This post is part of a short series on Christianity. To view the previous post, click here. To go to the first post in the series, click here.
Many Christians have not stopped to consider that although the ancient Hebrews believed that God had strictly commanded them to adhere to the Laws of Moses (Joshua 1:8; Ezekiel 20:19-20), no counterpart to this "commandment" was ever given regarding the New Testament.
The New Testament was volunteered by individuals who understood the Gospel message well enough to write what they knew for the benefit of those who would follow. As commands go, Jesus told the disciples only to continue testifying about him after his death, and to continue spreading the Gospel message. Luke summed this up rather clearly in the opening chapter of the book of Luke.
The takeaway here is that the words of the New Testament are simply a chronicle and exhortation given by early adopters of the Gospel message. In fact, the message of Salvation itself had not yet hardened by the time of Jesus' death, as clearly shown in the opening chapters of the book of Acts. The New Testament writings themselves were part of that hardening, but much more was to come. Once noted men and women (and their many impersonators) began writing letters, revelations and chronicles reflecting their impressions of the Christian message, the next big question became determining which of those writings should be declared authoritative and suitable for inclusion in a Biblical Canon. This seemingly inevitable task was anything but brief (it spanned many centuries) – and it was a mistake.
What was it that Solomon said? There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 16:25)? I refrain from quoting scripture when I can, but this one was necessary. Defining an authoritative Biblical Canon may seem as right as rain, but it was an enormous mistake. The words of the Bible have cost many lives over the centuries. If you take umbrage with this statement, then you are fortunate not to have been among them. I'm glad for that – I escaped the great inquisitions and most other tyrannies perpetrated in the name of religion myself, but we have progressive secular civilization to thank for it, not The Holy Bible, and certainly not the institutional church.
It's tough not to bloviate here. The Biblical Canon as it is now known was not even proposed until 367 A.D, by St. Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria. Even so, it would be much longer before the Canon would take a form recognizable to us today. The King James Version, which was printed in the early 1600's and is still fairly popular today, is one of the earlier forms of what could be regarded as a modern Bible, but even this was compiled from criminally substandard manuscripts – a product of compromise in the interest of being first to press after large-scale printing became possible (citation needed).
To sum this up, it is an anachronism of the worst sort to think that Jesus, at the time of his death, imagined a document that would later be called The Holy Bible, which would be regarded by so many people as the very Word of God.
As obvious as it is, it is still occasionally necessary to remind ourselves that Jesus did not own a copy of The Holy Bible. In the day, there were only the Books of Moses (or Torah, or Pentateuch), the prophets, chronicles and what not, and religious rulers and judges who interpreted those writings. It is also important to realize that, notwithstanding any other corruption that may have been in play among the Pharisees and Sadducees at the time, any high-profile judgments they carried out were largely in accordance with Scripture. When the Pharisees saw the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath and wanted to put them to death, they were doing just what the Laws and prophets had commanded.
Jesus clearly took issue with this. It was this very type of thinking that Jesus fought so hard against. Unfortunately, he had measured success. In the end, he was declared a blasphemer and put to death by rule of the very documents and practices he hoped to abolish (yes, I'll get to Matthew 5:18 in a bit). He sadly began realizing that he was losing this battle in the period leading up to his crucifixion – he had wept over Jerusalem, lamenting the inability of its people to grasp the new truths he had brought.
Now, roll the clock forward a couple thousand years.
Christians of today do pretty much the modern-day equivalent of the very things the Jews did then. In fact, worse. Even with the benefit of hindsight, most Christians seem incapable of seeing the point Jesus tried to communicate. Multitudes of people (a satisfyingly biblical term) swear by the words of the Bible, of which most are the very same that Jesus tried to bring to an end (the Old Testament laws and writings of the prophets), and the rest of which he had never sanctioned or approved – indeed, never saw (the New Testament).
Tell modern Christians that the writings of revered personages of antiquity are not the final word on how to know God, or who he is (or was), or what he wants - pretty much, what Jesus did - and guess what; you, not they, are the heretic. They will tell their friends and flood facebook with warnings that that yet another false teacher has arisen, spreading dangerous new doctrines to be avoided at the cost of eternal damnation.
Sound familiar?
The teachings of the Old Testament, and many of the New, are harsh, unforgiving and totalitarian. Many of the Ten Commandments (of which there were actually three separate, conflicting sets) carried penalty of death for anyone who violated them, as did many other laws. We don't want them posted in public places as reminders of the Christian heritage of the United States. Yes, despite what many secularists may claim, the United States was and is heavily influenced by Christianity (well, based on trends, for the next 18 minutes, anyway), but the Ten Commandments and other laws of the Old Testament aren't Christian – they predated Christ. We don't want them – not even the ones that sound good. Why? because they are rooted within an absolute and unyielding system that shows no regard for the sanctity or dignity of life – human or otherwise.
Let's take a quick respite. Why pick on the Bible? Maybe it does contain some questionable material, but it also contains lots of good stuff; so, eat the meat and spit out the bones, you may say. In many cases, this is great advice - but not this time. We'll dig deeper into this in upcoming posts, but for now I will say only that I am not against Christianity. I still consider myself a Christian (albeit, by the measuring rod of many of the Christians I grew up amongst, probably a heretical one), but we must – absolutely must – separate any belief we may have in God, from belief in the Bible. Despite how adamantly or loudly any person may claim it, belief in the Bible as the Word of God is not a prerequisite to faith in the Christian God. If faith in God has any merit at all, so be it, but the Bible deserves only carefully measured regard.
In the second chapter of John, Jesus, being unhappy with the goings-on within the religious circles of his day, made the statement that if the temple were destroyed he would rebuild it in three days. A couple verses later (v. 21), a clarifying note was added explaining that he was actually talking about his own body. I don't see that John had a basis for making this assumption. It makes better sense in context with the story, and indeed within the broader context of Jesus' life goals, to believe that he meant just what he said - it was probably still a metaphorical statement, but meant to apply to the religious establishment of the day rather than his own body. The message? It would be easier to start with nothing than to fix what was there. If he were alive today, I believe Jesus would say something similar regarding the Bible - and for the same reasons; Destroy this book, and I will rewrite it in three days.
The value of the Bible is in its overarching message, but rarely in its teachings. Yes, this statement requires more explanation, and it is forthcoming.
To view the next post in this series, click here.
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