In a Facebook forum recently there was a debate between a couple of ‘Bible
students’. One, let’s call him ‘Ed’, argued that just using the Bible and some
Lexicons and Bible Dictionaries was the best approach and practice for serious
Bible study.
In fact,
along with arguing that this approach of just using the Bible and Lexicons,
etc., was more than satisfactory, ‘Ed’ also belittled, and was dismissive, of
other Bible students/scholars, who refer to the work of a number of leading
scholars and try not to dream up doctrines in a vacuum.
On the other
side of the fence, a Bible student (let’s call him ‘Jeff’), argued most
coherently and powerfully that this ‘Bible only’ approach was a very poor one. ‘Jeff’
also made some valid points about the out-dated nature of some of the lexicons and
dictionaries that ‘Ed’ was quoting from as he tried to defend his beliefs and favourite Hellenistic doctrines.
While I love
my Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew/English Lexicon, I would certainly concede that ‘Jeff’
has a very good point.
In
reflecting on Ed’s very narrow approach, especially when he is approaching the
Bible with pre-conceived Hellenistic notions, I thought of a couple of
situations which might clearly demonstrate the error and danger in this
approach.
Let’s try to
approach the NT without a Hebraic mindset, and consider some conflicting
verses:
In Matthew
we read of the conversation between a centurion and Yeshua:
“5 When he
entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,
6 Lord, my
servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.
7 And he
said to him, I will come and heal him.
8 But the
centurion replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but
only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I
too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go, and
he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my servant, Do this, and he
does it.
10 When
Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, Truly, I tell
you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
11 I tell
you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
12 while
the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And to
the centurion Jesus said, Go; let it be done for you as you have believed. And
the servant was healed at that very moment.” - Matt 8:5-13
Now though
let us turn to Luke and read of the same event:
“1 After
he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered
Capernaum.
2 Now a
centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly
valued by him.
3 When the
centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to
come and heal his servant.
4 And when
they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, He is worthy to
have you do this for him,
5 for he
loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.
6 And
Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent
friends, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to
have you come under my roof.
7
Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my
servant be healed.
8 For I
too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, Go,
and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this,
and he does it.
9 When
Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that
followed him, said, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.
10 And
when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant
well.” – Luke 7:1-10 – both ESV
What gives!
In Matthew the centurion visits Yeshua and in Luke, Yeshua never meets the
centurion, rather he speaks with some Jewish elders and then some other
friends!
I am yet to
meet anyone raised within the mainstream Christian community who can even
postulate a possible resolution of this apparent contradiction.
Without an
Hebraic understanding here, we would have to conclude that either; one of
these, if not both accounts, are in error, or some serious and strange
redactions have occurred.
Ed, our ‘Bible
only’ (and probably KJV) ‘student’ has a problem – no lexicon or dictionary is
of any help here.
The answer
to this apparent contradiction (and they are plenty like this – for example,
compare Mark 10:35-40 with Matt 20:20-23 or
Acts 12:7 with Acts 12:17), cannot be found without a least a little
dose of contextual and ethnic (read Hebraic or Eastern) understanding.
The ‘Bible
only’ approach is fraught with a great many similar problems. The Hellenistic
pre-suppositions that most mainstream Christians approach the Bible with often
lead to similar problems and to a great many damaging conclusions.
Only when
Bible students are open to recognizing that both the Tanakh and the New Testatment are
Hebrew documents, written by, and mostly to, Hebrews will they start to truly
make progress towards the real story.
Add to this
the need to be open to the value of scholarship in languages, especially
Hebrew, in Second Temple Period history, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in the
geography of the Land of Israel, and so on.
To undertake
the serious study needed to over-turn almost 2000 years of deliberate Gentile
redaction, interpolation and mis-interpretation of the Bible, we need to accept
that no man or woman can do this alone. We need a community of scholars, and
most especially Jewish scholars, because they are the ones who generally have
the Hebraic upbringing and perspective that is needed to properly read and
interpret the great treasures of the texts of the Bible.
I believe
though that the central truths are still available to all, even Hellenistic
Christians – see http://luke443.blogspot.com/2013/05/our-ultimate-fate.html
For a basic
primer on how to understand the Bible see - http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/Understanding%20the%20Bible%20101.pdf
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