Biblical Hermaneutics in a Union Meeting

So I was in a Union meeting for my job the other day.  The union rep is talking about a respectful workplace and an upcoming vote when he turns to talking about the book of rules, policies and procedures.  He said "this book is just like the Bible, its all up to interpretation and everyone reads it differently."  So of course I spoke up.  "Actually that is not what the Bible is like at all, we have a discipline called hermeneutics which is the art and science of text interpretation"  The union rep let out a groan, and said OK its not like the Bible and moved on.  But the point here is this really is how many people view the Bible which is shocking!

   We Christians do recognise the Bible as the inspired word of God, but it is very important to understand that many of the interpretations of the Bible are not.  The Bible along with most texts is not a book where you just pick it up and can fully understand it.  The Bible was not written yesterday and in our own culture and context so some extra work has to be done to get a full understanding of the text.

  Really I just want to give a quick introduction to Biblical hermeneutics, so here are a few points to consider when reading the Bible.

 1.  Who is the author of this passage?
 2.  Who is the intended audience?
 3.  What is the context of the passage?  Both directly and over the larger picture
 4.  What is the cultural context? 
 5.  Where have similar themes or quotes appeared before in the Bible?
 6.  Are there certain words that require further examination?

As I write this I'm already sure that I will edit it later on, Ill be walking down the street and remember I should add more.  But really this is just for consideration for you to dive deeper into the Bible and to know that the Bible is not a book where we can all interpret it differently.  We work together in community and follow Hermeneutics to fully understand the Bible

"Will there be animals in Heaven?"

Ive received a few questions from my blog recently, which I really enjoy.  Mostly this blog has been about objections I receive but I am very happy to give it my best shot to answer questions.  I just want to clarify again, I am merely a layman.  I'm just trying to be a $1 apologist is J Warner Wallace suggests :)

    First I would like  to point out that we do not have a straight forward answer regarding this question in scripture.  But that does not mean that we don't have many verses that speak towards this issue.  Also before I begin I would like to say that animals are very important to God.  Just see Psalm 50:11 "I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine."  Also its amazing to see the deep emotional connections that humans make with animals.  I have had 2 cats pass away and the loss was very deep.  So I would also like to point out that animals are very important to people, and people are very important to God so something meaningful is going on here.



   Animals were a big part of the original creation, in Eden.   Animals are an amazing part of creation, maybe one of the best parts!  So in the restored creation it makes sens that animals would continue to be a part of creation.  The is just simply no reason to think that this amazing part of creation would be left out in Heaven.

   "But will my cat Puddles be there?  Do animals have souls?"

Animals are referred to as "living creatures" in Genesis 1:20 and throughout church history this has been understood as having a soul.  But a soul that is qualitatively different than a human soul.  Thomas Aquinas taught that an animal's soul is dependent on the body.  So when the body dies so does the soul.  This also hard to back up with scripture but there is a good point there.

So will my same pet be in Heaven?  Why not? is my answer.  There is no reason to not think so.  I am open to more info, but for right now I don't really know but have no reason to not think so.  God is a God who loves to lavish love on his children, so what ever is in store will be good.

"In the earliest Gospel Mark, Jesus doesnt even claim to be God" Thats only in later Gospels and must have been added in"

  I was very surprised when I first heard this argument from an atheist friend in a coffee shop.  Mainly because I had been hearing it from Jehovah's Witnesses for many years before that.  I really have nothing bad to say about JW's other than their doctrine.  One of the reasons I am a Christian today is because a group of four JW's met with me weekely for many months to discuss issues of God.  I still have JW's over to the house every couple of months, they are always welcome here. 

  So I am in the coffee shop with me friend and the topic of Jesus being God comes up and I hear that in Mark, that Jesus never claimed to be God.  So maybe he was just a good man who after he died people made it up that he claimed to be God.

   Frankly this objection is quite silly, the evidence in overwhelming for Jesus's personal claims.  First I asked my friend if he had actually read the Gospel of Mark and the answer was no.  But that this was a popular claim on the Internet.  With this said, I then asked "why do you think Jesus was crucified?"  To which the answer was "I'm not sure"  so then I decided to speak about two points, the same two points I always talk about with my JW friends. 

   First we read Mark 4:35 - 5:13

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.



Thank you for reading all that first :)

OK so what we have here first is Jesus and the disciples are in the boat, and a storm comes and they are afraid until Jesus tells the wind and the waves "Quiet, be still" and then Mark makes it clear that the disciples were more scared of Jesus after that than they were of the storm.  Keep in mind here the context.  We are reading a Jewish narrative.  Why were they terrified?  Because in their context, who alone tells the seas what to do?

The next story we have which is connected, because when Mark was written there was not chapters and verses, they were added later.  The very next story we get is Jesus encountering a very scary demon possessed man.  Jesus asks the impure spirit "what is your name?"  to which the spirit replies "Legion"  now what would the name Legion bring up in the minds of the first listeners within the Jewish culture?  They would have thought about the Roman Legion which was a basic Roman army unit comprised of up to 5000 soljers.  The Romans were oppressing the Jews at the time and they longed for freedom from the Romans.  So Jesus then casts Legion into the pigs and they run into the water and drown.

So ask yourself this question.  In the Jewish narrative, who alone controls the waters and then drowns Israels enemies in it?  This is a direct reflection of the Exodus story where God parts the red sea and then drowns Pharaoh's armies in it.

Second I will read Mark 14:60-64

⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶¹ But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
⁶² “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
⁶³ The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. ⁶⁴ “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

So here Jesus is before the Sanhedrin and is brought up on charges.  People are giving false testimony so the high priest just straight up asks Jesus if he is the son of God.  Jesus replies powerfully and says that he is indeed the Son of Man, and the high priest tears his robes because of the perceived blasphemy. 

So that is my usual two talking points when it comes to this topic.  Since the objection is bible based you have to actually read the bible for the answer.  So here I just use two points so not to overwhelm people, but if they are interested then I would go further. 

I  reviewed this with my friend, and he said "alright, fine" and that was the end of that.  I still go deeper on this though with my JW friends, my only bit of advice with JW's is that you be willing to use their bible. It is a pretty bad translation, but you can do it :)

Jesus is just a reinvention of Mithras and other pagan religions!!

   Well first I want to say I took a serious break from blogging, but over the last few months I have still been collecting many stories to share about the interesting encounters I have as a Christian in Vancouver a city with one of the lowest rates of Church attendance in North America.

  So last week I was having coffee with a young Christian friend of mine, who's faith was rocked by the accusation of this idea of Jesus Christ just being a reinvention of the Gods of the mystery religions.  He was specifically impacted by a picture that he saw on reddit. 

So as you can see this was some kind of advertisement taken out by people trying to refute Christmas and the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Personally Ive never seen the ad, but it looks a little funny to me so I actually think its Photoshop, but Im sure someone will help me out with this. I'm amazed how much I run into this issue, its been dead for 100+ years but it still pops up on the internet mainly because a lie can travel half way across the world on the internet before the truth can even get ready.  What amazes me most is when in conversations with Atheists who say they prise critical thinking, peer review, evidence etc will then throw out this mystery religions idea when their only source is an internet based movie like Zeitgeist.  So lets have a quick look at these claims on this advertisement.

First Ill say that Mithraism was one of the major religions of the Roman empire.  It was very popular within the military and Mithra was Mithra was the god of war, battle, justice, faith, and contract.

Mitras was born of a virgin on December 25th...Just like Jesus?  False
Mitras was born from a mountain or a cave, and there is no record at all of the Date of his birth.  Also everyone knows Dec 25 is not the date that Jesus was born, it is the date that we celebrate his birth.

Mithras had 12 disciples...Just like Jesus?  False
Mithras is said to have had one to two disciples, but not twelve.  There is a stone carving though that shows Mithras killing a bull while 12 people watching.

Mithras was known as the Son of God...Just like Jesus?  I'm not sure
I did really look for this one, but all I could find was that Mithras was of course the son of a god.  But when Jesus referred to himself as son of God this was not his claim to divinity.  This is something that Christians mix up quite a bit.  Many people referred to themselves as son of God.  It was actually the claim of being the Son of Man from chapter 7 of the book of Daniel that Jesus used to claim divinity.

Mithras was resurrected three days later after his death...Just like Jesus?  Absolutely false
Actually there is absolutely zero mention of Mithras death or anything about a resurrection in Mithraic texts.  In fact there is no reference, none at all of any dying and resurrected Gods before the first century. 

So really, I feel sorry for the atheist that chooses to spend money on an ad like this.  Also for the atheist who uses this in a debate.  But what breaks my heart is when I see Christians have their faith challenged because they never decided to educate themselves on what they believe and why they believe it.

"Hey are you ever afraid you'll miss the Rapture and be left behind?"

  So, many people are familiar with the widely popular Left Behind fiction book series and the following movies starring Kirk Cameron.  The Rapture is the idea that Jesus is going to come back again secretly and invisibly and take his church out of the world, leaving behind non Christians to face the terrible tribulation. 

  So I get asked this question today by an atheist friend of mine, trying to push a button I guess.  So I had a bit of a chuckle and simply answered no, and had a little chat about "the Rapture"

  The Rapture is a wide spread belief in evangelical Christianity today, especially considering that the Left Behind series has sold more than 50 million copies.  The Rapture is a wide spread belief even though this belief is actually quite new!  Actually its even newer than Mormonism.  Absolutely no one was preaching about the Rapture before 1830 AD, this is not a traditional belief of the Christian church.  The early church taught that Jesus Christ was coming back once, just once, not 2 or even 3 times.  But if you subscribe to the idea of the Rapture you believe Jesus is coming back more than once. 

  I thought I would expand a bit on the work Parousia (second coming or appearing) which is a big word when it comes to the Rapture.  When Paul uses this word he is using it in the context of what the audience would have understood it to be in that day, they would have understood it in the context of Caesar.  After Caesar would have been away from the city or off fighting a battle, when he would return to the city in victory and glory all the people of the city would go out to meet him, to welcome him back.  In this same theme Jesus will one day come back and we who have relationship with him will welcome him back on bended knee. 

It is in this context that we read 1Thessalonians 4:13-18:
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

  This verse is about Christians giving Jesus a royal welcome back to earth in the air.  Those who have died rise to meet Christ first then those that are still alive.  This has nothing to a Rapture, it has to do with Jesus coming back to Judge the world and Christians giving him a Royal welcome back to earth.  The Thessalonians understood how to welcome kings.  In fact their city was named after Alexander the Great's sister, and was a walled city.

One verse Id like to quickly menton is a favorite of many people who defend the Rapture.  Matthew 24:36-41 
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

So in the Noah story who was taken away and who was left behind?  The lost were taken away and the righteous were left behind.  Those left behind were happy to be left behind!  So this has nothing to do with a "Rapture"

  I have heard the Rapture referred to as "theological comfort food" because in popularity during the civil war.  It was sort of an escape plan, a way to get out of suffering. I have to agree with this since the Rapture is pretty much teaching that "we can get out of here"  Today the teaching of the Rapture is mainly spread through popular level books and tracts among laymen, because this is not a teaching rooted in church history.  When we read the Bible we are looking for the original intended meaning of the text, not a new interpretation hundreds of years later.

  With most Christians who ascribe to the teaching of the Rapture I usually just ask them is Jesus coming back once or many times? 

  I really enjoy this topic but I don't want to go on forever in this short blog.  If I receive any objections though Ill tackle them.  Also its after midnight and I am typing this in a hurry so Im sure its not high quality, but I wanted to get it out before I forgot :)

So to close, am I worried about being "left behind"?  no, I'm saved and in relationship with Jesus.  Also the Rapture is not something I need to consider, because its a belief newer than Mormonism, supported biblically and Jesus is coming back once.

"Come on now, we cant trust anything that happened 2000 years ago"

  The other day I was on the bus and decided to start up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me.  I asked him, "if your favourite dog was drowning and your nasty neighbour was drowning who would you rescue?"  He has a good laugh, said it was actually a really hard question but he would save his nasty neighbour because of the value of human life.  I asked him why he felt that way and we started a conversation. 

   After a few minutes I told him I was a christian and he has another good laugh.  I asked him why he thought that was funny and he said "because you believe in things that might have happened 2000 years ago.  We cant trust anything that happened 2000 years ago"

  So is this true?  Can we not trust historical events or that historical people existed so long ago? 

I asked him if he believed Alexander the Great was a real person and if he actually did the things that were attributed to him.  He laughed and said of course.  I asked why and he explained that Alexander the Great was a historical person and the historical records prove that.  So I explained that the first records about Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch 400 years after his death, yet historians consider these records very reliable and accurate regarding this Greek conqueror.

  In history the time gap that is the most important is the gap between the events and when they were recorded, not how long ago they were recorded.  When we weigh evidence what matters is the time gap between the events and the recording of that evidence.  Good evidence does not become bad evidence because it was recorded a long time ago.

When it comes to the life of Jesus and the events of the New Testament these records were written down within the lives of the eyewitnesses.  The New Testament was written while the eyewitnesses were still alive.  The New Testament was not recorded like much of the history in the time of Antiquity some hundreds of years after the events.  This is what sets the New Testament apart, it was written by eyewitnesses, and recorded from the testimony of eye witnesses.  Not some 400 years later.  The famous legends about Alexander the Great did not come around till centuries after Arrian and Plutarch's records.

So can we trust that certain detailed events occurred some 2000 years ago? The answer is it depends on the quality of the evidence.  In regard to the New Testament, the evidence is overwhelming from a historical point of view.

Philippians 4:13 : The Superman Verse???

"I can do all this through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13) 

We see this verse on many many athletes.  It is tattoo's on the chest of current UFC light heavy weight champion Jon Jones.  It was also famously written under the eyes of NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and on the shorts of former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.  So is this verse speaking about the idea that you can accomplish anything with the help of God?  Is this the verse to hold onto when you wonder if you can accomplish anything?  While this may very well be true, this is not what this verse is talking about at all.

First lets consider the context of this verse.  One of my favoirte teachers Dr Ben Witherington said in a lecture I was recently “a text without a context is just a pretext for whatever you want it to mean.”  This speaks directly to people who say that "there are many many interpretations of the Bible", or that "you can make the bible say whatever you want it to."  I have only taken a few history classes in college but I remember one professor would always say "context, context context" and "context is everything" This is completely true, even if we look at our own lives, most of us at one time or another have been "taken out of context" and its terrible.  It usually takes a lot of explaining and clean up to help whoever it is to understand that you were taken out of context and what the intention of your words were.

So the setting of the book of Philippians is Paul being held in prison.  Forget what you think about prison as we know it today.  This type of prison was a place where people were sent to rot.  Paul probably wouldn't have even eaten unless someone who knew him brought him a meal.  He didn't sit around watching TV all day and exercising in the yard, this was a terrible place.  So now that we have the setting lets just simply have a look at the verses before verse 13.  Most people know that you should always read the verses preceding a verse which will help you to not take it out of context.

Philippians 4:10-13
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.  Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Now it is quite clear what Paul is talking about here.  He is thanking the Philippians and saying that he is able to endure all things.  Whether he is experiencing highs and lows, if he is hungry or well fed, in the penthouse or in the outhouse.  He is not talking about dreaming about the future and thinking the sky is the limit!  Now I don't know why these athletes have this verse all around them, I really don't know much about the faith of Jon Jones (but I know a lot about his fights) I don't know much about the Theology of Evander Holyfield except that he is steeped in the "health and wealth prosperity gospel" which Ill address in a later blog.  One thing I will say is that prosperity gospel people would probably interpret this verse to be a superman verse.  Finally with Tim Tebow, I really don't know enough, but I will say that all that I do know points to him being legit.  He seems to be humble, volunteers overseas, and his doctrine seems to be sound, but I am open to the evidence. 

So this is an amazing verse, but we cannot take it and twist it to suit our purposes.  It is clearly about being content in all situations, if we are rich or poor, hungry or well fed.  So when bad things happen in our lives, and we question God's plan, we should turn to this verse.  If we lose our jobs, and cant pay the bills, we should remember that Paul was content in prison.  When our friends abandon us and people make fun of us we should cling to this verse for strength. 

When we dream big, we should just say "Lord willing"
 
James 4:13-16
^"13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil."