Introduction
Its fourth of July and I give you an easy topic for today!
It is an unfortunate situation that the things happening in our lifetime are not unprecedented but are, in fact, a stern reminder that humanity still has not grown up. While countless people have dispelled their own ignorance of various topics and have become more inclusive with themselves and others, the powerful have no such inclination for self reflection. So here we are again within the great and terrible crossroads of history.
Im a wee bit tired of living through history.
Today I wanted to talk about the nature of the bible, and how Christians follow versions of this book that validate their own moral systems. That their claim of following God’s will or biblical truth is in fact a “negotiation” (To use bible scholar Dan McClellan’s verbiage) with the text to affirm their already developed beliefs.
That History of that Dang ol‘ Book
In case you do not know, the bible is a collection of stories, histories, myths, and letters that have been canonized as the central scriptures of the Christian faith. Separated in Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is a restructured version of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, and the New testament is the compilation of the different versions of the Gospels and the letters of the Apostles.
In the first three centuries of the common era, much of the faith did not have access to most of the new testament letters and relied primarily on the Hebrew text to find the validation of their faith. It was with that text that they built their new status quo as the early Christians developed their identity separate from Judaism.
It was only until the Council of Rome in 382 CE that one of the first canonizations of Christian scripture was declared. I say it plurally, because there were several more after this that either affirmed or debated their initial canonization. It should be noted that by the time that these councils occurred, Christianity had already become the officially endorsed religion of the Roman Empire in 312 CE with the conversion of Emperor Constantine (blog post about the ramifications of his conversion in the future). So their political influences cannot be discounted or dismissed.
It was in these councils where these church representatives voted on the disparate letters and stories spread across the roman empire. Such as the letters of Paul, and the various versions of the Gospels. Citation needed for this next part, but I have heard that the book of revelation was hotly debated within these councils and only barely made it into the bible. If only they had chosen differently.
The Theological Claim
So we have done a brief overview of the bible’s history, the references will be below and on the resources tab, I now wish to discuss the doctrinal claims of most of Christianity on the divine nature of the bible.
I know I am largely painting with a broad brush, but much of the Christian world (That I was exposed too) believes that the bible is the literal, immutable, and infallible word of God. That it was not these men that wrote their letters and stories, but it was God who held the pen and that it is unable to be changed.
Obviously, this is a dangerous claim. We are living in a world where the consequence of that belief is shoved into our faces daily. It is this belief that allows powerful individuals to mold the texts into whichever way they see fit. For example Christian Nationalism: They expand God’s wrath as depicted within the book, and greatly suffocate the forgiveness of Jesus. On the opposite side however we have the Episcopalians: they greatly expand the forgiveness of Jesus, and greatly suffocate God’s wrath. Both are valid readings of the text, unfortunately. While both deserve a more nuanced approach, I only have so much of your attention span.
Both of these groups, as opposite as can be, are doing something that Dan McLellan calls “Negotiation.” They take the contradictions of the bible, and negotiate with it to match their own moralities. Neither group is truly following the whole of the bible, they both by necessity must abandon things inconvenient or contradictory to the group’s collective beliefs. Dr. McClellan said this in one of his videos as a picture of their engagement with the text:
The bible is somewhere between a choose your own adventure book and a Ouija Board.
I will take a moment to say that this is not an inherently bad thing, or something to be held against Christianity at large. There are a great many Christians who have a more nuanced view of the bible. They are aware of the conscious act of interoperation and negotiation with the bible. It is those who are unconscious of the contradictions and interpretations that I am truly afraid of.
The Tragedy of the Hypocrisy
So, If both Christian Nationalism and Episcopalians are technically valid interoperations of the bible, then where is the hypocrisy?
The tragedy is that morality predates any reading of the texts. That the natural inclination of these people is towards whatever it is that they already believe or were taught to believe. And for all of us it means a world in which we must be constantly embattled with fringe groups that would claim sole ownership of the bible and of Christianity.
That evil and powerful men can at any time provide a reading of the bible that clicks with the anger, hatred, and ignorance of regular people and manipulate them into forgetting the humanity of their neighbors.
My Own Spiritual View
If you’ve read the “about me” section or my very first post on my blog, you know then that I still call myself a follower of Jesus. I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, but that he was touched by whatever the Divine might be.
When I was doing my research on the bible, the sheer weight of the evidence against its univocality, its infallibility, and its immutability finally crushed whatever clinging I had to Christianity and the divine nature of the bible.
So why then do I cling to Jesus? In my darker moments, crushed by my depression and anxiety, I think it is a weakness. That I do not have the strength to finally cut all ties with the religion, that If I do so I will give in to my cynicism and nihilism that so desperately wants to destroy me.
But in my strength I still find an amazing beauty in the words of Jesus that we have. Whether or not Jesus actually spoke these words or they were put into his mouth decades or centuries later. Those demands of empathy, justice, and seeking the wellbeing of the weak continue to give me the willingness to trudge into the crushing darkness of the future.
An Important Reminder
While it is tempting to call these people evil or immoral, I think it more accurate to call them either under-educated, afraid, or ignorant. I think most people who make their way to this blog will understand what I am talking about. I want to take a small moment to remind you to try and have grace for them as many of us were likely in that exact same scenario. I was that person in my past, and only through great pain and loneliness did I come out to the other side.
But by the grace of God, The Divine, happenstance, friendship, love, or whatever other moral force in this universe you’d like to draw upon, we were able to wrest ourselves out of that horrid pit. And it would behoove us all to allow those people to have that opportunity as well. If we do not give it to them, then we are no better than they are and they will only dig deeper into their hatreds.
Parting Thoughts
As the world continues to darken, try and remember that innate humanity within all people. Those who wish you harm will not be persuaded by harsh rebukes or sardonic mockery. Though it is cliche, do your best to hold on to your kindness for them. Jesus was on to something when he said to love our enemies.
To destroy our enemies is not a victory. To convince them of our argument is the true victory. Yes, It is exhausting and draining. But ultimately that is how lasting change is wrought. We cannot hope to sow seeds of violence and expect a harvest of peace. We must not play their game, because if we do they will win every time.
Resources:
“Church History: From Christ to the Pre-reformation” – Everett Ferguson
Dan McClellan – Bible and Religion Scholar and Author
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