CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
April 6, 2008
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.geocites.com/adon77373/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
www.cypresswoodchurchofchrist.com
PRAYERS AND PETITIONS:
Our congregation The persecuted church
Various friends, relatives and co-workers Our nation, military and leaders
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Kinlee Mearns on the 10th.
IT MEANS WHAT IT SAYS
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
When I first began preaching in a small West Texas church in a small town, I sat and listened as a old brother taught a class. When he was asked a question he answered that the verse means what it says and says what it means. He then moved on to the next verse. Now I know that there are difficult texts in scripture, and we do not always agree to there meanings. Interpretation is difficult at times for any of us. We attempt to learn from others what a particular text might mean. The fancy name for all of this is hermeneutics, or the science of interpretation.
When we read scripture and try to understand it, we come in to our study with influences that have affected us over the years. Our cultural and educational experiences play a role in understanding scripture. Who taught us and what we have accepted from them affect our understanding of scripture. Even the translation we use will have an influence on us. All this must be taken into account as we attempt to understand scripture. There is no way that we can read scripture without various influences affecting us. We even pick up influences by listening to teachers and preachers, for they are influenced by their cultural aspects of life.
In churches of Christ, we have made an effort to codify our understanding of the interpretation of scripture. There are commands to be obeyed, examples to be followed, and inferences to be drawn. When we deal with the silence of scripture, we understand that if it aids us in fulfilling a command or example, we call it expedient but if it does not, then the silence of scripture means that we cannot do it. One illustration of this is radio and television. We use these media because we can proclaim the good news through them, even though the Bible says nothing about them.
But even with that, we cannot agree on any number of commands, examples and inferences. For instance, foot washing appears both as a command and an example, yet we do not wash feet, seeing it as a cultural form and a way of service. A holy kiss became a holy handshake. Most of us have accept these and many others as acceptable reasoning for our day and culture, but it does show the weakness of the command, example and inference method of interpreting.
There are more serious issues that are involved however. The command, example and inference method has lead to some troubling ways of understanding scripture. Topical studies, which I am not against, become the dominant means of study and ignores the context of a verse or text. Verse by verse study, especially out of the King James Version contributed to this because each verse was set apart; no paragraphs. Newer translations have changed this and have brought different views into play. Another problem has been that a word means the same thing each time it is used ignoring the context of the word and even the definition.
Another major problem is how we have divided scripture. We make the claim that we are no longer under the authority of the Old Testament. There is truth to this but there are also concerns. What we fail to see and understand is that the Bible of the First Century church was the Old Testament. The New did not come into play for most of the First Century (1). So when the early church was told to study scripture, it was the Old that they studied. How has this effected us? We have made an issue of instrumental music not being found in the New Testament forgetting that the Bible of the New Testament church was the Old Testament, and instrumental music is found there and approved (2). One leader opposed instrumental music in almost any circumstance that he stated that it was taking God’s name in vain. David would question such a position. We might better understand the role of women if we understood Paul’s reasoning from Genesis three in both 1 Corinthians 11-14 and 1 Timothy 2.
Our command, example and inference has led to some interesting interpretations. The Lord’s Supper has an interesting discussion surrounding it. We use unleavened bread when we eat the Supper. The reasoning is that God command unleavened bread at the Passover (Exodus 12). Since Jesus initiated the Supper during the Passover, then we should follow the example of unleavened bread. But what about the cup of wine, or in Luke’s case, two cups. In Exodus 12, no drink is mentioned! In fact, nowhere in the Old Testament is a cup of wine used during the Passover. Yet here we have Jesus using cups of wine and obviously applying it to His sacrifice and to our use in the Supper. Where did it come from? It appears that during the period between the testaments, about 400 years, a number of cultural things developed that Jesus found acceptable, though they are not found in the Old Testament. When people observing the Passover began using wine as part of the celebration we do not know. Studies have shown that there are actually four cups used expressing God’s desire to rescue His people from Egyptian bondage (3). This certainly isn’t according to the command, example or inference pattern. This is a challenge to our thinking.
If that wasn’t enough, Jesus attended the synagogues of His culture. He did this regularly. We do not find synagogues in the Old Testament; they were another development that occurred during the time between the Testaments. John uses the Festival of Lights, known to us as Hanukkah, that Jesus was attending, to explain another aspect of who Jesus is. John emphasizes that Jesus attended three Passovers and Hanukkah during His ministry. Hanukkah came out of the Jewish revolt of 168-165 B.C. and the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus participated in this holiday which might cause us to rethink about how we view holidays.
Is there a better way to understand scripture. I think so. We need to understand the context of a given text and book. Who was writing the book, if known, and to whom? What were their circumstances? Why was the book being written at this time? For instance, we know that the Corinthian church was badly divided when Paul wrote them (1 Corinthians). But there was also outside influences in the Corinthians culture that was affecting the church as well. One was centered on how philosophers gathered students around them and debated. The Corinthians seem to have followed that idea in following particular preachers (4). The books of Chronicles were written to a nation returning from captivity, explaining the need to seek God and what happens when one does not do that.
The people of the Bible lived in a culture just as we do and were affected by it. We need to understand the historical context of scripture. What was happening in the nations around Israel or in Rome? We need to understand the cultural aspects involved. How was Roman culture affecting Israel? What pagan influences were causing problems for Israel or the church? We need to know the political situation at the time. Who was ruling? How was Caesar worship affecting the spread of the gospel? There are also social and economic ideas that play a role in our understanding. Granted, much of this is the work of scholars but we need to realize that while we might not have access to all of that, these people were being affected by culture just as we are today.
Command, example and necessary inference has affected our understanding of scripture. We will be challenged and will challenge each other to other aspects and ideas that do not fit that pattern. For instance, I have often heard that there is only one way to understand a parable. Yet when we read through the parables and see what was expected in the culture and what Jesus was challenging, we can see that there are shades of meaning involved. The parable of the Lost in Luke 15 shows how God responds to the outcast of society, how He seeks the lost, and challenges the prevailing ideas of the Pharisees with the choice the older brother faced. Understanding the role of a shepherd in caring for his sheep will help us understand Psalm 23, arguably the most quoted text of the Bible. We are coming to see that there are a lot of influences affecting the writers and hearers of scripture just as there are today. After reexamining our views we will find that some will remain and we will have a stronger understanding of them; others we will change because we have looked at it differently than in the past. There is nothing to fear in all of this. Those who are hung up on tradition will have a greater difficulty but change can occur.
The purpose of study is to draw us closer to God in Christ, becoming more like Him as we walk in this world. We have moved past the idea that it means was it says and says what it means. We are coming to realize that the situations that many in scripture faced are the same things we face today, and that they adapted and adopted things not found in the texts but saw it as a means to benefit others and draw closer to God. This doesn’t make scripture easy to interpret or even to understand but it is challenging to us as we immerse ourselves in the texts. Enjoy the journey.
George B. Mearns
(1) I think that Matthew and Mark were in circulation in certain locations in the 40s A.D. Luke followed with his gospel in the 50s and Acts came by the early 60s. Paul’s letters were written between 50 and 67, give or take a couple of years. How widely circulated any of these were no one really knows. Hebrews, James, Peter and Jude were probably written around 60, give or take a few years. John wrote all his material after 70 A.D. As one can see, most of the early churches had only a small portion of the New Testament if that.
(2) I’m not suggesting that we use instrumental music. I think a cappella music expresses the heart of worship better. See the bulletin article on 09/02/2007 for more on this.
(3) The text used is Exodus 6:6-8 and the wine represents four ideas of what God has done for His people.
(4) See Bruce Winter, When Paul Left Corinth.