In the Judaeo-Christian tradition we have the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). This body of writings is considered to have been "given by God," i.e. divinely inspired, and therefore inerrant and infallible. Many in these two faith communities do not "question" the contents of these scriptures, because they believe that the mere fact of questioning is rooted in doubt and speculation. Furthermore, they believe that to question what they consider to be "the Word of God" is equivalent to committing blasphemy.
Today, I pose the question for our consideration: Is God's truth limited to that text which we call "the Bible?" Many Christians believe that. In subscribing to that belief, they make two mistakes. The first mistake they make is to disregard the cultural, historical, and linguistic origins of the Bible. They treat the Bible as if it were written in a historical vacuum, independent of the life situation of the biblical authors. The second mistake they make is to ignore the biblical doctrine of divine sovereignty, i.e. that God speaks and works how and through He/She wants. They limit God to a particular text, ignoring the fact that God's existence predates the text itself. The Scriptures themselves are a witness to the universality of God who is revealed in a variety of ways. To limit God's disclosure to a particular text is to be guilty of the act of "bibliolatry," i.e. worship of the Bible instead of worship of the God who inspired the Bible.
Many Christians prefer to limit their conception of God to the biblical text for the simple reason that they do not want to make the effort to inquire and research about other possibilities. They are entrenched in their mindset that to study the scriptures (Hindu Scriptures, Buddhist texts, Holy Qu'aran, etc,) "is to go against the Word of God." How can one hold to such a preposterous position when there are scriptures that were written long before the Bible, and then there were scriptures that were written long after the Bible? Nowhere in the Bible itself do we find any indication that it is "a sin" to read the scriptures of other religions. Furthermore, to evaluate and judge the contents and truth that may exist in other sacred writings on the basis of "what the Bible says," is equivalent and tantamount to evaluating and judging an individual on the basis of what another individual says. To evaluate other religious texts on the basis of second and even third hand hearsay is the equivalent of forming an opinion of someone on the basis of rumors that we have heard "through the grapevine." This happens very often when people who do not want to go through the trouble of searching out these other texts prefer the comfortable route of quoting others who they consider to be "authorities and experts" on the subject matter. More often than not, these other sources are just as unreliable in that they themselves have not done the necessary research.
To at least partially solve this conundrum, I recommend the following:
1. Read and research the history on the origins and formation of the Bible. This research should include, but not be limited to the biblical languages (Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew).
2. Read and research the history on the origins and formation of other sacred texts. This study should include the origin and formation of religions outside the Judaeo-Christian tradition.
3. Compare the contents of all of the sacred scriptures, focusing on the differences and similarities of each.
4. After going through this process, draw you own conclusions as to how God's truth is revealed and manifested in the scriptures of the various religious traditions.
In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen.
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
Like Father Richard Roth likes to say, what was God doing for the 13 billion years before the Hebrews started writing down their national birth stories or the followers of an intenerant middle eastern preacher started trying to make sense if his life and teachings and writing down there stories?
ReplyDeleteEntralled by the incarnation of Jesus we miss out on what can rightly be termed gods first incarnation: the creation of the universe and all that is in it.
Many who came before had the spiritual aptitude to sense the presence of that we now call the cosmic Christ, of which John chapter 1 speaks. Let us not forget that it was a Greek philosopher who spoke of the God "in whom we breath and have our being" six hundred years before Paul.
The value of any scriptures is in the wisdom and reality that it points to, also characterized as the Truth. Not in the literal understanding of the stories it uses to convey it.
This is not a new hermeneutic but rather predates the infallible, inerant foolishness created as pushback to the 17th century enlightenment and rise of science which was competing with and debunking many church teachings. Think Galileo.
That God is Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth is not a principal suddenly discovered in the 1st century Judea, but has been discerned by men and woman across cultures and time immemorial.