Torah Living 50–Understanding the Bible (Is the Church Suffering from Biblical Illiteracy?)

by Rod Thomas | Apr 19, 2015 | Blog

Introduction

What is the bible? Some would contend the bible to be the “unadulterated Word of God.” Others would similarly contend that the bible is NOT the word of God per se, but rather it contains the Word of God. Others would say that it is an instruction manual for mankind, containing instructions on how mankind is suppose to live in the sight of both God and one’s neighbor. Or how about this: the bible is a “love letter” from God to man that reveals God’s love for mankind through the work of Jesus Christ. Some would conservatively say that the bible is a compilation of thoughts, some good and some bad, and that it is a piece of work that is useful in dealing with the various and many issues facing mankind throughout the ages. Still others will contend that the bible is a book of fables and wise sayings geared to appeal to the vanities and insecurities of the human race.

Regardless how one sees the bible, the Bible holds a prominent place in the lives of millions of people in the world. Of those millions, countless hundreds of thousands revere the bible as more than just a book of wise sayings with questionable historical documentation. These individuals see the bible as some form of medium that connects them to the Creator.

In this episode of a multi-episode series on Understanding the Bible, I explore the problems that are inherent to reading, studying and understanding the bible. Furthermore, I explore the remedies associated with these inherent problems. This is not for the spiritually faint of hearts deary—for I am going to challenge the status quo that is traditional and fundamental Christianity and even the Hebraic and Messianic communities as it relates to the viability of the Bible in the 21st century as well as how we view and approach the reading and study of the bible as so-called believers in Yeshua Messiah.

Part 1: Do I Really Need to Read the Bible? It’s so hard to Understand

Churchianity has taught us, the laymen, the masses, the followers, to be lazy and wholly dependent upon the clergy to understand the things contained in our Bibles. Believers are rarely ever encouraged to embark upon a regimen of serious Bible “study”, with the exception of the Christian publishing companies who are constantly generating new and in some cases, innovative ways to consume the Bible. Each new way is designed to take the “drudgery” out of “study,” which most of us (if we are truly honest with ourselves) despise. We as a people hate to “study” anything, much less the Bible. We much prefer to simply have someone tell us what to believe or what the deal is with God. Most of our Bibles sit and collect dust. They show very little signs of use. Instead, many of us stack up our questions each week and when we head on out to the church, at the end of the service we target and hit up the pastor or a minister with the questions we’ve stored up for the week. Not wanting to be viewed as a jerk, and wanting to appear helpful to the parishioners, these “labeled” men and women of God answer our questions to the best of their denominationally trained abilities. We then walk away from the conversation, dumb, fat and happy and most of us will never take the next step, which is to verify for ourselves that what the pastor or minister has told us in response to our question is actually true. Cognitively we rationalize that he or she has been formerly placed over the congregation by the powers to be (and maybe we even believe that he or she has been placed over us by Yehovah Himself). They have been trained in theology. They have a genuine concern for our physical and spiritual wellbeing to boot. Thus, we feel pretty confident that whatever he or she tells in answer to our questions and concerns is valid and true. Little do we suspect that just maybe our pastors and ministers are just as ignorant as we are and the answers provided to our questions are based upon that which our denomination has provided them. They were told by some teacher and they in turn tell us. It would be nice to know, however, that our pastor or minister who is responding to our questions has actually delved into the Scripture to fish out the answer to the question and that they provide you and I the wherewithal to confirm the answers they are giving us (i.e., chapter and verse and whatever resource they used). But then, that not likely is it? Because if you have knowledge of the resources the pastor or minister is using, then you really won’t need them in the future to answer those deep penetrating questions that keep you awake at night. You can sort it out yourself.

How many of us have read a portion of Scripture or the New Testament (aka Brit HaDesha) and completely missed key learning and instruction because our denomination has taught us to interpret the Bible a certain way or because we have set in our minds to read the Bible for purposes of simply completing the act of reading the Bible? Not for learning sake but for purposes of get the reading over with? I’ve done this over and over throughout my traditional and Hebraic Roots life. It is just within the last 3 or so years that I’ve come to understand the importance of reading the Bible for understanding. The primary elements of effective reading of the Bible is context, revelation, available resources and untainted desire to understand. I say available resources because there are so many Biblical resources on the market to aid us in our understanding of the Bible. There is little excuse for not understanding the vast majority of the Bible today. Bear in mind, I’m not talking about denominational resources as these are written solely through a denominational filter and can not, for the most part, provide a true explanation of most of the passages contained in our Bibles. I said untainted desire to understand because without a desire to understand what is contained in our Bibles without denominational influence, our understanding will be heavily influenced by the denominational leanings of the author.

Now, please understanding me: I’m not so naïve to think that one can never gain renewed Biblical insight through the referencing of denominationally based bible reference books and resources. Certainly, the Father in His infinite wisdom has spread His truth amongst many Christian communities. We must not be under any delusion that we in the Hebraic Roots/Messianic communities hold the monopoly on truth. Holding such thinking is a lie from the pit of hell. Indeed, truth has found a home in many places in the Christian and Jewish/Hebrew world. The challenge, of course, is finding the truth. We know that finding the truth comes primarily through the auspices and leading of the Ruach Kodesh (aka the Holy Kodesh) and a tenacious pursuit of the truth wherever it may rear it’s golden head!

Part 2: Practical Examples of Biblical Illiteracy

Mat 28–records the Great Commission as spoken to the Talmidim (aka disciples) by Yeshua HaMaschiyach. This most famous of passages reads as follows in the King James Version: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mat. 28:19, 20). How many times have we read this passage and never captured the nuances of what the Master was passing on to His disciples? Part of the reason could be the translation or translations we are using at the time. Based upon the level of literacy one has related to reading a particular translation, especially when we’re talking about the King James Version, will determine how well one will understand the passage in question. Clearly, the bible was not written in Elizabethan English; yet I’d bet you dollars to a donut that countless thousands if not even millions have never given that central piece of information any thought. I wouldn’t even put it pass some to conclude that the Master actually delivered this directive to His disciples as written. Come on: you remember the bibles of old that had the supposed words of Jesus in red? I vividly remember growing up in the Baptist Church of my youth, believing like so many other members of the church, that those red-lettered words were the actual quotes of the Savior. It wasn’t until much later in my Christian walk that I learned bible development history and understood that the bible we have on the shelves of our homes have undergone quite a metamorphosis over the centuries. In fact, it was even more powerful to come to an understanding that our bibles were not delivered to us in the form of books, but were originally separate pieces of writing projects–we call them books, written on papyrus or leather other living material–written by 36 or more authors, spread out over more than 1600-years, in the Middle East and in other parts of the Mediterranean. There were dozens of other writings out there that never made it into our current canon of Scripture, but that doesn’t mean that those extra-biblical works are not of value to the truth seeking believer in Yeshua Messiah. I won’t get into that in this post, but we should be cognizant of the existence of these writings.

So we have in front of us an interesting conundrum: we have a compilation of writings that are in some cases upwards of 3600-years old. So we have an issue of antiquity to deal with. In other words, we don’t have those folks available to us to gain an understanding of what life was like in their time here on earth and in their area of the globe. Thus we know very little about the nuances of the authors’ respective cultures and lifestyles apart from what is contained in their writings and what archaeologists have uncovered in their excavations. Additionally we have the complication of language, the writings having their origins in several languages that include Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and no doubt other related dialects. Without the reader having an understanding of the language the manuscript was  original  written in, requires the work be translated into the reader’s language. Many words or turns of phrases often do not have an equal in the reader’s language. Thus the translator is forced to extrapolate and find the closest word, term or turn of phrase common to the reader’s language in order to complete the translation. The chances for a mistranslation or misinterpretation by either the translator or the reader is then heightened. 2 Timothy 2:15 is a classic example of this. The passage reads: 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Ti 2:15 KJV)  The term in question here is “study.” In the west,the term study applies to the application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge as by reading, investigation or reflection (Dictionary.com). We all know, for instance, that when one enters into college or some institution of learning, that they have embarked upon a study of whatever subject matter their major requires, with the ultimate goal of being awarded a certification, diploma or degree for their chosen field of study: be it language, mathematics or the sciences. Thus the use of the term study in this verse of 2nd Timothy would lead us here in the west to assume that Shaul (aka Paul) is encouraging his young apprentice to embark upon a regimen of applying his mind to the acquisition of knowledge of scripture, the purpose being for Timothy to be approved unto God and a workman who does not need to be ashamed of his vocation. Since this passage is found in the Bible, Christians automatically assume that (1) Shaul is speaking not only to Timothy but to us, even today; and (2) that we are compelled as Christians to study the bible so that we can be worthy of God’s approval. (Wait a minute, I thought the doctrine of grace said that we don’t have to do anything as it relates to our salvation or anything related to our walk with Christ. That being the case, why are we even bothering to “study” the bible? Curiouser and curiouser.) But when the astute, well grounded disciple of Yeshua takes the time to break down this verse of Timothy, a shocking reality will occur to him or her: the term “study” as written in this verse is translated from the Greek as “spoudazo.” Spoudazo in the Greek means: “to hasten; to exert one’s self; to endeavor or give diligence.” Hmm. The term spoudazo doesn’t seem to refer to anything having to do with the cognitive process of acquiring knowledge from the Scriptures does it? This being the case then, the whole concept of Christians believing that Shaul was instructing Timothy to study the Scriptures so that he would be approved of God and worthy of his chosen vocation is a mistranslation of “apocalyptic” proportions. So then, what is Shaul saying to Timothy here? Well, quite simply, Shaul is saying to Timothy that he should strive to do his best in the vocation that he has chosen to be his own. The New American Standard Bible translates this passage as follows: NAS 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to apresent yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately bthe word of truth. (2Ti 2:15 NAS). Then we have the Complete Jewish Bible Translation which reads: CJB 2 Timothy 2:15 Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. (2Ti 2:15 CJB). So do you see how a simple misapplicaton of a term or phrase by the translators of the bible can have tremendous ramifications for the Faith? Doctrines, beliefs and traditions could easily be constructed upon such mistranslations or misinterpretations. It’s not to say, by any stretch of the imagination however, that we should not “study” the bible in the classic English sense of the term “study.” On the contrary. What we are saying here folks is that the bible is a tool that must be understood first and that every believer in Yeshua Messiah must be cognizant of the complexities associated with the reading of the bible. It is not for kids—I mean kids in an allegorical sense.

Furthermore, the original manuscripts have been lost, due to the ravages of time and environment. There are thousands of early manuscripts to be found throughout the world today; in major universities, museums and even private collections. These manuscripts were not the original works of the writers of the various books of the bible. The works of the bible were originally written by each book’s presumed author or that author’s chosen scribe onto papyrus or leather or whatever material the author had available to him at the time. That work was later copied and re-copied by hand by other scribes and interested individuals for purposes of making it available to others who would not have access to the original manuscript. As humans, we are prone to make mistakes. So we must always maintain a cognitive allowances for errors in the transference of the original content that is contained in the Holy Writ. Now many Christian sects will strongly oppose any insinuation that there could be any physical errors in the transference of data over the centuries–be they mistakes or intentional errors. But we know that errors do exist in the bible. I’m not going into examining or exposing those errors in this post as it is not the focus of this content. My goal here is to simply point out the potential for errors in the texts contained in our bibles of today, beginning with copying of the texts from the original manuscripts, all the way up to the translations that are available to readers today throughout the world of the 21st century. Various sects of Christianity have strongly stood by the contention that there are no errors contained in our bibles. These sects believe that God the Father would never allow such a thing to happen. I attended a home bible study once where the leader of our group asserted that there are no errors in our bibles because our God is bigger than that. On the surface his statement seemed to be sound, for indeed our God is more than capable of preventing such problems associated with the bible. But then, by saying that our God is bigger than allowing errors in the bible to occur, we are actually saying that God was directly guiding the writers’ hands and writing utensils at the moment each author or scribe sat down to write. The whole concept of “inspiration” then—gleaned from 2 Timothy 3: 16 which reads: KJV 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2Ti 3:16 KJV)—as understood by many Christians throughout the world, is that God turned the authors of the various books of the bible into automatons (for lack of a better descriptor). These Chiristians believe that the inspiration that Shaul was addressing in this passage of 2nd Timothy could be better translated as “control;” that God caused the authors to go into some trance and then the Spirit of God made these authors write the content of their books without any human input or effort. This event was then duplicated time and time again as the texts were copied and re-copied for distribution, thus resulting in the error-free Word of God that we call the Bible today. So thousands, if not millions, hold to a false illusion that the bibles that are collecting dust on their household bookshelves are pristine and flawless as it relates to accuracy of translation. This mindset too lends itself heavily to the problem of biblical illiteracy that is so prevalent in the Christian Faith today. Errors do exist in our bibles. The question that must be asked instead of whether or not errors exists is, whether or not the issues, the subject matter or events that each author is addressing in their writings are accurate. When posed this way, we can say with extreme certainty that there is no error. The Ruach (aka the Spirit of the Almighty) of the Creator moved the authors to write whatever it was that they witnessed, felt or envisioned. In this sense, God is indeed bigger. For one to be inspired to write down the things of Yehovah is a big deal and the focus should always be on the intentions or purposes of the author and his text. We must be acutely aware of the social, chronological, historical and revelatory aspects associated with each text. With all that I’ve just pointed out regarding the composition and history and application of the bible, it is a precarious act to think that one can pick up their bible and gain complete understanding of what the Father is trying to relay to us as if we are reading an instruction manual for a new product we’ve just purchased or as if we are reading a newspaper. Sadly, this is the common thinking and practice of many of us today. We treat the bible like we treat any book that we purchase from Amazon or the library—we simply open it and read it and expect to gain a full understanding of what it is that God is trying to get across to us through His word. I’m certain it’s possible to gain a great deal of understanding of the ways of the Creator by reading the bible in this stated way—that is by conducting a simple read of the texts. But the deep things of Yehovah come only by applying proper exegetical techniques and through the revelation of the Ruach Kodesh (reference: NAS 1 Corinthians 2:10 1aFor to us God revealed them bthrough the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the cdepths of God. (1Co 2:10 NAS))

Part 3: The Bible and the Question of Grace

Our western mindset over the centuries has for some reason led us to assume that the bible is a simple book of instruction that every believer is required to read from time-to-time for purposes that aren’t always clear—especially given that most Christians are under the delusion that grace requires them to do nothing in this life. In fact doing something in this life is deemed “works” by this crowd and God forbid, if you so much as insinuate that we must keep the Sabbath and the Feasts and the dietary laws and imitate Christ in all our ways, you are effectively described as having fallen from grace. So with this same line of reasoning, why even read the bible? If all that was necessary for one’s salvation, or for that matter, one’s walk with Jesus Christ is grace, then there is no reason to read the bible. If we are fixed in our hearts and minds to NOT do what is commanded of us to do by the Father through the inspired writings of the various writers of the bible, why read or study the bible? It’s interesting when you think about it. The overwhelming belief in Christianity is that we must do nothing in this life related or in connection to our election and salvation, yet the bible has retained its place as the best selling book of all time. More and more bibles are being churned out by Christian book publishers each year, offering its customers various bible reading experiences that are designed for what purpose? What is the purpose–will someone please tell me? Certainly very few of us take the time to truly read for understanding, this book. Oh we’ll give her an obligatory glossing over and maybe even memorize a verse or two, but in general we don’t read the bible to gain a true understanding of its content. Indeed the words of the prophet ring ever so loudly through the din of this insane world throughout the centuries: the ears of the people have grown dull of hearing and their eyes have become closed to the things of Yehovah (Isa 6:10). The Christian Faith has fallen asleep and is completely unaware of what is going on around them. We have no idea as to what is taking place behind the scenes nor where we’re heading in our lives. We read our bibles expecting to come across nuggets that will inspire us and make us feel good. On rare occasions, when things aren’t going quite so well for us, we might search the pages of our bibles for some direction or advice for handling our problems; typically out of desperation. But generally, our reading of the bible for purposes of actually hearing the Word of the Most High—of learning what it is the Creator of the Universe requires of us–is a messy effort in futility. Why? Because we have married ourselves to our respective denominations. No matter how crystal clear a passage might otherwise be on some crucial issue–logically, spiritually, historically clear–we will always tend to defer to the instructions and teachings of our denominations over what is clearly written and expressed by Yehovah in the pages of our bibles. Interpretation of the content of the bible in most cases comes only via the filter that is our denominations.

A key example of this is the hijacked doctrine of “grace,” the primary focus of the traditionalists. The traditionalist has been taught to hone in on the free-gift which is salvation as a result of grace and that no matter how hard one works towards trying to please the Father, salvation can not be purchased. Indeed, the bible is very clear about salvation being something that can never be purchased or achieved through one’s physical efforts. Shaul writes to the Ephesian ekklesia (aka assembly): “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). The traditionalist will focus only on the “for by grace are ye saved…that it is a gift of God.” He or she will ignore the part about “through faith.” So then the traditionalists’ reasoning—on a logical basis–contends that salvation is something that every person on the planet will have, because a casual—soundbite, selective read of this passage, clearly suggests this, right? But does that even make sense? Is every person on the planet, regardless where they are in terms of their relationship with the Creator, going to receive salvation? We know that the traditionalists will never accept that understanding of salvation. Despite the traditionlists’ speaking with a fork-tongue, so to speak; even they must contend that there is something that must be done to qualify for this free gift of salvation and that is faith–faith in Yeshua HaMaschiyach. Faith? Faith in what is another post entirely. Nevertheless, faith is a “qualification” for salvation and to have a true relationship with Yehovah. Salvation is free to every one as stated by Shaul in this passage, but to receive this free gift, there must be faith. So then we must get into what exactly faith in Yeshua Messiah actually means. And if we force people to look at that, they will probably shut down and refer us to their pastors and ministers for what exactly the phrase “through faith” actually means. In that case, the bible is of no use them. It’s effectively a brick.

But do you see how biblical illiteracy is manifested in this very clearest of verses? Shaul contends that salvation is a free gift from the Father. But then Shaul clarifies that faith is a qualifier. Few traditionalists see the clarity here because the story regarding salvation coming to us as a result of the Creator’s grace extended to us does not end there. The caveat is that salvation is achieved through faith. The traditionalists might understand that faith is a qualifying element for receiving the free gift of salvation, but he or she will not go further to examine what the writer Shaul means by “through faith.” Western understanding of the term “faith” means to have confidence or trust in what? Most likely (in this instance) confidence and trust in Jesus Christ, right? So then, faith becomes simply a cognitive exercise. I have faith (or trust or confidence) that my spouse will not cheat on me. Faith from a western perspective is simply believing that something exists or will (or will not) happen. But if we gain effective biblical “literacy” and practice due diligence in our search of the bible, we will find that there is more to simply having a cognitive understanding that Jesus is our Savior. When we get up off our lazy spiritual behinds and search the Holy Writ, we find that virtually every incidence of faith was proceeded by an act or by actions. So then faith in the biblical sense is manifested in an action of some type. Going deeper, we will find that many, if not most, manifestations of an individual’s faith was manifested in an act of “obedience.” That obedience was generally in response to directives given by the Master or His appointed Apostles or overseers. Those directives were typically commands or commandments. So now we are coming into the realm of obedience to a command or commandments of Yeshua. Thus, being the biblically literate believers that we claim to be, we then connect the dots that in order to belong to the Father through Yeshua HaMaschiyach, we must have faith in Yeshua and having faith in Yeshua is manifested in one’s obedience to the commands and commandments of Yeshua. The Master instructed His disciples to: 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:1 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Mat 28:19, 20 KJV) Biblical literacy is more than simply reading passages of the bible because it’s expected of us as Christians. It’s more than going through the motions to get it over with. I say get it over with because most westerners hate reading or studying the bible. Reading the bible for most is like going to the dentist for millions—it’s not a comfortable thing to do. It’s tedious and painful. Why? For many, the bible is very hard to read and understand. Unfortunately, most of us are not interested in investing the time and resources to make reading and understanding the bible a viable spiritual endeavor. So I contend that the bible is not for everyone. Unless we’re willing to hunker down and do the work that is involved in truly gaining an understanding of Yehovah’s word, the bible is as I said, nothing more than a brick—a brick that can be problematic if not properly used.

Friends, I would go even so far as to suggest that placing a bible in the hands of most Christians today is like putting a child behind the wheel of an operating car. A child is ill-prepared to handle a car (in most cases) because they’ve not received the appropriate training or possess the experience to safely and effectively operate that car. The same holds true with many Christians and their bibles: they tend to not have the proper training nor do they possess the experience to properly use this most powerful tool and resource. Like a car being operated by the uninitiated child, operating that vehicle poses tremendous potential for bystanders as well as the child driving the car being harmed or even killed, bibles in the hands of many Christians pose the potential of leading others as well as the reader his/herself down a wide-road of destruction. Again, it all comes back to the problem of biblical illiteracy that is so rampant in the Christian Faith today. This is why discipleship is so critical to the believer in Yeshua Messiah–especially new believers. I’m going to say something that I may get some rolled eyes over or some gasps from some of you out there, but I’m going to say it anyway. I believe that bibles should be kept out of the hands of any new believers until such a time as they have been properly discipled into the Faith–until such a time as it has been explained to them what Yehovah expects of them–until such a time as he or she has been shown how to properly divide the Word of Yehovah through proper biblical exegesis and utilizing proper methods of interpretation.

With that, we will pick this up in our next post, part 2 of Understanding the Word of God, where we will discuss how widespread biblical illiteracy is today and explore ways to combat this problem.