Bible Topics

No matter when I've sat down to work on the biblical ideas, I have always felt a surge of enthusiasm. I see the answers to all the ills in the world because human problems have been solved by suffering and fore-sighted people through the centuries. Those people had lived in the East and the West as leaders and slaves, domineering and submissive, and their thinking men and women had evolved a philosophy of life that adapted itself to all new situations. There are no ready-made answers for utopian existence in the Bible. There are guidelines to be thought through in each situation.

There is an ever present danger in the study or use of the Bible. People want to invest it with magical formulae and power. They want to see instant holiness, happiness and success just because they read the words or hold the book.

I have thought much about heaven or after life in reference to the term, "Kingdom." Mt. 25:31-46 is the climax of the development of Kingdom in that gospel account. It is often referred to as the judgment scene. I prefer the term "self-identification."

First of all, it is a universal scene — everybody is included. Then Jesus is referred to first as the Son of Man. This is his act as The Human Being. In the next sentence he is called "The King" and God is the Father. The picture described is the firm, final and eternal establishment of the brotherhood of man in the fatherhood of God. Verse 34 is the one that always catches my attention.

"Welcome, people happy in your Father. Accept as your inheritance the kingship prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Then comes the really consoling part. Christ is talking. He says, I was hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger, sick and in prison. And you cared for all my needs. Christ as the first-born in the family identifies all the brothers and sisters with himself. Thus the family of mankind is being established.

That list is drawn up according to the life circumstances of those days in the Roman Empire. Today the list would be longer and a bit different but the idea would be the same. You identify yourself as a child and heir of the family of man by the way in which you help those around you to become truly human.

Heaven will be the full enjoyment and continued living in this human family. The other side of the picture is the emptiness, waste, and frustration of not belonging simply because a person did not use the opportunities offered.

Coping with sufferings is a major topic in the first years of Christianity because suffering and hardship were almost a way of life for a lot of them.

Sin is the failure to produce, to develop, to create, to establish meaning to life and self-identity. Then death is empty because a person has become nothing. This is the danger of structure. There is a tendency to become parasitic and just hang on. This is the part that Christ condemned in the Jewish religion of his time and which he would excoriate today. For Christ, religion cannot produce puppets.

Who or what set this plan (of the world) in motion and what keeps it going? I enjoy thinking about the question but I never get any closer to the answer than men like the authors of Psalm 8, 103-105; the Book of Job; the Book of Wisdom, or any of the New Testament writers. I know the role that is mine. I live life as fully and sincerely as I can. I certainly had no awareness of this life before I was conceived and born. Yet I can enjoy it. So also I think the John 3:5 notion of "palingennesis" — rebirth, could be an answer. This time it would be "I," the person, that I made myself who is reborn.

I have the quotes from the Prophets here in front of me. Even though I was somewhat aware of the tone of the prophets I did not know how negative they were until I actually looked for texts. I have exactly twelve and all of them are from Isaiah. When I think how much this Old Testament was and is used by the theologians and preachers, there is little question as to why their picture of God becomes so bleak and their outlook on life so pessimistic, with the over-emphasis on sin and punishment.

This is what makes the Gospel message so different and amazing. Christ reacted against the negativism. He turned the threats and punishment on those who were insincere and dishonest — the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees. He was kind and gentle and tender toward those who were the victims of this narrow outlook. Then the communities founded by Luke and John especially turned the whole picture around in a teaching filled with salvation, community sharing, love expressed in action, and positive human worth.

We had always been taught that the Old Law was a law of fear and the New Law a law of love. It is easier to threaten than to win by other persuasive words. Punishment brings immediate compliance in most cases even though it is not a willing obedience.

This contrast explains why the teaching of Jesus took such a hold in the beginning. But then as the leaders saw how much individual responsibility the New Law demanded, they turned back deliberately to authoritarianism and emasculated Christian freedom and growth.

As I have been looking for (Biblical) texts, two points that are hitting me the hardest are:

1. The belligerency of almost all the writings previous to the Scribes from about 300 B.C. The didactic and Wisdom literature has a lot of positive, creative thinking advice. Then from 50 B.C. to the NT writings, about 50 A.D., this warlike attitude reached its worst peak.

2. There has to be a constant awareness of the meaning of "life of faith." As I read synopses of books and read the account of all the outstanding evangelists in the papers today, faith for them is a return to blind superstition. Faith is a weakening crutch when it should be a creative productive prod. This is an emphatic point of all the NT writings and becomes stronger in the later NT works.

Yesterday, as I was doing the famous Isaiah 9:6 text: "A child is born to us — a son is given to us," it struck me why this was so important to the Matthean communities. Historically, the Jewish King had sacrificed his first born in the phallic cults. The prophet had upbraided him for the idolatrous murder. Then he had another son and Isaiah wanted the king to get back to the worship of God.

In the post-factum introduction to the life of Christ, Matthew saw the same event of importance for the same reason to the New Testament people. The Jews had turned more and more to the sensual lustful religion of the Greco-Roman world. Christ had called them away from this to the ideals of the Father. Therefore "A son has been born, has been given us." Just as the child of the king in the OT was a symbol of the favor of God to start again, so the birth of Christ was in the N.T.

The pagan religions were convinced the gods were, for the most part, fickle. Therefore a person was at the mercy of their whims. Hence all the superstitious were ways to pacify the gods especially by giving up your own valuables. All suffering, misfortune and failure, all enmity and misunderstanding were due to man's failure to placate the gods. This made life a very despondent picture.

Then came the Jewish god. He was just, holy, understanding, kind — but omniscient, all-powerful and ready to punish all evil. He would take up the cause of the righteous people but not necessarily in their lifetime. It might come about only three or four generations hence. Finally, they were sure it would all balance out with the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus comes and gives us the New Testament picture of god. He is a Father in whom the family of man is to be established. Jesus talks very little of the future in the sense of the next life. He stressed that there is no love of God nor service of God except the love, service and sacrifice that is made to and for your fellow man. All prayer, all religion, forgiveness had to take place in the immediate part of the family of man in which you lived. The final outcome of Christ's way of life would be a peace, harmony, understanding, service and mutual love of each other based on your love of self.

Luke stresses the day-to-day living. Matthew & John show the importance of daily living but definitely talk of a final squaring of accounts so each receive true justice. They don't say how or when. That's as far as the Christian message goes. All the emphasis should be on the establishment of the ideal here & now.

When the Apocalyptic writers and the New Testament writers wished to give a person the highest praise, they said simply he was a "just" man. Hence from 400 BC to 200 AD the term "just" or "wise" tells a person what they expected of a human being.

As I listened to the reporter describe Begin's (Israel) misuse of history to support his ruthless policy, I wonder why no diplomat or official confronts him with the facts. The only source Begin has for his so-called great history is the sketchy account of the Old Testament. In most instances, this is written in a condemnatory and threatening manner because the Jews were not living according to their ideal and therefore were finally rejected as a people.

Seemingly, 3700 years ago the nomads who were the ancestors of the Jews left Ur of the Chaldees, near the Persian Gulf and started their centuries long trek to Egypt. There in Egypt, these ancestors joined the Hyksos or foreigners who ruled Egypt for a few years. Then the natives enslaved all the Hyksos including the Jews. Finally these slaves saw a chance to escape and took off for the desert. After a few generations of rebellion, civil wars, and other fighting they arrive at the trans-Jordan area and begin to slaughter the native Philistines. This state of warfare went intermittently from 1250–1000 B.C. Then finally under the leadership of Saul and David the Jews established themselves as the rulers of Palestine. Solomon organized the Kingdom and had a lot of international power because he controlled the crossroads between Egypt and Europe and the Middle East. His rule was terribly oppressive. Upon his death there was a civil war and a split in the Kingdom — 929 B.C. Thus there was a united people in charge of Palestine for exactly 75 years.

The kings almost vied with each other for corruption, oppression, and injustice. The prophets alone spoke out strongly and bitterly against these kings. Then in 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom was overrun and destroyed by the five kingdoms to the East. Then in spite of warnings and pleas by prophets, the southern Kingdom in Jerusalem was decimated in 588 B.C. and the small group of Jews was taken into the neo-Babylonian captivity. Finally in 538 B.C. the remnant was allowed to return as a slave group to their home country. From that time to 1947 A.D. the Jews were never again a free nation with a country. Then in 1947 A.D. the new Israel by physical force and intrigue took back what they claimed is their country or homeland, given to them by their God. But they fail to say that the same document which gives them the land takes it away once and for all because of infidelity.

The sources of the OT teaching are the prophets. These men were primarily concerned with leaders and a people who were openly & deliberately failing in their ideals. Therefore the prophets spent most of their time condemning and rebuking. All of the writing is hindsight — what could have been. All of the OT is composed after the failure of the Kingdom has already begun. The last writers begin to look to the future. They talk positively of wisdom but develop their ideal by painting a dire picture of the opposite. This is a whole new insight on the OT for me and shows again how much Christ and his followers were different.

"You are the salt of the earth." is a favorite for succinctness, clarity and fulness of meaning. Few people fail to understand the importance of salt for seasoning. Salt is also used to preserve meats, to melt ice, to freeze water. So valuable was it that Roman soldiers were often paid in salt. Hence they got their "salary."

Each individual is to be a seasoning of all the people & events. All the good qualities of each person are to be intermingled and yet keep individuality. Each person gives and receives. This will make the Christian or human society.

Christ says, "I have come not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it." Success built on the detraction of others does not last long. With one sentence the whole of Christian thought is founded on a solidly positive outlook. The basic failure of mankind as shown right from the Adam & Eve story is to put the blame on someone else. This lets the guilty party avoid his own failures or do nothing about them. Christian thought is self-centered as a starting point. You must love yourself first or you have no value for others. And you must correct yourself first or improvements will never be well-grounded.

What is the after-life? Or what will it be like after death? In 1st Corinthians 15, the whole chapter deals with resurrection and after life. One of the explicit questions is: what will it be like. Paul, or in this part of the letter, Luke answers: "We don't know. Look at the seed put into the ground. Who could guess the plant or the tree or the flower or the fruit that would come from it?" I really like this answer. If the initial egg & sperm cell are able to contain all the genes that develop into me and my talents, I cannot see such a wise, orderly plan going "poof" into nothingness at the moment of death. I like the New Testament term for death — palingenesis — a rebirth. We start over from where we are at that moment of development to become a more complete or perfect being. The one difference is that it is no longer a period of testing but a period of fulness and arrival.

In 2 Timothy, Paul uses the 3 comparisons: the athlete who has played hard and is now recognized in the Hall of Fame; a soldier who has fought hard but now the battle is won; a farmer who has worked & toiled and now the harvest is gathered into the barn and he can enjoy the fruits of his labors. However, he starts to plan for next year.

Biblical faith is merely the awareness of the wisdom garnered from life by people of all ages. In daily living this wisdom is tested, expanded, adapted, restated, and handed on. This kind of faith is a truly human asset and demands constant reassessment but it does not demand a lot of clever teachers. It needs only the people who live the faith they believe and hand on by example. It is not something added to life but is life itself and the personal reasons for living the way you do. Therefore "the just man lives by faith."

The notion of harvest and daily life is new to the Christian thought. The Old Testament outlook was always into the future. Some time the people would arrive. Some time the Messiah would come. Some time justice would be fulfilled. But Christ turned the point of emphasis. We are here. We have arrived. The actions of daily life are always to be the "harvest." Harvest time was a lot of work but it was also a time of peace, joy, satisfaction and fulfillment. The fruits of the labor & expectation were rolling in. Today, if our life is lived in this fashion, the same sense of accomplishment & satisfied joy should be ours in the work and at the end of the day.

Much advice of the prophets was geared to the electing of civil officials. The people of those days did not elect or vote. However, the prophets were continually talking about the qualities an official should have. I could write a "Guide to Voting from the Prophets." There are solid guidelines for a voter in the ideals of the prophets.

The prophets are counselors, legal advisers, public consultants, reformers. Isaiah comes in three packages. Isaiah I is an advisor to Kings and leaders. His primary concern is to describe "holy" in a practical way. Isaiah II is more of a counselor-reformer. He is one of the leaders and he wants to point out the full significance of authority and obedience. Isaiah III is a counselor-encourager. He sees the frustration of the small group and wants to stir up their goals and pep.

The Christian ideal gives inner strength. The Bible describes people in flesh and blood circumstances of daily life. They faced the same choices we face. Sometimes they followed their ideals; sometimes they did not.

If the ideal of Christ, or the truly human ideal can be revitalized in any lives, it will make people happier and more productive in their world. This is the genius of a really human ideal. It builds for the good of the whole society of man but the building blocks are the individual worth of each person.

This is the third time in history this move was initiated. The tribes of Israel tried it in the general rebellion of the slaves against the dehumanizing forces of Egyptian power. They expressed their ideals in the Mosaic code which was based on the dignity of the individual and the sense of individual responsibility and collective cooperation. The whole plan was summed up in the Qahal (Qahala), the gathering. These were small groups, never to exceed 20 adults.

The plan gradually evolved into a power structure and the same kind of enslavement they had run away from. Jesus rebelled against the structure by recalling the Qahal. In Greek, this is "ekklesia" and "koinonia" is the "gathering" and "sharing." The plan or ideal was to establish the dignity and sharing of this with each other.

Gradually, the monolith called the Church became a power structure, working from the top that took the vitality and vigor out of the ideal.

I've done a lot of thinking about the Bible and its teachings. I've gradually come to see evolution of fundamentalism as a consequence of the notion of inspiration. The first time there was an open admission that the Church as a whole did not control western society was in 1893 with the issuance of Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum. This unleashed a whole wave of letters through Vatican II. The teachers in the church were given freedom to think clearly about all aspects of human life and its relation to Christian doctrine. Immediately the central authority began to fold & the stranglehold of the Papal domain began to relax. If John XXIII had lived and stayed in the front as he was in the first session of the Council, we would have a wholly new church — or rather, the church as it was in the first centuries without the persecution. But John died and his followers quickly closed the openings and returned to a tight fundamentalist approach. The truly aggressive teachers left. Some stayed and continued to do their bit and the rest formed communities and groups and talked.

The Christian ideal has an inherent power because it is human. If this power is allowed to develop inside human society, the sense of peace, creative productivity and sharing could be established.