Let [the student of Scripture] approach the New Testament, not with an unholy curiosity, but with reverence; bearing in mind that his first and only aim and object should be that he may catch and be changed into the spirit of what he there learns. It is the food of the soul; and to be of use, must not rest only in the memory or sink into the stomach, but must pierce through the very depths of the heart and mind... Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) via cqod.com.

In my last post I thought over some reading I was doing in N.T. Wright’s book on scripture. In closing that post I asked a question like this: What does it mean to respect the authority of scripture as followers of Christ?

Wright is careful in his examination of this question. For him respecting the authority of scripture is not about saying “Well, we just believe the bible and so we must of course be respecting it’s authority.” A statement like this is too easy because a person might possibly believe the bible in any number of ways, many of which might actually fail to respect it’s structure (which is key for him) or do injustice to its core message, let alone honor what the phrase “the authority of scripture” is really shorthand for.

What does that phrase make you think of? What does it mean to you when you think about honoring the authority of scripture? As you think about your response, consider what I read when I first began studying this subject on my own as a new Christian, 25 years ago. The bottom line of that research endeavor can be summed up in this equation:

No errors (scientific + theological + historical) + trustworthy manuscripts = authoritative scripture

In other words, I learned that one could trust the bible – that the bible was authoritative in the Christian’s life – because the copies we had accurately represented the original documents and because the original documents were without error of any kind.

That worked for me for a few years but eventually came crumbling down. For starters, our copies aren’t perfect.  Just go to your bible and read the last chapter of Mark and you’ll see that there is a debate as to which copies to use for the end of his gospel. Beyond this, pick up a Greek New Testament like the NA27, look at the associated apparatus, and you’ll see that there are (mostly) minor manuscript alternatives (i.e. textual variants) on every page. Upon discovering such things I no longer had confidence that our copies were perfect. As a result, there began an erosion of the authority of the bible in my mind about 20 years ago. In retrospect, this wasn’t because something authoritative was altogether absent, rather, it was that I was looking for authority in the wrong place.

There was, of course, a way forward for me or I wouldn’t be a pastor now. The solution came to me slowly, over the course of a few years, and once it did I would never think of scripture in the same way, let alone ever be the same person.

What happened? To summarize a long story, I transitioned from faith in the bible (e.g., “I can trust the bible because some equation holds”) to faith in God. To put it more precisely, I came to believe that the Lord was able to speak to his people through his scripture even if the bible we had in hand wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t the bible that spoke, it was Him, through the bible!

As I would read in Wright’s book 20+ years later,

…the phrase ‘the authority of scripture’ can make Christian sense only if it is shorthand for ‘the authority of the triune God, exercised somehow through scripture… All authority is from God… scripture itself points away from itself and to the fact that final and true authority belongs to God. (p. 21)

What this means to Wright, and how it worked out in actuality in my life, is that we must see

the role of scripture not simply as being to provide true information about, or even an accurate running commentary upon, the work of God in salvation and new creation, but as taking part within that ongoing purpose… Scripture is a means of God’s action in and through us – which will include, but go far beyond, the mere conveying of information… God is continually revealing himself… (p. 27)

Here’s the point of all this: God speaks! Notice the tense there. He speaks today. It strikes me that the equation on which I relied two decades ago was an attempt to prove that God once spoke (notice the tense!) and that we had a reliable record of that. I have no such need to prove that God spoke yesterday (though I do, without question, believe that he did) because God speaks to me through his word today! As he speaks to me through scripture, he nurtures my growth, challenges my bent heart and mind, convicts me of my need for Christ, and comforts me with his undeniable love.

I’ve got some more thoughts on this topic, but that will suffice for now. In my next post I’ll be highlighting Wright’s thoughts on how to read this bible through which God speaks to us today.

Traveling with you, Reed

Hebrews 1:1-2 in Greek with English interlinear from NA26

I'm starting a new section on my blog that will give you a peek into what is bouncing around in my head and heart. This could be something I'm thinking about or struggling with or overjoyed by. I do this with the hope that my ramblings might encourage you in some way and might help me connect with the people of Columbia Ridge as we share this life following Jesus. But it's not all selfless, far from it. I also see that this might just help me work through whatever it is I need to work through along The Way. Finally, if you can think of something better than "Inside Reed's Head & Heart" to call this section of my blog, I'd be in your debt. I don't particularly like that phrase but found it descriptive enough to use today. With that, let's get into my head...

N.T. Wright is one of my favorite writers for two reasons. First, he makes me think about my faith in new and sometimes challenging ways. Second, because he exemplifies the pastor-teacher role to which I myself feel called (only he does it with a rigor and a reach that I will never be able to match). 

My recent foray into his thought has me reading a non-technical work on the bible called "Scripture and the Authority of God." It's a fun and rewarding read for me. Fun, because he takes the reader on a journey across centuries of biblical understanding (and misunderstanding). Rewarding, because he has helped me discover new ways to see an issue that I've been thinking about for a couple of decades: the continuity and discontinuity between the testaments in the bible. 

He writes... 

"{The early Christians} firmly believed that the Old Testament was, and remained, the book which God had given to his people - the covenant people who had spearheaded God's purposes for the world and from whom the Messiah, Jesus, had come. But from the very beginning they read the ancient scriptures in a new way. This new way resulted in their recognizing that some parts of the scriptures were no longer relevant for their ongoing life - not, we must stress, because those parts were bad, or not God-given, or less inspired - but because they belonged with earlier parts of the story which had now reached it's climax." (p. 53)

He goes on to suggest, unsurprisingly, that this climax was found in Jesus.  The earliest Christians were therefore (because of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ) "quickly forced into thinking through the question of continuity and discontinuity (of the Old Testament as it related to the fledgling Christian community)." (p. 54) 

What continuities did they find? Things like "...God's sovereign duty and promise to deal with evil; the covenant with Abraham as the framework by which God would achieve this universal aim... etc..." As for discontinuities things like "the ancient Jewish purity laws... the Temple in Jerusalem...and the sacrifices that took place there..." as well as circumcision came to the forefront (p. 55). 

He wraps up his discussion on this theme with a great illustration: "When travelers sail a vast ocean and finally arrive on the distant shore, they leave the ship behind  and continue over land, not because the ship was no good, or because their voyage had been misguided, but precisely because both ship and voyage had accomplished their purpose." 

This illustration has it's problems. For instance, unlike the ship, which was altogether left behind, relevant parts of the Old Testament are carried along for our journey in The Way (perhaps the illustration could be amended to say that while the ship is left behind the supplies that were held within the ship were taken along for the journey). That said, the line of thinking that this illustration represents is a great way to start to re-envision the way we are to respond to the authority of scripture in our lives.  While we accept that all scripture is inspired, what do we take along to provision our journey forward and how do we honor all of scripture while we do this? 

More thoughts on this subject to come...

Traveling with you, Reed

As a follower of Jesus, I have been called to share the good news that he is alive and that he is Lord. This makes me just like you! But how?

One (and only one) way is described in this verse: Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. (Acts 16:25 NLT)

The full story here is that Paul and Silas were in the deepest part of the prison after having been thrown there for nothing more than freeing a girl from that which held her captive. In other words, they did the right thing and as a result were arrested, beaten severely, and chained in a dungeon. So how did they share the good news here? They simply attested to the faithfulness of the Lord, through their prayers and hymns, even in the midst of their unjust circumstance. As they did this, people listened and God moved.

One of the things I'm learning is that holding to and sharing about the faithfulness of God to when your life isn't going well is something that people pay attention to. We all go through tough times. We all wonder why certain things are happening to us that seem unjust, or at the very least sad to the full. In the midst of this we must remember: no matter what, God is faithful. Remember that, share from that, and you will have people wondering about this God who is with you in your circumstance. Perhaps the most powerful time we have to share our faith is when the world is crashing down around us. It is at that time that a faithful witness to God's faithfulness is something that people will listen to.

If you're having a rough go of it right now, remember that you're not alone: God is with you and many, many others who trust in him have been in troubled times as well. In these times, we have the unique opportunity to trust more deeply, and share of that trust with those who need to know the One in whom we find comfort.

Yesterday my message focused, more or less, on moving in step - or in rhythm - with the Holy Spirit. One of my points was that it is impossible to keep pace with the Spirit if we ignore his functional roles in his life. One such role is that of our instructor. Just so happened that I found the following quote on this today and thought I would pass it on:

The Spirit instructs us through the reading and exposition of the scriptures. The same Spirit who created the holy scriptures as he inspired its writers (2 Peter 1:20-21) illuminates its meaning and significance through its exposition (Romans 7:7; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14). Obviously this includes the meaning of a biblical text in its original context. Limiting his role to textual interpretation ignores two issues. First, any honest student of the scriptures quickly sees that those without the Spirit may reconstruct the literal-grammatical-historical meaning of the text just as well as those with the Spirit can. Secondly, New Testament references to “meat” and “milk” (1 Corinthians 3:1-23; Hebrews 5:11-6:12; 1 Peter 2:1-3) have less to do with the meaning of the scriptures than with their application. These suggest that illumination has more do with application than exegetical understanding. The Spirit directs our acts toward his goals of holiness and unity in community. He convicts us where we fail to live up to what we already possess. He enriches our worship according to his larger design for God’s sanctuary on the earth.

Ralston in The Spirit's Role in Corporate Worship

You might be wondering why in the world we would be engaging in a series on the Trinity at Columbia Ridge, let alone spending time studying it. C.S. Lewis in his very popular Mere Christianity provides us with one perspective on why the Trinity is so important:

A good many people nowadays say, "I believe in a God, but not in a personal God." They feel that the mysterious something which is behind all other things must be more than a person. Now the Christians quite agree. But the Christians are the only people who offer any idea of what a being that is beyond personality could be like. All the other people, though they say that God is beyond personality, really think of Him as something impersonal: that is, as something less than personal. If you are looking for something super-personal, something more than a person, then it is not a question of choosing between the Christian idea and the other ideas. The Christian idea is the only one on the market. Again, some people think that after this life, or perhaps after several lives, human souls will be "absorbed" into God. But when they try to explain what they mean, they seem to be thinking of our being absorbed into God as one material thing is absorbed into another. They say it is like a drop of water slipping into the sea. But of course that is the end of the drop. If that is what happens to us, then being absorbed is the same as ceasing to exist. It is only the Christians who have any idea of how human souls can be taken into the life of God and yet remain themselves—in fact, be very much more themselves than they were before.

How this happens, how God as one being/three persons, can lead us to love, salvation, and worship will be the focus of the next three messages in this series. If Lewis is right, then we must get serious about our study of the Trinity. And of course, to study the Trinity you'll need to learn about God. How does this knowledge of God as super-personal, as triune, come into human awareness; even more, how did it come to be a central doctrine of the Christian faith? It was received through the content of the revelation that the Church has held dear for nearly 2000 years. It wasn't thought up, but accepted as truth revealed to us in the pages of Scripture. Remember, we know what we know about God in his essence because he reveals it to us (link). What we observe in the biblical record is that God has revealed a little more of himself to us at the threshold of every major covenant or promise that he made to humankind. At his covenant with Abraham, he revealed himself not as God-Almighty (Genesis 17:1). At the covenant with the people of Israel, he names himself “I am” or YHWH (Exodus 3:14; Exodus 6:3). When the Christ comes to this earth to initiate God’s promise of salvation for all, his very name reveals God as the “The Lord Who Saves” (Matthew 1:21). And then, at the apex of God’s work of redemption in the world, at the very peak of his faithful promise-giving, the pattern remains consistent. God reveals himself to us further as the new covenant is offered to us, and he reveals to us his name: ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:18-19 (NIV)[1]

The… “phrasing is…remarkable. It does not say, “In the names (plural) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; nor yet (what might be taken to be equivalent to that), “In the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Ghost,” as if we had to deal with three separate Beings. Nor, on the other hand does it say, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,” as if “the Father, Son and Holy Ghost” might be taken as merely three designations of a single person. With stately impressiveness it asserts the unity of the three by combining them all within the bounds of the single Name; and then throws up into emphasis the distinctness of each by introducing them in turn with the repeated article: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (the King James Version). These three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, each stand in some clear sense over against the others in distinct personality: these three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all unite in some profound sense in the common participation of the one Name.[2]

Outside of the manner in which God names himself, the Lord has also revealed several other truths about his essence:

• First, God has revealed himself as One and only One God. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV) This verse is the beginning of one of the most important prayers in the Jewish faith, the Shema, which grounds them, and us, in the belief that the they have a special relationship with their God, YHWH, and that he is One, rather than many gods, as the nations around them believed. Essentially, both Jews and Christians look to this verse, among many, and find in it the declaration that God is One. Interestingly, the word echad in Hebrew can imply a unity in diversity (the word for one and only one, i.e., unique, is more often rendered as yachid).^[1] Then in Isaiah 43:10, the Lord says this of himself (and his people): ¹⁰“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. ¹¹I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. And finally, consider again in Isaiah what he says: ⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, Isaiah 45:5 (NIV) So what does this mean? What do these verses, which are simply a few examples from Scripture, say? This: To believe in God as he has revealed himself to the world through his word is to be a monotheist, believing in one God, not two or three or thousands. There is one God and only one God. Anything else goes against God’s self-revelation, the sharing of his knowledge of himself with us.
• Second, the One God, who is One Being, has revealed himself as Three Persons who are all co-equally and co-eternally God.That God has revealed himself as the Father, is evident throughout the new testament. In fact, the phrase, God the Father, occurs in the New Testament 18 times. For example, Jesus himself calls God the Father in ²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” John 6:27 (NIV) But the Father isn’t the only one who is called God. Jesus is also. You see this in Thomas’ confession in John 20 where he falls before Jesus and calls him “my Lord and my God.” But perhaps most clearly we see that Jesus is God in John 1:1,14, where he is referred to as the Word in the passage: ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… ¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1,14 (NIV) So we see so far from just a few verses that God is revealing something to us. He is revealing that he is one God and that he is God the Father and God the Son. And beyond that, God reveals to us that the Holy Spirit is God as well.  See if you can pick up the implication here in this account from Acts where someone lied: ³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing?” Now where does that say that the Holy Spirit is God? So far, it doesn’t. But I stopped short, didn’t I? Because Peter continues: You have not lied to men but to God.” Acts 5:3-4 (NIV) Taken together, these passages reveal to us a God who says he is one being, indivisible, eternal and that there are no other gods, and that this one God, this one being above all, is three persons, Father, Son and Spirit. Not one or the other, but all three.
• Finally, we see that these three persons are distinct, not just different appearances or manifestations of the same God changing costumes. We can see this in Jesus’ call for us to be baptized into the Name of the true God: Father, Son and Spirit (Matthew 28:18-19). It would be silly to do so if they were simply masks that the real God behind the name wore. It would also be silly for Paul to write what he does in 2 Corinthians 13:14 if God was simply changing masks instead of one real being and three real persons: ¹⁴May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. One more example is from Matthew 3:16-17 where we can see all three working in harmony in the baptism of God the Son: ¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
• The Doctrine of the Trinity When taken altogether, these (and many other biblical) observations have led the Church across the ages to the doctrine of the Trinity and the proclamation that God has revealed himself as the Holy Trinity: one Being who eternally exists as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—who are each eternally, fully and equally God. This, as we'll come to see in the rest of the series, is the very foundation of love, salvation, the Christian life, and worship.

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Footnotes: [1] Letham, Robert. (2004). The Holy Trinity in Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship, p. 411. [2] Orr, J., M.A., D.D. (1999). The International standard Bible encyclopedia (J. Orr, Ed.). Albany, OR: Ages Software. ^[3]In the famous Shema of Deut 6:4, “Hear, O Israel … the LORD is one,” the question of diversity within unity has theological implications. Some scholars have felt that, though “one” is singular, the usage of the word allows for the doctrine of the Trinity.  Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (030). Chicago: Moody Press.

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16Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” ...38And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” Genesis 41:38-40 (ESV)

Genesis 37-50 tells the story of Joseph, who after having been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, eventually rose to great power in the Egyptian government. Of course, his route to this place wasn't easy. Along the way he was met by difficult circumstances galore (like being sold into slavery by jealous brothers, falsly accused of impropriety, unjustly imprisoned, and forgotten by those he'd helped). In spite of all of this, or perhaps because of it, Joseph became the man he was because he knew the limitations of his own ability and the limitless power of God.

His statement in v16 is not artificially self-deprecating, rather it is an accurate observation that God is the one with the power and the answers. It is a lesson I need to realize because it is true. It is not the smartest, the best connected or the most ambitious who is of greatest benefit to his world, rather, it is the one who is humbly connected to his God that brings the best good to others! We can see this in Pharoah's response v38. Notice that while "all the Pharaoh's horses and all the Pharaoh's men" weren't up to the task, the one who was listening to God's lead was.

What provided the foundation from which Joseph would be part of saving a nation from famine (and the consequences of it, like poverty, crime, illness, and death)? It wasn't striving for himself and it wasn't proclaiming his own smarts. Instead, it was waiting upon God to provide the answer, who used even the evil in Joseph's past experiences to place him where he needed to be at just the right time and with just the right heart.

I need to be like Joseph. I need to remember that I will bring the best good for those near to me, those for whom I'm accountable, if I humbly submit to God's lead and his word to me/us. Then, and only then, can I truly be shown what I need to see... to bring lasting good into this world.

Father, keep me in the mindset that Joseph was in. Keep me in the place he was at. Joseph was a man who humbly knew that all true wisdom and knowledge comes from you. I pray that my attitude would be his so that I might possibly be used to save others. It is the one who is connected humbly to you that brings the best good to those near to them... help me to be that!

The discussion in this week's installment of 'Neglected' (message will be posted here later this week) was posed to me in two different ways:

• I have a friend of ______ religion. They don't believe that Jesus is who he says he is. Are they going to hell?
• I think we need to talk about the relationship of the Christian to members of other faiths - Islam, Judaism, Buddhism - and the church's relationship to those other faiths. In an increasingly interconnected world do we insist on evangelism and conversion, or do we find another way to work together?

In working through this, it is very important to me that we begin where Jesus began. Interestingly, he made statements relating to these questions that were both inclusive and exclusive in nature. In Matthew 28:18, for example, Jesus made both an inclusive and an exclusive claim. His statement here was inclusive in the sense that there wasn't any area in all of creation that was outside of his authority - it was and is all included. His statement was also exclusive in that it claimed that he, and he alone, was in charge. His point: there is no decision that escapes his authority. If this is true, and I believe his words to be true or I would not be his disciple, then decisions about who is saved and who is not are up to nobody but him. He has the authority in this domain. So we must ask, "What does he say about who is saved?" Again, he is both inclusive and exlusive in his statements. On the one hand, he says that God loves the (whole) world (John 3:16-17) and Jesus' first century followers Peter and Paul expressed similar thoughts in 2 Peter 3:9 and 1 Timothy 2:3-4, respectively. These statements are inclusive in nature. But there is particularity, or exclusivity, in Jesus' statements, too. He states that a person must believe in him to find salvation because by rejecting him the wrath of God remains on a person (John 3:35-36). Elsewhere, in an explicitly exclusive claim, Jesus claims to be the only path to the Father (John 14:6). So again, Jesus' statements as they relate to salvation are both inclusive (everyone is invited) and exclusive (there is only one Savior, himself, for any who would come receive the gift). With this background, we can move on to the questions that were raised earlier. Starting with the more general of the two, I would say that we must not insist on evangelism for those of other faiths and instead should work for even more, inviting those of other faiths to become Jesus' disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). This was Jesus' call to the followers with whom he had shared life before taking the cross; by extension, it is his call to us. It is not enough for us to end at mere evangelism because our call is to walk with others toward maturity in Christ. That being said, I am also of the mind that the Church has been woefully neglectful of building bridges with other faiths. To have to choose between evangelism (or discipleship as I've expanded it to be) or collaboration with those of other faiths is not something I am willing to do. Rather, to insist on both seems to give Christ the greatest honor. We must seek opportunities to converse and work with those of other faiths. Our call requires this and the world needs us to do this. In fact, I see this bridge-building to be an application of 1 Peter 3:15. Where, in the course of every day life (and particularly in the course of our shared work with those of other faiths), we will have opportunity to share our hope. But this is too general, isn't it? What about the specific question of your friend and their destiny. The key here is to remember that Christ alone has all authority. It is his decision, not mine, not yours. He is both the bridge to God (as the way, the truth, and the life) and the one who determines access to the bridge (no one comes to the Father except through him). Because I believe he is both wise and loving, I am comforted that he will work this out in every individual's life. I also trust his words that the whole question can only be put to rest in our lives when we believe in him (again, John 3:16-17,35-36). Because he is wise, I believe his words to be truth; because he is compassionate, I believe his words to be shared because he desires to help people find salvation and peace and to put the nagging question of eternal destiny to rest. There is only one way to do this, and he has stated it clearly. So what, in the end, are we to do? We are to have confidence that there is salvation in no one other than Jesus (Acts 4:12). We are to have confidence in Jesus' authority and his goodness. And finally, we are to make disciples knowing that no person is better off having never heard the good news of Jesus.

Over my life as a Christian I have grown - though still need to grow substantially more - in my ability to bend in the direction of God's Word and in knowing the God in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). On these themes, this quote seems quite true to me intellectually and experientially:

We need to be constantly reminded ... that theological knowing is inseperable from the life of obedience and faith. It is fostered through worship and prayer – those practices by which we submit ourselves to the Word and Spirit of God – and is borne of humility before the Word. (Murray Rae, 163) Courtesy of Chris Tilling via this entry.