Question of the Week: Elaborate on the Whys

by Anne Lang Bundy

Elaborate on the why's? Why did Jacob place striped and not striped branches in the trough? Why did Moses hold the staff above his head during war? (I love that the Lord asks us to act with faith in His miracle.)
~ Tana Adams

The question partially answers itself. The Lord provides His people with unexpected directions, asking us to act in faith for His purposes, whether or not He immediately reveals the "why."

But with the Lord—in both Bible stories and our personal story—there is certain to also be a bigger picture.

And with many such parables [Jesus] spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
~ Mark 4:33-34 (NKJV)

Children aren't the only ones who benefit from object lessons. The Bible is filled with stories and parables that teach something much bigger than an apparent moral of the story. Biblical commentators (including yours truly) usually offer differing insights on the various levels of applications for any given story.

The biblical answers provided in this blog's articles are based on a comprehensive familiarity with Scripture, supplemented by a wide variety of biblical reference materials, and by extra-biblical sources as needed.

The above question's example is a story of Jacob breeding his sheep to his own benefit, and includes curious details about the diet of ewes when they conceived (Genesis 30:28-43). For this question, I prayerfully reviewed the passage describing Jacob's actions. No immediate answer became apparent. I went on to search my library, and then the internet about sheep breeding, without obtaining relevant details. But I later found an answer in another portion of Scripture—where I should have known to look in the first place:

"And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted."
~ Genesis 31:10 (NKJV)

It appears that God simply gave directions to 91-year-old Jacob, a lifelong caretaker of sheep, that wasn't even evident to the sheep owner Laban. Because God chose to reveal an otherwise inexplicable course of action to one of His people, and that man responded in faith (as noted in the original question), God rewarded him.

There are certainly additional why's to be answered about this and thousands of other object lessons in the Bible. Especially in the Old Testament, the physical and natural world is used to explain spiritual realities to us.

... there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things ...
~ Hebrews 8:4-5 (NKJV)

When studying the Bible, we can be quickly satisfied with an answer about the immediate lesson. But God has ever deepening spiritual applications for us. If we are disciples of Jesus and spend time seeking and heeding His directives—accepting that we won't understand everything at once—then He will give us needed understanding in the hour we are able to hear.

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What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com.

© 2011 Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: chakpak.com

Question of the Week: Who Compiled the Bible?

by Anne Lang Bundy

"When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the word of God, because you have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness and your own duty."
~ Woodrow Wilson

Who decided which books would be in the Bible? I understand others were considered, but not added.
~ Andrew Garber, Port Orange, Florida

The Bible boldly declares itself to be the Word of God, that Jesus is the Word of God personified, and that Jesus is God—squarely placing the Bible as equivalent to God in authority.

The wise person is willing to question why any authority should be recognized as such.

The Bible requires reliable testimony be established by two or three witnesses. (Two witnesses are sufficient, but if doubt remains let there be a third witness.) Who are the witnesses to determine the difference between a simple writing (Greek gramma) and Scripture (graphē)?

When the Lord gave the Ten Commandments, He took the extraordinary step of speaking directly to the Israelites (Exodus 18:19-22), giving miraculous signs as a second testimony. There was no question of the commandments being God's Word. Because Moses was God's spokesman, likewise performing miraculous signs as confirming testimony, the first five books of the Bible (Torah) were accepted as Scripture without question (about 1450–1400 BC).

The remainder of the Old Testament (OT) was written by various prophets, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Torah instructed that a prophet of the Lord would be confirmed by accurately foretelling what would come to pass. The Jews preserved the writings of these men as Scripture. In the third century BC, when the Greeks sought to establish a common language throughout their empire, the OT was translated into Greek as the Septuagint. Additional historical and philosophical writings of the time were included, and are contained in some Bibles to this day. But those additional writings were not recognized as Scripture by the Jews of the time, and are therefore referred to as apocryphal writings to distinguish them from the writings unquestionable as Scripture.

And that is the same standard used by compilers of the New Testament (NT). Early church leaders determined which writings to include as the authoritative Word of God by consensus. This was not a matter of voting, with majority rule. Only those writings judged as above reproach to be God’s Word were copied and handed down as Scripture. (See the "Criteria for Canonicity" below for further specifics.)

The most prominent criteria was if writings which recorded the Word of God came from Jesus' apostles—men with authority confirmed by miraculous signs and power of God. While they wrote many letters (or epistles), only some of those writings were held up as as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16.)

In our days, we still have witnesses to confirm the Word of God's authority. Church teachers who speak audibly are known as reliable by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-17)—by consistently displaying the fruit of the Spirit in revering Jesus Christ as Lord and God.

And when we seek God in truth, the Holy Spirit testifies truth to our heart.

Related post, from February: Who Wrote the Bible?

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Criteria for Canonicity * [inclusion in the canon of Scripture]:
• Apostolic Origin — attributed to and based upon the preaching/teaching of the first-generation apostles (or their close companions).
• Universal Acceptance — acknowledged by all major Christian communities in the ancient world (by the end of the fourth century) as well as accepted canon by Jewish authorities (for the Old Testament).
• Liturgical Use — read publicly when early Christian communities gathered for the Lord's Supper (their weekly worship services).
• Consistent Message — containing a theological outlook similar to or complementary to other accepted Christian writings.

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What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below. Anonymous questions are welcome.

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy.
Image source unavailable.
* Source, "Criteria for Canonicity": justasiamchristian.com (original author unknown)

Question of the Week: Seven Day Creation?

by Anne Lang Bundy

“Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
~ A.W. Tozer

Does a person have to believe that the world was created in seven days in order to go to heaven?
~ Russell, Port Orange, FL

Nope. But it sure is the shortest and safest route.

If a person believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ contained in the pages of the Bible, it will bolster faith considerably to also believe the entire Bible as God’s Word. The moment a person begins to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe, no point of faith—including salvation—can be certain.

Evolution masquerades as science. It is an absurd and rapidly crumbling theory of atheism, in conflict with both science and the Bible. A culture brainwashed to accept evolution as fact will have difficulty believing the opening pages of the Bible which describe the actual creation.

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31 (NKJV)

If the Bible can be discounted on page one, why believe anything else it says? It isn’t difficult to believe that the earth was created in seven days, because science thoroughly supports that fact.* The Bible goes on to assert quite outlandish ideas which completely defy science:
• the woman Mary conceived a child by divine word without a man;
• Jesus was raised to life after being dead for three days and nights;
• Christians will one day be instantaneously transported into the sky without any vehicle.

Today’s question could also be viewed this way:

How much of the Bible must a person believe and understand to secure eternal life? How does a person determine which details of Scripture are critical to faith, and which ones supplement faith?

Neither theologians nor committed Christians will all agree on all those answers this side of Heaven’s gates. The points of Scripture I personally consider critical are contained in my Statement of Faith.

If I could choose a single biblical point to show Scripture's irreconcilable conflict with evolution, it is the emphatic assertion (recorded in both Old and New Testaments) that death did not exist anywhere in creation until after humans sinned. Evolution demands that life evolved from billions of years of death before man and sin existed.

* For those interested in creation facts from the Bible and science, showing their agreement with one another and their conflict with evolution, you may find a handful of them over at my blog, Building His Body.

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy
Image source: condor.depaul.edu

Question of the Week: What are Emerging Churches?

by Anne Lang Bundy

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."

~ Alexander Hamilton."

What is the emergent church movement? And how does it differ, or not, from biblical principles?
from T. Anne

A distinction should be made between the particular group called the Emergent Church (associated with Brian McLaren), and churches simply labeled “emerging.” The one characteristic common to both groups is thorough dissatisfaction with traditional church practices.

Last week’s Q&A addressed how the Christian church evolved into so many denominations. Generally, each time a new denomination evolves, it breaks away from an existing church due to conflicts over specific doctrines, practices, or authority. The new church is largely similar to the church from which it divides itself.

Emerging churches criticize the Christian church as a whole strongly enough to take a more drastic stance, reshaping themselves from scratch, purposefully attempting to be as dissimilar as possible from traditional churches.

Too many established churches certainly have put unreasonable emphasis on tradition, human theology, politics (of both church and government), control, and their individual purpose from God. They’ve made church increasingly about religion at the expense of love for God and neighbor. As a whole, western churches are long overdue for make-over and revival.

But several dangerous tendencies exist in the start-over-from-scratch-philosophy. Hyper-criticism breaks down cooperation and unity in the worldwide Church, between both congregations and individuals. Efforts to be dissimilar from traditional churches may undermine key truths central to faith. In the effort to be non-religious, unbiblical attitudes and beliefs become common. Sensitivity to the needs of individuals creates a religion of social activism. The desire to be non-offensive censors out mention of sin, Christ’s blood, and the judgment of God to come. More emphasis is put on humanist philosophy than on God.

This is not an exhaustive list of problems. It’s not possible to examine and evaluate all the practices and beliefs of emerging churches in this short space. It should be noted that some emerging churches seem to establish a solid base of faith and practice.

Churches which designate themselves as “emerging” deserve a close and cautious study. The best way to know what might be wrong with them is to know what should be right about any church. I offer my own definition of the core beliefs for faith in Jesus Christ, titled “Foundations,” and invite you to click on the link for more information.

A last note about the emergent church movement associated with Brian McLaren. Its key principles are in direct conflict with the Bible, such as: salvation is taught to be a gift of Jesus which does not require informed faith; Jesus is rejected as the exclusive way to God; the second coming of Christ and future judgment are rejected; personal experience is emphasized above biblical truth.

Because my field of expertise is the Bible and I’ve not studied emerging churches at length, comments of clarification (preferably with citations) are welcome.

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy
Image source: apprising.org

Question of the Week: Value of the Old Testament?

by Anne Lang Bundy

"Those who cannot learn from history

are doomed to repeat it."
~ George Santayana

Since we have the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, how pertinent is the Old Testament to us now?
from John B.

The Old Testament is sometimes considered either irrelevant or outright offensive. It portrays a God of wrath and judgment who directs war and destruction. The New Testament is filled with teachings of grace, and seems to portray a completely different God of love and mercy.

Human history was remarkably changed by Jesus and His followers, who presented teachings which challenged religious traditions and introduced an entirely different way of seeing God. To many people, the Old Testament is "good riddance."

Yet upon closer examination, there is nothing in the New Testament which contradicts the law of the Old Testament, nor has God Himself changed. The change is how we relate to God, because the death of Jesus Christ offers forgiveness for sins which completely alters our ability to have peace with God.

The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
But after faith has come,
we are no longer under a tutor.
~ Galatians 3:24-25 (NKJV)

The Old Testament's 39 books comprise 78 percent of the Bible and cover some 3600 years of history. 27 New Testament books, written over a period of less than 40 years, depict less than a century of history.

The New Testament is the tip of the iceberg. To ignore the Old Testament is to miss most of the Bible's treasure. Not only is it a wealth of history, poetry and prophecy, the Old Testament:

• Accurately defines the holy, merciful, and unchanging character of God;

• Establishes a solid foundation for faith;

• Presents God's laws, which are for humanity's benefit;

• Explains the world's need for the Lord's Messiah;

• Prophesies the ministry of Jesus, giving us a solid testimony of God's plan and His ability to fulfill that plan;

• Evaluates the furious war between good and evil which still rages today;

• Provides vivid object lessons which the Lord authored to give us a graphic depiction of how Christians should live out their faith.

Here is an example of that last point. When the Israelites reached the Promised Land, they were commanded to be unrelenting and uncompromising in eliminating the pagan nations, lest wickedness pollute the people set apart to the Lord—and therefore defame His name. Allowing pagans to coexist led to immorality, brought the Lord's discipline, and the Israelites missed out on God's fullest blessings.

Believers in Jesus Christ are now citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are commanded to be unrelenting and uncompromising in eliminating the sin for which we have been forgiven, lest wickedness pollute people set apart to the Lord—and defame His name. Allowing sin to coexist leads to immorality, brings our Father's discipline, and we miss out on His fullest blessing.

And incidentally, while the New Testament puts new emphasis on God's grace, it likewise depicts His wrath.

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy
Image source: lal.tulane.edu

Question of the week:Who Wrote the Bible?

by Anne Lang Bundy

Q: How much of the Bible (Old and New Testaments) comes from God, and how much comes from man?
(from Harvey Averne, NYC)

Consider that a baby is 100% from its parents, and is shaped by the parents' environment and personalities, yet is also 100% from the Creator of life.

The Bible (also called Scripture or the Word of God) is 100% from God, and 100% from man. God spoke His Word to prophets, who recorded it with their own words and personality.

The Bible says this about itself—from the Old Testament:

"The LORD said to me [Moses]: '... I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them ...' "
(Deuteronomy 5:28,31 NKJV)

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets...
The Lord GOD has spoken!
Who can but prophesy?
(Amos 3:7-8 NKJV)

And from the New Testament:

No prophecy ever originated from humans. Instead, it was given by the Holy Spirit as humans spoke under God's direction.
(2 Peter 1:20-21 GW)

"... this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David ..."
(Acts 1:16 NKJV)

Scripture is prophecy. Prophecy can be the foretelling of future events, which God has revealed through a human. But that occurs within the far broader purpose of prophecy, which is "the acting as an ambassador of God and the interpreter of His mind and will ... the prophet spoke not his own thoughts but what he received from God, retaining, however, his own consciousness and self-possession." *

"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."
~ Augustine

It might be argued that the Bible alone cannot testify on its own behalf. The Bible's uncanny truth is also proven by science, archeology, and history—and none of the Bible has been disproven. Scripture's power to reveal God, make His love known, and change lives argues for divine origins as well.

But ultimately, the proof of the Bible's origin as God's Word is a matter of faith, verified by the testimony in our hearts of the Holy Spirit, of Whom both the Old and New Testaments speak.

The Holy Spirit is given by God to those who ask, by faith in Jesus Christ.

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
~ Jesus, Luke 11:13 (NKJV)

For more information on how the Bible was put together,
see All About Truth.

More verses of interest on:
Holy Spirit
God's Word

© 2010 Anne Lang Bundy
* Definitions of prophecy and prophet are quoted from The Complete Word Study Dictionary, General Editor: Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., © 1992 by AMG International, Inc., Revised edition, 1993
Image source: robertpeake.com

Flying Bibles

Sunday I was hustling from the sanctuary of our church to an older building across the street for a men’s Bible study. A handful of friends, the kind of people one would expect to see in a pool hall rather than a place of worship Sunday morning, were waiting for me. My people.

The Pastor of our Church, Tom Nelson, saw me hurrying and mentioned on the fly that he would be quoting me in that morning’s message. Boy, my head started to swell almost immediately, pride, it was there. I can’t deny it.

But, our God has a sense of humor, trust me.

I took about ten steps, strutting probably, caught the tip of my toe on the curb ... and in slow motion ... tripped.

The stack of bibles I was carrying jumped out of my hands, flapping in the wind like a flock of birds taking off into the air. In the meantime, I continued earthward until the side of my face bounced of the sidewalk, twice.

Proverbs 3:12 says that the LORD disciplines those He loves. I was feeling God’s love in full measure as I lay stretched out on the sidewalk.

It was not hard to laugh off what had just happened as I picked myself up. I have had a lot of opportunity to do foolish things over the years. But, the God who loves me always gives me a second chance. Even when, maybe especially when, the things I did, the people I hurt, and how I hurt them, was not so funny.

If there is something for which you need forgiveness, ask Him. He will forgive you. That is not my promise, that is His promise. Our God is dynamic, He has a sense of humor, but above all else He is a God of mercy and love. He loves you.

... Father, thank you for being our God, thank you for the people in our lives, and thank you for loving us. Father, humble us when we need to be humbled, and always bring us back to your mercy and grace. In Jesus name we pray ...