Theological rants
of a liberal Christian

Revelation 1:1, Revelation’s Purpose

Friday, June 10, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 3 comments

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.

//My recent review of The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran sparked a discussion of whether there are similar “hate texts” in the New Testament. I couldn’t provide any examples except the obvious: the vengeance promised in the book of Revelation. Nothing in the Koran compares to the level of gruesome bloodshed in Revelation, yet more Muslims are incited into a holy war than Christians. How is it that the Koran’s hate texts are so much more effective than the Bible’s?

Could it be that Revelation’s dreams are just too bloody and extraordinary for modern Christians to relate, and the book is largely ignored? Revelation was probably written shortly after the war of 70 A.D., meant as encouragement to Christians under Roman oppression. Judean Christians would have been especially demoralized at the time, having suffered both the loss of family members and dislocation from their homeland and Temple.

Don’t worry, says Revelation, Jesus hasn’t forgotten you, he is coming back pronto to help you slaughter all the unbelievers and to restore your beloved Jerusalem to even greater grandeur. The irony is that Revelation was never needed; you might even say it failed miserably. Christianity quickly grew into a peaceful religion as Christians instead came to terms with their lot in life.

Yet, even without violent scripture (other than the misunderstood Revelation), Christians have embarked on multiple holy crusades through the centuries. Today, they seem to have outgrown the phase. Islam, too, appears to be slowly outgrowing its current violent phase. This begs the question:  Can a religion’s holy book influence its believers toward bloodshed, or is violence a matter of environment rather than religion? I’ll be the first to admit that religious extremism is a complex problem, and I don’t have answers. What do you think?

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Book review: Wide Awake Worship

Thursday, June 9, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

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by John Henson

★★★★

The subtitle of this book is Hymns and Prayers Renewed for the 21st Century. John Henson is a retired Baptist minister, now residing in Wales, and he put together this collection of what he calls “reset gems and polished buttons.” I asked him for a copy, hoping to keep my finger on the pulse of progressive Christian worship worldwide. Not knowing entirely what to expect, I found the collection to be a wonderful indicator of the direction Christianity is moving. I couldn’t help feeling uplifted and encouraged as I read.

Henson writes out of concern for the “many Christians who have told me they find it difficult to join in the traditional prayers and hymns of the churches with honesty since the words no longer accurately express their genuine beliefs and commitment. Yet at the same time is felt a sense of loss that is more than just nostalgia for the tools of devotion of former years.”

Well, that certainly struck a chord! The result is a compilation of worship prayers and hymns that (with a few welcome exceptions, such as a prayer for deeper love between even same-sex couples) will be appreciated by Christians of all denominations, from the most liberal to the most fundamental. It’s a welcome aid to worship for progressive believers and a step toward the dream of uniting Christians of all types.

Here is a favorite of mine, based on Psalm 1:

Splendid are folk who never copy
Those who trash another’s creed,
Thinking only of themselves,

Making fun of others’ need.

Splendid those who honor God
And night and day think on God’s love;
Their lives are green like leafy plants

That grow beside the river banks.

Like trees they offer tasty fruit,
And shade for those who feel the sun;
They guarantee the planet’s health,

Sustaining life for everyone.

The selfish have such trivial aims,
Their cravings wander with the wind;
Their lives will fail the test of time,

Unlike the lives of those they scorn.

The caring know the help of God,
The selfish live and die alone.
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Numbers 31:17-18, Texts of Terror

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

//As instructed by a vengeful God, Israel destroyed Midian. The men of Midian were killed in battle, the cities burned, the women and children taken as plunder. But when the officers of the Israelite army returned with their plunder, Moses was displeased; God apparently did not yet feel vindicated. Moses therefore gave instruction to murder the women and children as well, keeping only the young virgins as sex slaves.

While I am no fan of the “texts of terror” within the Bible, they do need to be trotted out every once in a while, and read to those who believe the Bible is superior in moral teaching to, say, the Koran. The Bible, while truly an inspirational book that has spiritually fed millions for millennia, is too human (or inhuman) to be touted as perfect. The title of today’s blog post comes from feminist theologian Phyllis Trible’s book of the same name. It examines four Old Testament women who experienced terrible abuse: Hagar, Tamar, the woman of Judges 19, and the daughter of Jephthah. The primary cause is the social understanding of the day of women as property, and of these four, one story is particularly gruesome, so let’s dig into that one. A Levite’s unnamed concubine is unfaithful; she leaves him and returns home to her father. The Levite goes after her, and stays in the home of her father. While there, the house is accosted by thugs:

While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.” The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this disgraceful thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don’t do such a disgraceful thing.” But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.

Commentary is unnecessary. OK, I’m done with my obligatory reminder of the occasional inhumane instruction in the Bible. Back to more inspirational and instructive stories tomorrow.

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The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran

Tuesday, June 7, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

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by Robert Spencer

★★★

I was disappointed in this book. Whether it’s true or not hardly seems to matter; I was still disappointed.

Spencer hopes to introduce casual readers to the words of the Koran, and he has nothing good to say about it. He compares it to Mein Kampf. Here are some of the chapter titles:

The Muslims’ Worst Enemies: The Koran on the Jews
The Koran on Christians: They’re Not So Hot, Either
The Koran on Women: Crooked and Inferior

The Koran Teaches Nonviolence—Oh, and Violence, Too

Here’s the bottom line: If you want to know what’s in the Holy Book of Islam, read Spencer. If you want to know what Muslims believe, read Karen Armstrong. Islam is a religion of peace, which—like Christianity—attracts a few extremists. Like Christianity, its holy texts are in places downright abominable. Like Christians, practicing believers generally learn to ignore or spiritualize the ungodly portions of their scriptures.

Spencer says about his work, “You will find nothing in this book about Islamic ritual practices or prayers. This is an Infidel’s guide, focusing on where the Koran came from and its specific portions that are—or should be—of concern to Infidels.” It is, by Spencer’s admission, one-sided, and not reflective of general Muslim practices.

Tomorrow, I’ll balance this with a discussion of the Texts of Terror within the Bible, so we can realize how much Christians ignore in their holy book. It might help put things in perspective.

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Revelation 22:15, No Dogs In Heaven

Monday, June 6, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 3 comments

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

//I may be committing blogicide with this verse, but here goes.

According to Revelation, the doors of the New Jerusalem are closed to “dogs.” And what is a dog? It’s a derogatory label for a male prostitute, so named in antiquity because of the coupling method of men with men.

Don’t believe me? The New Jerusalem, in Revelation, replaces the Temple. It becomes the new House of God atop Mount Zion. Revelation’s teaching comes directly from the Old Testament, in a text responding to Israel’s ungodly acceptance of Temple prostitutes:

Deuteronomy 23:18—Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God.

I’ll leave you to decide what to make of this.

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Book review: Woman of Sin

Sunday, June 5, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

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Enqp]Kv{l.P4% GHȘ]  &9ihl;dIH#$&(R_2zEώDFOPepeJϨ)T9d rt@2ۧ<>BW?# T%RoYB"AUoߩV+Be1ns Y:$›dɌGd2?% $A,#4B&b@A Nqv?AStY>ERX3rΕK>Q3K\ ~+fX!=0;?a6N?(1+&&(}Q]7Q-o9h`4!Q -rJåjXKxfN$`Bf,,(i q1꟰)>P#$qxPԛqaX G{L]z1Z .X%nohШ/^la*/?…U4ݲ~k)=f>KG/ӏ8q VV M$" y ;vѥְ ~`"d._[FX*z%e)fm#]0M`2ƪQM!,b?~9 77xݷ{#~r@!bmjq} 7 h,\;7ﴷ6o/,Pm@{qBc,kZԍ>})qb *4/|v{Co2fp^ &l.>\LRJ& k EY3ypo2"eIHLq̣d4HH2b@QK 90 Uѐ-JAr)Q>Pt(`6MG%䉏*|,;|C `qbES2˨Z*+:oUW'U:{K MC"\W%]=>|3 W^u "z)Ao۪b95w8=9g XBӦ$tM "X .^BբB{\BW_pL@{xJŮq ѰKN8Q0^Q L]'"][C)x.YD{f3lGJ8_-d!c p=!P Kۋ/)T^_LKFCͰ!MHJ˷'>?O|;߻j6Z)rMԣqP6c%2++qkEuxwLm;k(l85x8<Q V[\*!x9'huz+ %͘7FJE9=: ݬRd17o׿524T!3>TB$IAu$$ DŽ$ qcW8'SU:,Ol 24+q*6~8CPe)2A@ŠFQ|u^㻏XikRE6BA"CP:bW;X "+Tjf^sӴ*ՅY!1%矼XpW\ec^3 y+o.^AYl$BVDe8Y[\a8@2uԊы}$)e:8e33PkoOIDATQitbdH^HU0`:,M3 ۖ殇$HEPr"?şEؖYDHED)S'K3,9%T] [H8?ۣmß f^DQ*HI.A%JfoZfl[ r"%KK4)xbJdYn? c,S0t6oLSNGL' !Pʈ8WMcҼd g{{쀣8(%r.!g*S~NDqK^oo4 onE""N^ty)0(H gOsCfwH6u@>#PARur(U Q@R2^(:B44L b4U kSip܍pUUHpl.H7<&Ob= fu}iQB ~@O ͈I:Uems CWU|Ns;Ebd<9%/3<Ǵ,tca}eMwЌ:QP[0TgHR% [a\^(*Ԫ + GJAk+Pdf'{ئLj*qsAB4@**PS)JEXKx)a(a)ᘚ eV%2YBe)YQ#tvR٢VΩ:%Wְq5*TpR&tYA929{BXV˔)]tk${ll\#OG\r{vPDI^ho˗V9>ZXa:Y\4Y^IJd3XAhT ݧUK E!)*"Tm2G4;QTގ,ONwO9Ӕ0Ky0ɉa=ً Gє?h2 8?;j[dҬ8<:qqFQULE9997:W~[]lb:uvt$'sRƮԈ(7jm~IiL͑" R,"Iy9g9A:7]YLha[Vq=o2YiSka. 8'$(LSG),cDDi4/{ A_dJ%TK_daa(DGOP Ӯ`yaER%iQ% .{eIP4C(FU5$"JT!aRʘ%Y3 |vvi- L{s8;>| !I:U.^fi"/Zi5MN{L3Y5՝I,(JU51+&W7QWdYȊfaVZY 0*hv Y5)Ϟ3MR0]1QkRhrPИUQqX/) 鶡Hyk ECN(RlhtDzU 98|,_ַISf~[(qq2[kYj%?0M4H-+CN fe,&bD(H mjBf&$^yMvv^Kf8#%^QF7߼jQJX4_0dIP5ݮcYU@0IJH@(Bhԛ 4;m-.l-a`CǘTCՅ;r65W.^᛿q?~L))e$1YpppSv I2h5tLgNO؆mm*F$0t*V9rlnniV8T,4(r3,]ݜsF!IYyn̼9(€.aw9G$РP$4f.k|&XT6Eֲi,p[5܅*X9WhbӖjD+mh QB.t\QJiaqB8=b?f0jYcse+&N%?/>OQ5sJ$qX52NˆxS)K,˱+.2jߛ%~I<9E~?F diꊋ4z“{Hi<hWWYFҥ1=0eɨ D(2$YDaV\Y/9u@9*s΅ 48q vâZ3g1QT6پ~c]W7xdY&1(r2ժ;|B!Y18:x,Jw<,n^F1\b dL̘>e##,U7)˘ZM6گdiȬ|US[~"|#р(?{?J0꜌!K`MAQsQTYB5!Q"I5(%Y3(P˵?uS]P;:GU(^Zp㔪szpX\Z )dal|xfCIÛ؎I8^#4G)c.ntx,WYXF6f1_|qdDZ۴;HHtMךC0X_[7'̢2Cv6Q*_(ri=IHJDQ,I!A`xB([ Mt8|ٌtUQ\pxSôi,,bW[L>I&೏1-jm^t2UNR!4pOXl0V@HØ2؎ИO ^Ν$F_+?MEo.y430M ې-]I>!뫫јS㤟QD"Uh58>zChzGON=<@H*BFN5s436F}ؚm* srQ85Ҵ Rgg}J^D_]B6 GR5)qOY\T1 ULF{cNϏIE)YYlQ1S,p3Co}x Ý!FR._xsMV?#TӪef0;)t@m0/,v" QsK(˘8L,1l4rp?./?KZjjv.;hgپ|եFS@/{@!UX&͛-f.iƒǏ QcU,ciyzB3U {Fam @44д4hcW NT] ۪AZ( E JM&z'?wku:K- k[ M|zSL­Pt C"H2 YzfQ"!Lǿ`iE5FIENDB`Book review: Woman of Sin

by Debra Diaz

★★★★★

A while back, I was needing a break from nonfiction, and decided to ask some publishers for fiction to review. I found Borg’s book,  Helms’ book, Deeth’s book, Witherington’s book (not yet reviewed) … and this one, with the steamy title. Woman of Sin … (cough). Romance? Really?? That would be a first for me! I was assured it had a Christian theme, but I remained unconvinced, and resigned myself to hiding the book under the couch. Now, having read it, I understand the title and find it hilariously appropriate. Great stuff, Diaz!

The story takes place in the years just before and after the crucifixion of Jesus, so the setting is naturally appealing to me. I think it’s only fair to point out that the book does have a religious flavor. By book’s end, the characters undergo a conversion to Christianity. I hope you don’t take this as a spoiler; it needs to be said. This shift of focus will be off-putting to some, but will increase the reading enjoyment of others.

Precisely because of the religious nature of the book, it invites a more rigorous criticism, more than just “great read, well researched, buy it now.”  It is a great book, and Diaz is a very good fiction writer. She has eloquently captured the life and politics of first-century Jerusalem and the Empire, and has spun a terrific story around one of the Bible’s most mysterious characters. But if Diaz had an evangelical purpose in writing, this may be the only five-star review she doesn’t appreciate; I found the most “fictional” part of her book to be the assumptions she makes about early Christianity.

By her own concession, Diaz had as a goal to be “historically and Biblically accurate.” But when the two clashed, she clearly preferred “Biblical.” If her research into all things non-religious weren’t so precise, her portrayal of the origins of Christianity wouldn’t stick out.

One example will suffice: Immediately after the resurrection, the characters repeatedly refer to Jesus as God. Kudos for Biblical accuracy: In John’s Gospel, Thomas, upon feeling the nail prints of the risen Jesus, exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” But in truth, it was likely many years afterward before Jesus would first be considered God, as evidenced by the evolving understanding of God that surfaces when we read the New Testament in chronological order. (John’s Gospel was written 60 years or more after Jesus died.) It would be less jarring in a historical novel for Diaz to reflect the very earliest Christian beliefs, rather than the religion that grew later in Jesus’ name. Laying a current-day version of Christianity atop an early first-century story made me feel the book was trying to convert me.

Religious content aside, it remains a very entertaining work of fiction. I absolutely loved it and wholeheartedly recommend it! From now on, only pseudo-romance novels will grace my book review blog!  :)

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John 8:3-6, What Did Jesus Write on the Ground?

Saturday, June 4, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 2 comments

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

//A few days back, I discussed the Sermon on the Mount as a new Law, replacing the old Law Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. I’d like to return to that theme for this story.

Today’s story of an adulteress caught in the act is not original to John’s Gospel. Although it appears to have been well known among early Christians, it was not part of the original Gospel. Its placement in chapter eight interrupts the flow of thought, slicing the Tabernacles motif in half. The earliest manuscripts of John don’t have this story, and in later manuscripts its position is not fixed; it sometimes appears here, but it is sometimes placed after verse 7:36, 7:44, or even in the gospel of Luke. Nor is the language Johannine.

It is, however a beautiful Christian story, with an interesting mystery. The question the story leaves unanswered, and which has titillated Bible scholars for two millennia, is this: When Jesus stooped and wrote on the ground, what was he writing?

The “teachers and Pharisees” were correct, of course. Deuteronomy chapter 22 describes the death penalty. The Law was clear, written on stone tablets and given to Moses: You shall not commit adultery. This Law was written by God’s own finger upon those tablets. Perhaps this provides a clue to what Jesus was writing more than a millennia later. Was God rewriting His Law, again with His own finger? The new Law reads as such:

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

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Book review: Putting Away Childish Things

Friday, June 3, 2011 in Book Reviews | 2 comments

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by Marcus Borg

★★★★★

This is a story about believing, and Borg’s first-ever novel may be among his best books. The main character, Bible scholar and professor Kate Riley, is a progressive Christian with a devotion as strong as any fundamentalist believer.

For a glimpse of how Kate lives as a Christian, we might peek into one of her lectures. In a discussion of whether the story of Adam and Eve is “true,” Kate teaches,  “The identification of truth with factuality is a cultural product of the Enlightenment. The success of the scientific method led many people to think of truth as what can be verified, and what can be verified came to be identified with facts. Within this framework, if something isn’t factual, then it’s not true.” Kate explains her point a bit later, with a quote from Thomas Mann: “A myth is a story about the way things never were, but always are.” She tells her students, “A myth is not about something that happened, that’s not its point. But it’s about the way things always are. And [Mann’s] definition also provides a way of distinguishing true myths from false myths—a false myth is a story that’s not about the way things are.”

Perhaps writing fiction allowed Borg to dig down inside himself to personal levels that were not possible in his nonfiction works. He lays bare what life and Christian practice is like for a liberal Christian. As I said earlier, this book is about believing, a word that more traditional Christians have a hard time associating with progressive Christians. How can one have faith in God while at the same time denying a literal interpretation of the Bible? How can such a Christian claim to believe? Is a progressive (liberal) Christian a real Christian or a mockery of true Christianity?

Here is what makes this book fascinating to me: The story will prove disappointingly bereft of a climax for anyone who doesn’t appreciate the tension of literal-versus-liberal Christianity. But for anyone trying to understand the progressive viewpoint, the climax is beautifully sculpted. Kate’s transition by book’s end into a “believer” is a perfect ending.

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2 Peter 1:16, Cunningly Devised Fables

Thursday, June 2, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

//This verse carries a certain irony, since it was definitely not written by an “eyewitness.” An unknown author, writing perhaps 40 years after Peter died, wrote in Peter’s name and soundly criticized any interpretation of the Jesus story other than one of stark literalism. For nearly 18 centuries afterward, Christians accepted a literal interpretation of the Bible without question. Critical analysis was discouraged, and dissenters were cautious about expressing opposing views. Even in post-Enlightenment years, new strands of fundamentalist Christianity surfaced, and literalism dominated Bible scholarship. Then, in the 20th century, a plethora of critical scholars began to question the Bible’s historical authenticity, interpreting many of its stories allegorically rather than literally. Books such as Esther and Jonah were recognized as non-historical, the virgin birth stories understood as parables, and so on. What brought about this new trend, and was it bad thing?

I’d like to emphasize that this new scholarship is not the result of trendy skepticism. It is rooted in several new developments in the 19th and 20th centuries that forced us to read the Bible differently. Some examples:

1. In the early 19th century, we learned to decipher cuneiform. It took time to conquer the various vocabularies, but by the end of that century we could accurately read Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian records. Suddenly, the Bible was no longer our only readable record of the past. For the first time, we knew whether a biblical writer was writing real history, or using historical details as a backdrop for fiction or parable.

2. In the early 20th century, the discovery of Ugarit tablets made a tremendous impact on biblical studies. Now, we could read Canaanite literature, including poetry that proved nearly identical to Hebrew writings. Many of the Psalms are nearly word for word copies of earlier Canaanite poetry, borrowed from songs that were probably sung to the Canaanite god Baal. We began to recognize more fully the impact of neighboring nations on the development of Judaism.

3. More recently, the Dead Sea Scrolls have given us Hebrew texts as much as 1,000 years earlier than any we had before. We’re no longer forced to read apocryphal books such as Jubilees and Enoch in Greek or Ethiopic translations, and can go directly back to the original Hebrew, as we learn about the period and beliefs from which  Christianity emerged. Likewise, the discovery of papyri fragments of New Testament books several hundreds of years earlier than our earliest codices, pointed us closer to the original New Testament wording and meaning.

These literary findings are supplemented by scientific developments and archaeological discoveries, as both of these fields also flourished. We have convincingly verified many Biblical claims, while disproving other Biblical passages just as convincingly. Only if we continue to bury our heads in the sand can we continue to read the Bible as we used to. The last century has irrevocably changed the way we understand Christianity.

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Book review: Jeremiah: The Last Days

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

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by Buddy Helms

★★★★

Buddy Helms is a pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Big Lake, Texas, where he happily taught the popular pre-tribulation belief until a church member asked him an innocent question that drove him deep into the scriptures. He came away with a different understanding of the end times. This book provides Buddy the opportunity to teach us what he learned, through a fictional character named Jeremiah, a businessman who was called by God to give it all up and preach an unpopular message.

Says Buddy at the story’s close, “If, as we claim, we are a people of the book, it is time that we returned to it.” I agree, but in the battle between believers of pre-tribulation and post-tribulation rapture, I don’t have a stake. In my own book about Revelation, I waffle on the subject, leaning slightly Buddy’s way. Nevertheless, the theology of his book and its clarity is as important to me as the storytelling, so my rating is influenced upward by the way Buddy made me dig into the Bible.

I do have a criticism: When the last days arrive in the book, it shifts into fast-forward. The story becomes condensed and pretty much just rolls through the events described in the Bible, literally and without much elaboration. Perhaps if Buddy doubled the length and developed the plot more dramatically, it could turn from a four-star into a five-star story. On the other hand, his approach is understandable; neither the rapture nor the tribulation is the focus of Buddy’s message. The chronology is. Buddy worries about the faith of complacent pre-trib believers who may someday find themselves experiencing opposition they never imagined.

I’ve wasted most of my space talking about the author (whom I find genuine and likeable), his motivation and theology. Sorry about that. I really did enjoy reading the fiction and could relate to the characters. The dialogue became a bit forced in places, but not overly so, and it didn’t really matter; I was easily swallowed up into the storyline. I think Pastor Helms has found an excellent way of communicating the Bible’s post-trib passages.

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