Bite-Sized: Can We Call It Heresy?

Forgive me for having a number of posts in a row that don't have to do with the wisdom literature stuff that I was talking about before. I'll get back to it...eventually. 

Is there such thing as “right Christian belief”? Is there such a thing as “reliable Scripture”? Can you discern between right and wrong in a sea of purportedly Christian beliefs that all seem plausible?

Many of my fellow biblical scholars (and probably church historians as well) would say no. I'm personally in favor of the dichotomy between orthodoxy and heresy. Of course, I acknowledge why some call the term, “orthodoxy”, fluid. It is possible to find evidence within the early church of many different people claiming to be Christian but claiming very different things. For example, hypothetical adherents to Sethian Gnosticism[1] believed that the God of the Old Testament was not the Father of Christ. But there is also evidence that a number of seemingly disconnected early Christian communities from the first and 2^nd century accepting the four gospels and a number of Paul’s letters along with other texts as authoritative writings.

I am not willing to throw out the term, orthodoxy. Orthodoxy, (literally, “right belief”), was a consideration from the writing of the New Testament. There are constant admonitions and warnings against deception and false teaching[2], which suggest that true teaching exists and should be adhered to. So while I (perhaps a bit morbidly) enjoy learning about false teaching, it is not because I view them as “alternate Christianities.” Pastorally, I have to view them as false teachings to be guarded against and I see that mindset in the early Church fathers. Heresy’s unintended purpose in those first few centuries was an impetus for orthodox (or proto-orthodox) thinkers and church leaders to articulate the faith as it was truly revealed through Christ and the Jewish Bible. My first responsibility is to the people of God and thus I must (eventually) represent, preach, and teach the Word of God as presented and as received by the Church, denouncing false teaching as just that.

Obviously, there are some that this approach doesn’t sit well with. Some will argue that I should accept diversity of belief as part of the beautiful mosaic of Christian belief. I would argue that saying that Christ was a created being or that the God of the Old Testament is an evil or ambivalent demiurge[3] is not a view to be celebrated or entertained but rather, if it is to be acknowledged at all, it is to be soundly refuted (in a pastoral setting). I, in my life in the academy, will continue to ask questions of these beliefs and where they are rooted and the myths behind them. But I will not teach them as truth. The Christology that I eventually look to espouse will be rooted first and foremost in Scripture. Period. Whether I like it or not. Got an issue with what I say about Christ? Show me where the Scripture says otherwise. As usual, I'm not saying anything new. That would be cause for alarm. Jesus handled all the "new" stuff. I'm just trying to follow Him. 

Note: A tendency that I will attempt to avoid is the demonization of certain false teachers in looking at the early Church (and today's church). Surely, the devil is still working in subtle ways and I do think false teaching is one of those ways. So while I don't think that every false teacher does so with intended malice, we must acknowledge that the damage they do to the lives of the people of God is still extensive. So be on guard. Sift every teaching that you receive, that you might know that it is indeed from the Triune God we serve.

3:30 PM Update: Here's the root of heresy: focusing on one aspect of the person of Christ or the character of God and building your system of thought around it. The biblical account doesn't allow this and neither should logic. If we are faced with an incomprehensible God (meaning a God that no one can fully comprehend, or get their mind completely around, but still a God who had made himself knowable), how can we focus on one aspect of him (e.g. his transcendence, his goodness, his love) and make that His entirety? It's much more complicated than that...and that's the weird thing about heresy. It, at the same time, makes the easy things complicated and makes the complicated issues easy. It's weird stuff. Hence why the New Testament is adamant that you not entertain it.

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[1] Sethian Gnosticism probably didn’t really exist. Scholars use the word to describe a group of early “Christians” who used a few related texts that create a super complicated creation myth and offer such ideas as the Creator of the world being a lesser, evil god and teaching that Eve had sex with the devil and gave birth to Cain as a result.

[2]Romans 16:17, 1 John 4:1-3, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Matthew 7:15-20, 1 Timothy 6:20-21…The list goes on. It’s kind of a big deal.

[3] Demiurge comes from a Greek word that means creator or craftsmen. In Gnostic texts from the 2^nd and 3^rd century, this is the god who created the world in rebellion towards the One, transcendent, perfect, Monad. Monad’s the name because “god”, in the mind of these writings, doesn’t adequately capture what he is. As a matter of fact, language can’t capture what he is. Fun stuff. 

Super Short: Man Up

No witty banter today. Just an excerpt from a sermon from Leonce Crump II.

Manning up is not just managing your sexual temptations. It's not just managing your sin. That's not what it means to be a man. Because you can try harder and you can do better and you can hang on longer. That's not manning up! Manning up is our ability to lay down all of our effort and all of our trying and all of our strength and say I trust in Jesus! I trust in his perfection! I trust in his power! I trust in his resurrection! Because HE's the only one that can get me through this and HE's the only one that can make me free.

Bite-Sized: Does This Scandalize You?

The early Christians faced a lot of accusations from Roman accusers. Their secret meetings of worship were probably orgies, the Romans thought. Their refusal to sacrifice to and worship the emperor was atheism, the Romans thought. But we're looking at a different accusation today, ladies and gentlemen: the accusation of cannibalism.


Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:53-54, NIV)


"Does this [saying] scandalize you?"That's the question Jesus asks in John 6:61. Mind you, he's just made it explicitly clear that you've got to eat His flesh and drink His blood "in order to have life in himself". So yes, I think it's safe to assume that it scandalized some people. But I want you to understand just how scandalizing what He said really is...and why in verse 66, many of his disciples respond with, "Haha...oh, Jesus, you're just messing with us, right? About the whole flesh-eating, blood-drinking thing? Not...literally. Oh. You're serious. We can't do this anymore," and then they leave him and "walk with him no longer".

The English translation doesn't do this the visceral justice of the Greek. The first "eat" that you see in the verses quoted above is just that: eat. But the second "eat" is a different Greek word. The ESV renders it, "feed". I prefer to render it, "chew". It's like Jesus is making the image more (seemingly) disgusting so that the people understand what he's saying. You can't enter into the kingdom of God / be raised in the last day to the resurrection of life / have eternal life without chewing the flesh of Christ and slurping His blood.

The way I see it, He uses this visceral language to drive home the idea of being in Christ and him being in you. His flesh is real food and his blood is real drink. Whoever eats and drinks that real food and drink remains in him and him in them. I mean, if you literally eat His flesh, he's pretty much `in you. Is that the way that we treat the Word? Do we want it in us as though we were eating the flesh of Christ? Is that the way that we treat our relationship with the triune God we worship?

Does this saying scandalize you?

*Yeah, this is one of the roots of Eucharistic interpretation. I'm not getting into, here, views of the relationship between the bread and wine of the Lord's supper and the body and blood of Christ. But in a real sense, when He says these things, He speaks spiritual truth and life.

How Divinity School is Making Me More Catholic

Heh heh to assuage the fears of my Protestant brothers and sisters, no, I don't mean that I'm becoming a Roman Catholic. When I say catholic in this sense, I mean catholic with a little 'c', which is how the early Christian writers described the church. When I say catholic, I mean it using the classical definition of the word, καθολικος, (katholikos), which literally means "throughout the whole", and which we would translate, "universal".

My time in divinity school (even in the short month that I've been on campus and the few weeks of class) has reminded me, viscerally, of the need for community in the Christian life. For a while, I've been intensely focused on my own personal growth and my own holiness and how to build my own relationship with Christ. This morning, I read through 1 John and was struck by the perceived closeness of the Johannine community. The book is just full of we's, you all's and what love means. But the foremost idea is that we as Christians exhibit the love of Christ when we love one another. Thus, its a little difficult to show the love of Christ just on your own. I would say that the pursuit of this life in community was the base of the building of the canon of Scripture as well as the base of the Reformation. The Reformation was not meant to be a time to rally behind the individual's right to individual scriptural interpretation, but rather to reject that very view. The sentiment was that the Scripture was only being handled by the clergy and the laity had no part in it. But with the recognition of "the priesthood of all believers" and ideas like that, people were reminded that Christianity is a religion that we do and believe together, not in isolation from one another. Thus, today we must never forsake the role of the community in our lives as Christians. Our growth takes place within the community. Our joys can be shared within the community. Our pain and burdens can be borne by the community. The list goes on. 

But unfortunately we are forsaking that role. Too many people today are saying, "Well, my faith/religion is an intensely private matter." Well, I would go so far as to say this: if nobody around you knows that Christ is part of your life, something's wrong with the picture. If the fact that Christ saved you from an eternal hell doesn't prompt a response*, there might be a problem. No, this doesn't mean go around proselytizing every day and get up on your soapbox preaching against the woes of the world and the godless, hellbound heathens you're surrounded by. It doesn't mean you have to mention God in every sentence that comes out of your mouth. What it does mean, however, is that your life should be defined by Christ and bringing glory to Him. That is your purpose in life. Your ultimate purpose is not to work to make money to live comfortably for the rest of your life then die.* If it were, that would be a little depressing. Instead, you have been equipped and will be equipped by the Spirit of the living God to bring glory to Him on this earth. You've just got to figure out how He wants you to do it and the Church (the catholic one) can help you with that. That is what you must do and that is how you must view yourself. If you want an identity that can never fail nor disappoint you, identify yourself with Him...because anything else can fade. You and I can lose our minds, our intelligence, our bodies, our jobs, our families, our friends, our riches, and any other "possessions". But when you are in the hands of the Almighty Triune God, He will never lose you. Can you be satisfied with that? I know I'm still working on it.

Don't forsake the community of the saints and the gathering of believers. Your faith is absolutely not a private matter. You are a part of the catholic church, not some puny church of one. You are part of the Body of Christ, not a disembodied toe. Embrace it, live it, and the world will be better for it. 

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, first to the Jew and also to the Greek.

*Obviously, there is no generic response. Salvation pushes us each in different directions. But ultimately we all work towards the goal of sanctification and eventually being united with Christ. 

2*: Those are good things, but they are not the best things. Even death is a doorway to a better existence. 

Endnote: Life in community is the best way for us as Christians to grow! Accountability can't take place without other people to hold you accountable. And the gifts of other members of the Body can only contribute to your spiritual growth. Moral of the story: find and get involved with a church community. It's not an option. It's an imperative...that is, if you want to grow in Christ. If you don't, feel free to ignore virtually every word I ever say. 

The Proverb Contradiction?

Note: This post includes constant use of the biblical term, "fool". Keep in mind that, as Proverbs presents the fool, it is not a term signifying the stupidity of a person. This isn't an intellectual admonition. Rather, it is a moral one. There are many "fools" today who believe there is no God (Psalm 14:1). Doesn't mean they're dumb, as some are brilliant (in the terms of the world). But they are wrong. The fool is one who lacks godly wisdom. 

Proverbs 26:5 - Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
Proverbs 26:6 - Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Houston, we (seemingly) have a problem. Addressing this confusing juxtaposition becomes more than just a "what do I do?" situation. I think it begs the question of how we interpret the Scripture. Now I'm standing in the tradition of "inerrancy" as some like to call it. This is the belief that the Scripture in its original autographs is completely true and free from error (in my view). Textual criticism sheds light on how the version that we have today relates to those original autographs and from what I've seen, the numerous textual variants found in the thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament*, specifically, don't have significant theological implications so I can pretty comfortably say that what we've got today is what we should be working with. But anyways, with that frame of reference, many fall into the trap of being too simplistic when it comes to facing passages like this. "Wait...it's telling me to do opposing things. Which do I do?" Panic ensues. But this is also why we have the guiding light of the Holy Spirit. After doing a little bit of Greek exegesis of Romans and the Gospel of John, I've been exposed to the WIDE swath of interpretations when it comes to Scripture and it humbles me constantly. Thus I come to the Scripture with that mindset, not "Let's see what I can pull out of this", but "What does God want to show me through this?".

With that in mind, what do these verses in Proverbs mean?I would posit that they should be looked at with special attention paid to their consequences. Which is more likely in a conversation: You appearing like a fool or him being wise in his own eyes? I think there are some issues where we just have to shut fools down. For example, if there is false doctrine being taught in the church, shut it down. (Well, this doesn't necessarily mean you jump up in the middle of the service, denouncing the teacher. Which is also not to say that there aren't times where you should do that. Thank God we've got the Holy Spirit to help us discern these things as a community.) But every instance that you come into contact with a fool is not necessarily one where you loudly admonish the fool for being that way. This is where discernment comes in (both in interpretation of Scripture and in your everyday interactions.) In some cases, it is necessary to speak up and in others, it is much more beneficial to stay quiet. I unfortunately can't really give examples because there are a lot of possibilities, but the gist of these verses, as I see it, is that there is a range of response. It's an ambiguity. And when you read the Bible, you run into a lot of that. But we've got to be comfortable with that.

There are numerous things that the Bible is crystal clear about. But there are other times where it causes a little head-scratching. The writer of 2 Peter said as much: "Count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."(2 Peter 3:15-6) This stuff's not the easiest stuff to handle. After all, it is the Word of God. But as Christians, we don't really have a choice but to handle it. And we also have the responsibility to handle it rightly. So when you've got an interpretation of the Bible that seems/feels different or wonky in any way, bring it to the community. Because the Word of God is not just effective on the individual, but it, like the Holy Spirit and like the blood of Christ, was poured out and continually works among the community of the saints, the body of Christ.

"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (2 Peter 3:17-8)


*Props for us having the literally the best documented ancient text of literally all ancient texts. Go, New Testament!

Paradox of the Week: Wisdom Literature: Proverbs (Part 1)

There are five books of the Bible that are commonly designated as "wisdom literature": Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon's kind of an anomaly...so I won't touch that yet. But the others provide very different, and yet equally valid responses to life which point directly to God, whether in worship (Psalms), deference to his sovereignty (Job), awaiting his return (Proverbs), and acknowledgement that He is all that matters (Ecclesiastes). We'll start with Proverbs and investigate the wonders of scriptural wisdom literature. 

This response was prompted in part by a question from a wise friend of mine. He brought my attention to Proverbs 10:22, which states in the NIV, "The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it." His apprehension is well-founded. One can fall into a few traps when reading this verse and we are susceptible to each of these traps when we take these verses out of context. The most prominent trap is to read this to mean, "The blessing of the LORD is always wealth and not only that, but it's trouble-free wealth!" The issue with this reading is one word: "always". If you think that the LORD's blessing is always manifested by wealth, you start straying into prosperity gospel territory, equating wealth with confirmation of a godly lifestyle. Just because you are wealthy does not automatically mean that you have the favor of God and being poor does not mean that you are cursed. What this verse ultimately draws attention to is this: for a believer, if your wealth was given to you by God's blessing, you don't have to deal with the stress and anxiety that those who accrued their wealth in ungodly ways have to deal with. Not only is it a contrast between "godly" wealth and "ill-gotten" wealth, but it is a reminder of the originator of that wealth and the true owner. Money is like any of our other "possessions", in that we don't really possess it. It is a blessing that God gave us in order to use to glorify him. The godly wealthy person is also generous. As a matter of fact, according to the concepts of Proverbs, that is the reason that God made them wealthy: their willingness to give and pour themselves out invites God to pour more into their lives so that the cycle can continue. As another proverb says, "One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want."(Proverbs 11:24)

But this raises one of the big questions about Proverbs: We see all of these verses about the righteous being blessed and the wicked being punished, but where is that in real life? It seems that everywhere one looks, the righteous are being oppressed by the wicked and no amount of proverb repetition can change their situation. This seems to fly in the face of the "common" wisdom espoused in Proverbs. If I do the right thing, doesn't that mean that I'm supposed to be rewarded? In my mind, there are two obvious responses. One is to do whatever you can to see God's promises realized. Do you see mistreatment? Be angry and do something about it. But the second thing to keep in mind is that nothing you do is as powerful as truly trusting the God who promised to judge the earth. Proverbs is more like a vision of the way that the systems of the world should be, and in essence, the way that Christ will set it when He comes back. Because believe me, at that point, He won't be playing any games. The wicked will be judged, the righteous (those with their faith in Christ) will be vindicated, and all will be well (for the elect). Unfortunately, until that time, injustice will be present in this world. But that does not mean we sit idly by. We must continue to "work out our salvation", for the good of ourselves, for the good of our neighbors, and for the glory of God. 

Next time: What about outright contradiction (or at least, what looks like contradiction)?

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

(Proverbs 26:4-5)

Also: Any theology questions nagging at you? E-mail me! Best way to find God's truth is to examine His Word in community, even if it's an online community. 

Bite-Sized: One Quote

Reading this resonated with me. Phillips Brooks had a great point that we should all internalize.

Never pray for an easier life - pray to be a stronger person! Never pray for tasks equal to your power - pray for power equal to your tasks. Then doing your work will be no miracle - you will be the miracle. 

According to Scripture, we as Christians are guaranteed to encounter persecution, adversity, and other unpleasant experiences. As Brooks suggests , the right course of action isn't to run from it. God doesn't promise us a life without pain and discomfort. As a matter of fact, He pretty much says the opposite. But He does promise us joy and Paul encourages us to be joyful. Why?

"We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5) 

Ultimately our joy is found in neither our circumstances nor in some false assurance that Christ will remove our circumstances from us. Instead, our joy should be based in the security of our soul through the promises of Christ and the assurance that He will continue to sustain us and strengthen us as we travel through the storms of life. And even more than that, our joy comes when we worship Him. Why? Because "He loved us in such a way that He gave his only begotten son, so that everyone believing in him might not perish but might instead have eternal life" (John 3:16, my translation). This verse isn't about "how much" God loves us. This is a verse about the specific way that the Father expressed his love for us and Jesus iterates it as a specific course of expressing love: laying down your life for your brothers and sisters. In other words, pour yourself out for others. It's what Jesus did. It's who Jesus was (Philippians 2:5-11). It's who He called us to be. It may not be "fun" at all points of the journey, but it will surely, surely, surely, surely be worth it. I mean...Jesus said so when He said "I have said all these things to you so that my joy might be in you and so that your joy might be full" (John 15:11, my translation). Jesus's joy was found in his relationship with the Father. Only through Him can we take hold of that same joy. And it will be full.