Not one Iota

Often, I hear people give reasons why we should consider the Old Testament just as valid as the New Testament, but one seems to come up more often than others.

 In Chapters 5-7, Matthew gives the account of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, which reads like the greatest Sermon ever given. In it, Jesus admonishes us, corrects us, and gives us hope while telling us not only how to act, but how to think and pray. Jesus, in this sermon, is giving us an entirely new attitude towards life. Getting back to the original point of this post though, one verse seems to be quoted particularly in respect to the debate over whether or not to accept blindly the Old Testament.

In 5:17-18, Jesus says "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

To me, it is a shame to take any verse out of the context of this sermon, even if these verses seem pretty clear. Indeed, even if we read a little further down, we see that Jesus says that anyone who breaks the least of the commandments will be called least in the Kingdom of God. This is serious stuff. We cannot simply overlook something like this.

OK, but lets put this section in the proper context now. In the previous section, Jesus tells us to be the salt and the light of the world. He tells us both not to lose our saltiness, but neither should we stay hidden. We should be both influentially different from the world, yet still a part of it.

At this point, if I was in Jesus' original audience, I am sure I'd be confused. I'm told to be different from the world, but I'm not supposed to be seperate from the world. How am I supposed to do that? How can I accomplish two things that seem so contradictory?

Jesus follows this up with the section already described. He says the Law will not disappear. He has come to fulfill what the Law and the Prophets have said. He also says this: "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

So now we see how to be the salt that does not lose our saltiness. Jesus says that we should follow the morality laid out for us by God. Yet, Jesus goes beyond this. He follows this section with section after section after section ripping apart the traditions and misinterpretations of the Law. Instead of simply not murdering, he says we should not even insult each other in anger. Instead of simply not commiting adultery, we are to keep our minds entirely clean. Instead of simply following the rules of divorce, we are to deem marriage as holy and sacred. Instead of merely keeping our word under oath, we should keep our word all the time. Instead of "and eye for an eye", we should "give to the one that asks you". Instead of simply loving our neighbors, we should love our enemies too. Jesus over and over emphasizes this attitude toward morality, and in doing so gives us an incredibly thorough view of how to live our lives. In effect, he is showing us how to be the light that is not hidden.

So the point of Jesus saying that the Law was to stay intact was not to say that everything in the Old Testament was perfect and hunky-dory. What he was saying was that the morality that people had come to know at that time would not be loosened by Jesus' coming. It would not get one iota easier. In fact, Jesus goes on to say that the Law is not the deciding factor. What is moral is the deciding factor. This implies some sort of Moral Law above the Old Testament.

So where does that leave us in regards to the Old Testament. Well, in effect, we should realize that the Old Testament was an inperfect approximation of the Moral Law. Isn't that the obvious interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus says the Ancient Hebrews didn't get it all right, or even very close by the sounds of it. So instead of following the morality of the Old Testament, shouldn't we be attempting instead to follow the real Moral Law, God's will?

This is not a plug for moral relativism. If Jesus, and His Sermon on the Mount, tells us anything, is that there is in fact Truth and a Right and Wrong way to live. More than anything, he not only tells us there is a Right way, but we're doing it the Wrong way. Morality isn't merely about actions, because good works for the wrong reason is merely prideful and self righteous. Morality is about the attitudes and desires of the heart, and when those are aligned with God's, the actions will follow.

If we are to believe in an absolute, unchanging Morality, though, which we do if we believe in an absolute God with an unchangingly good character and believe that morality comes down directly from that character, then we have to realize that much of the Old Testament is in direct conflict with morality, whether it's always been like that or years of oral tradition, written mistakes, and mistranslation are the cause. Maybe the Bible was perfect once, but with our modern understanding of it, translation of it, and study of it, we as Christians cannot condone the Old Testament acts of murder and genocide. We cannot believe that a god that sends evil spirits among men is a just or good god, and I do not capitalize this because I do not believe God could be this god. Furthermore, can we believe God would tell us He is the bringer of good and evil alike (Isaiah 45:7)? Is God really suprised by mankind's transgressions in the story of Noah or is He really threatened by the feeble attempts of man in the story of Babel? Is the god who condones the murder of the Cananites the same as the Jesus who says to love your enemies? Is the god who hardens hearts the same as the God who is just and merciful? I will not be ashamed to give a resounding No to these questions. I know the God I trust, and He is Loving, Merciful, Just, Holy, Totally Blameless, Omnipotent, Self-sacrificial, and Good! The god of the Old Testament is few of these traits at one time.

It is important that we make a decision on this important topic. Not because of the possibility for relativism, but because it totally alters which God we worship. I choose the Triune God that Jesus Christ describes and is.

The Bible Idol

I think when I talk about the Bible, people often get the vibe that I do not respect the Bible. I know I sometimes say things like, “the Bible is not the final authority” and “the Bible is not always 100% literally true” or “there are parts of the Bible that are downright contradictory to what Jesus said”. When people hear me say these things, I get the impression that they view me as a heretic, or even blasphemous. At the very least, they think I am seriously confused.

I understand the appeal of viewing the Bible as absolutely correct and the only sure way to know truth. It means we know exactly what happened, what we should do, and what is expected from us. The Bible gives us a sure footing for faith, if only because it is something we can turn to as explanation for anything we do:

                “Why shouldn’t we steal?” Because the Bible says so.

                “How do I know Jesus loves me?” Because the Bible says so.

                “Why is homosexuality wrong?” Because the Bible says so.

                “Why should we believe the Earth was created in 6 days?” Because the Bible says so.

                “How do we know Jesus really said the things He did?” Because the Bible says so.

                “How do I know I’m going to heaven?” Because the Bible says so.

I can see how having this fail proof way of interpreting the world is alluring and even convenient.  

Now, here is where many Christians will stop me. “I don’t act like that,” they’ll say. “I have reasons for why I believe the way I do.” Do you really? If you pretended you never read the Bible and then looked at the evidence with an open mind, would you still come to the conclusion that the Earth is only a few thousand years old?

More importantly is the answer to other questions.  “How do I know Jesus loves me?” Well, if the Bible is the only thing that tells you this, I can understand why you’d feel under attack when the Bible is under attack. When the Bible is the foundation of your faith, I can understand why you guard the Bible so carefully. I'm not saying faith is bad. Faith is good! Reason does not supplant faith in importance. Reason should support Faith. Faith is not always blind. Faith can be earned.

Yet, I propose that Faith not only can be earned, but should be earned.

There are several reasons why the Bible can be considered by anyone who claims to have an open mind on the subject to be wrong in several key areas. I think the Genesis 1 story fairly obviously contradicts the science we have found. The chilling accounts of infanticide and genocide in the Old Testament should be more troubling. The changing moods of the Old Testament God, the evil spirits He sends to torment men and cause them to sin, the games He plays with Job are all concepts that cannot be explained away, although it is often tried. When a respected pastor of a congregation believes that if any Amelekites were alive today it would be his duty to destroy them, we know there is a moral problem. At that point, it is difficult to split differences between Christian fundamentalism and Islamic jihad. The merciless injustice of the Old Testament is in direct conflict with the humble love shown by Jesus. To portray God in this horrific light is perhaps the greatest blasphemy of all.

Regardless of whether you agree with any of the last paragraph, there will come a time when you will hit a troubled spot in the Bible where you cannot quite understand a passage, or seem to feel the Bible is being self contradictory (maybe it is…). Whatever it is, not only will your faith in the Bible be tested, but the entire weight of your faith will be tested along with it. Because, remember, the Bible is what justifies your faith. This is perilous. It almost killed my faith. Because, even though the Bible is a great great book, the most inspired book ever written, to build your faith on anything other than God is to build your house on the sand.

This is a big problem I see in Christians’ faiths today. They view the triune God as the Father, Son, and Holy Bible. We place what the Bible says above what Jesus and, more often, what the Holy Spirit says. I understand that it is hard to listen to the Holy Spirit sometimes. It is difficult to pick out what it says amongst the mumbo jumbo of our own lives and our own inner thoughts. That is one of the reasons it is important to pray together and to have a sense of community: so none of us develops the God complex. When we start viewing our own thoughts as God’s, we are in dangerous waters. However, at the same time, when we start viewing Paul or Peter or Isaiah or Jeremiah or Moses’ words as God's, we are in almost as dangerous waters. Maybe more, because in some cases these words were handed down for generations orally before they were ever written down.

What does Jesus have to say about this? As stated elsewhere, Jesus had the biggest problem with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the keepers of the Law. The Pharisees knew the Bible inside and out, memorized it backwards and forwards (literally), and studied it for hours every day. The Pharisees knew their stuff. Not only did the Pharisees know the Bible, but they meticulously carried out every law they could find and even some that were a stretch (sound familiar?) The Pharisees condemned anyone who did not or could not follow this rigid set of codes. However, one very important law the Pharisees did not keep: “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me”.  In God’s place, the Pharisees honored the idol of the Bible.

Jesus came to abolish this. John says Jesus is the Word. Not the Law. Not the Bible. Jesus says “I AM the Way.” Not the Law. Not the Bible. Jesus says “I AM the Truth.” Not the Law, and not the Bible. David sings out in Psalms, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Jesus gives the controversial response, “I AM the light.” Not the Law, and not the Bible.

Does Jesus say He’s here to abolish the Law? No and yes. He does not give us free reign to run rampant through the street. He did come to put things in their proper perspective with the proper prioritization. God is first. Nothing comes before the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Not even something as gifted as the Bible.

This is why I do not have a problem saying the Bible has a couple spots where things aren’t completely accurate. I don’t have a problem saying that the Bible is imperfect, or that the Old Testament writers seriously misrepresent God at times. Our savior is Jesus. We can believe in a just, holy, perfect God who detests sin without condoning the merciless, unjust, imperfect actions of so many Old Testament characters. In this fallen world, only God is perfect. Not even the Bible can claim that title as well. Only God is worth the dedication and commitment I see people give this book.