, including an elder of a church, vehemently condemn the explanations of archaeologists, geologists and Darwinian natural selection. They are alleged to be part of a conspiracy of scientists to deny the existence of God! This is preposterous, they do no such thing. They only suggest that our Creator may have directed the process of evolution.
A friend queried this biblical account of creation by an invited speaker in church. He was berated by the priest and told that if he did not believe this he was not a Christian! This illustrates how reverence for the Old Testament has perverted some preachers.
It was particularly sad because my friend only recently acquired faith and was seeking a church to help him to fulfil it.
The issue has also led to many bitter and irrelevant disputes in USA.
Our origins are not relevant. Christians should be concerned with Christ’s Message for living today and tomorrow and God’s power here and now.

WORSHIP
Praise, in the form of glorification and adulation, is often seen as the route to salvation. Even the alter, in established churches, is a legacy from the Jewish temple
These formalised services contrast to Christ’s simple preaching of how we should live and worship. God promised to be anywhere even where only two or three gathered in His name.

SERMONS
The Old Testament includes many stories, from Adam and Eve through all the triumphs of the prophets. These all provide a wealth of subjects for sermons, which are considered to be holy. As an example, a preacher on TV proudly announced that her sermon was based on the numerous references to trumpets in the Bible. Surely this contributes nothing at all to Christ’s Teaching of how we should live. Yet such deceptions are accepted, because they are drawn from the Bible.
Another topic is the negative morality of Judaism, explicit in the 10 commandments. Damnation was promised to those who were judged to be sinful. They are obvious and popular subjects for sermons.
It sounds good, but God sent Jesus to replace them with only two positive commandments. The second commandment is positive and goes much further than the last nine. Anybody who obeys it will not infringe those nine but will do much more. Furthermore a positive dimension of God loving and forgiving all mankind was added. This new Message should replace the old beliefs of Judaism.
The Psalms, as already noted, are beautiful literature. They sound great as the subject for sermons. But their message is how Jehovah would protect the faithful and reward them with prosperity, is part of old beliefs. It is not what Jesus taught.
I question whether these examples of those in quite different societies, with a different religion, over 2000 years ago have much to teach to modern Christian congregations. Their faith needs to guide them in all their daily dealings with people at work, in their communities and at home. That is where they live their Christian lives.

THE PROPHETS
The heroism of the Prophets is frequently cited in sermons. There are numerous examples of their faith and courage. They receive attention of preachers because their exploits are in the Bible. However they lived in quite a different society thousands of years ago.
Surely, more real today, are the many contemporary Christian heroes who triumph through faith in Christ. For instance, a deeply religious American medic in the Pacific war. He refused to carry arms but always carried his Bible. He was oblivious to danger when he rescued the wounded under fire.
He was eventually awarded a high military honour by the US President. His valour and success was due to his strong Christian faith.
Many examples of contemporary faith and courage are equally inspiring. Their faith and courage in every day life is more real and should be recognised more frequently, even though they are not in the Bible.

JUDGEMENT
Christ promised a loving and forgiving attitude to our sins.
Judaism proclaims harsh condemnation to hell for sinners, and an authoritarian God who was served out of fear. This is quite a different morality. These threats of damnation and hell survive among too many preachers of the Fire and Brimstone Brigade today. They are merely misleading relics of pre-Christian Judaism.
I have close knowledge of a person, brought up as a Christian, and still attending church regularly. Her beliefs are mainly of good and evil. Her acquaintances who are judged to be evil are condemned. They are considered to be beyond the pale and treated accordingly.
The importance of forgiveness, tolerance and loving your enemy seems to have been missed in her early religious instruction.
It is not farfetched to assert that her life is less than it should have been as a result of instruction based on the values of intolerant Judaism early in her Christian upbringing.
CONCLUSION Jesus warned of those who would come in His name and deceive many. Surely there can be no greater or more destructive deceptions than including the pre-Christian teachings of Judaism with God’s Messages through Christ. This is not Christianity, but is a destructive deception, which Jesus warned against. Including it with His teaching by the churches, betrays the purpose for which Hw gave His life. Christians still suffer from these pre Christian distractions as a result.

SACRILEGE
The sanctity of the Old Testament has been accepted for many centuries. To dispute its sanctity in Christianity will appear to be shocking. Yet no matter how long it has been revered, it can be disputed that it contributes to Christ’s purpose. This is what He came to replace.
GALILIO had a similar problem. He declared the unthinkable, that the earth was not flat but round. He was ridiculed, threatened and even persecuted by the church. Everyone, from the Pope down, could see that it was flat. Mankind had ”known” this for all time.
The Old Testament is equally uncritically accepted as Holy Truth, after all it is in the Bible.
Instead remember Nicodemus, he was a scholar of Judaism, a senior Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, their ruling council. When he wanted to follow Jesus, he came at night, to avoid condemnation. He was told that he would have to be born again. This meant he had to replace his old beliefs of Judaism with the completely new revelations of God brought by Jesus. Christians should do the same.
The survival of these roots in many churches aptly accounts for their description as Judao-Christianity.
As a Christian, my faith does not include these distractions of pre-Christian Judaism. Why should it? I believe only in Christ’s Messages and God’s power through the Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION The inclusion of the Old Testament in the Bible has sanctified many pre-Christian teachings of Judaism. These can obscure the real simple Messages, which Jesus gave his life to bring to us. Anyone who believes only in Christ is still a Christian. Perhaps he can even see the Truth more clearly?

CONCLUSION
Many many preachers and ministries urge Christians to read their Bibles. Certainly a thorough knowledge of the Gospels is vital to understand Christ’s Messages of how Christians should live. However the Gospels only account for about 10% of the text.
The Acts are evidence of God’s vital power to help the faithful through the Holy Spirit.
The remainder is not essential to the daily choices of Christian living.
Reading the large proportion of information in the rest of the Bible may confuse Christians on the many issues they face in their everyday lives. It will introduce other issues and distract their focus from Christ’s Teaching on how to live according to God’s purpose, which He brought for us. If Christians are to live by that purpose they should worship His Teaching in the Gospels, and not the Whole Bible.