Reasons not to Believe the Bible (pt.2)

A few weeks back we were visiting with a family from church. When we left I went to the TV where Jael was watching a movie. As I told her we were going to leave in five minutes (because she is a planner like her dad) I noticed she was watching a movie I had not seen. I watched the movie for about a minute to try and understand what the movie was about. I finally gave up and went back to visit with our friends.

If we watch only a few minutes of a movie and then try to explain what is happening in the movie we will likely get it awfully wrong. This happens often when we look to one verse or a very short chunk of verses and then make an attempt to form an interpretation of it without looking to the bigger picture.

More specifically we too often treat each verse as an independent thought…namely because it has a verse number attached to it…but a number just the same that the prophets and apostles had nothing to do with. If we leave our understanding of the Bible to the confines of individual verses we have a problem.

Let’s look again at why we can’t simply believe what the Bible says at face value within an individual verse.

Example: God’s Hands

“You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.”

Psalm 89:13

Now I am going to state the obvious hoping to make my point: I reject the idea that God has a physical hand or arm. It could be said that Sean does not believe what this verse says. Yet it might also be said that Sean does believe what this verse is conveying in light of the Bible as a whole.

If we truly follow the line of thinking expressed by my friend in the last post (“Just believe what the Bible says”) we will have a problem. Well yes we should believe what the Bible says, but what he meant was: “Just believe what the verse says at face value.” If we move forward with that thought then in Psalm 89:13 we are going to say God has tangible hands and arms.

Now I digress and admit this is far fetched yet it is a clear demonstration of why we must not think about the Bible as a compilation of individual, disjointed verses.

In our discussions about scripture with others we ought not focus so much on what our brother in Christ has concluded but how he or she has reached that conclusion. When I say I do not believe that God has hands as Psalm 89 seems to indicate I can explain from elsewhere in scripture why I believe that, not to mention that the psalms are poetic in nature (genre).

Let’s dig a little more.

Content and Clarification

Who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden? How do you know? What does Genesis say?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

Genesis 3:1

We aren’t given much detail of the identity of the tempter until much later in scripture. We read in Revelation:

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years

Revelation 20:2

What we find here is how the content of Genesis 3 is clarified by Revelation 20. We see this in many places where what we read in an early part of the Bible is reviewed and revealed in later scripture. One other example of this comes to us from Amos 9:

“In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the LORD who does this.

Amos 9:11-12

What is God making known through the prophet Amos? Is this speaking of a restored kingdom and temple? Is this merely a declaration regarding the ethnic nation of Israel? I would seem to be disbelieving Amos here for I would propose that Amos is prophesying regarding the future church. Why? Because the Apostle James teaches this in Acts 15.

“…and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’

Acts 15:12-17

This passage comes at the heart of the apostles discussing how the church is to function now that it is made both of Jews and Gentiles. In short James tells the gathered crowd that what they have seen and experienced in their day was prophesied of in the past.

Yet, what is written in Amos 9, by itself without further clarification by the Spirit filled apostles, seems to be talking about the rebuilding of a temple and kingdom in a restored land. It is with God further revealing and clarifying his plan in Acts that we have a truer picture in mind.

Now on a quick note about the different wording in the two passages: A) James is not only quoting Amos for he says, “with this the words of the prophets (plural) agree.” James has more in mind than just Amos. B) As is true of many quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament, often the quote given by one of the apostles is stated in such a way as to also give its interpretation. The ancient world was not as picky about words as we are. We expect someone to give a perfect representation of the original words and punctuation (we have that pressed into our heads from middle school). The ancient reader recognized the resurfacing of an older idea, even if it was worded a little differently. In the original writing of Acts this would have been no problem being presented as a quote.

In our understanding of the Bible we need to leave room for later scripture to clarify what comes before.

Content and Context

In Paul’s letter to Titus we find a phrase that has often led people to say: “Sean you don’t believe the Bible”…and allow me to explain.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…”

Titus 2:11

How can someone believe that God sent his grace only for a chosen people when Paul writes: “salvation for all people”? I literally have had people say: Sean you don’t believe what the Bible says.

The reason why it might at first appear that I don’t believe Paul is because of what Paul says next:

“…training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…”

Titus 2:12

If one is to say that God purposes to send his grace unto the salvation of all people then they must also say that all people are being trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. If that is the case either: a) God is a very poor trainer, or b) He is a liar.

God is training his people for whom Jesus died unto uprightness and godliness. The context informs each verse

Clear Content vs Clearer Content

Now if we are going to bring the doctrine of election into this post we might as well go to the next hot button topic: End Times. Why not…lets do this.

I confess up front…once again…I do not believe in the Great Tribulation of Daniel 9:24-27…that is to say I strongly disagree with the interpretation that these verses speak of a specific age of tribulation right before Jesus returns.

I say this for I believe there are passages with clearer content which speaks of the age to come (1 Cor. 15:20-26, 51-54; 1 Thess. 4:15-18). It may very well be that depending on your perspective you may see no reason for these named passages to be a source of undermining a seven year tribulation. But that is not the point here (if you want my fuller understanding of why I believe this check out a former post of mine here). The point here is that the New Testament texts given by Paul…and I should say the end times passages from Peter as well…these give us clearer teaching. Let us also make note that Daniel 9:24-27 is widely seen by men of many different interpretations to be one of the most difficult passages to understand in all the Bible. The problem we run into here is that many people want to use Daniel 9, a difficult passage that lacks the clarity of other texts, and form a paradigm for understanding the last days. Regardless of the specific view one holds that is an unhealthy approach to the Bible. We should take what is most clear and explicit to help us understand what is not as clear.

Final Thoughts

Let me reassure you that I do believe the Bible to be the inspired word of the living God. It was delivered unto us as holy men were carried along by the Holy Spirit. I hope this post has helped us all reconsider how we approach the scripture and determine what we believe about it.

We must see every verse in its context, and look to every context in light of the many other related passages across the scope of scripture.