GBShaw Blog

In Otley Parish Church, like many churches, there is a wonderful East Window above the Holy Table or Altar on which we place the bread and wine for a service of Holy Communion. There are five main ‘lights’, or sections of the window depicting Jesus and the four Gospel writers. There are also six more stained glass windows which tell the story of Jesus and some of his teaching.

In days when few people could read or owned a bible, these tableaux were even more significant to ordinary people. The aim of such windows is certainly to create a beautiful work of art which reminds people of the Bible story. But I think the aim goes beyond remembering the tale or the event in Jesus’ life. They aim for something more – to point to the kingdom of heaven, which was the point of so many of Jesus’ stories. The words of George Herbert’s poem ‘The Elixir’ capture this:

A man that looks on glass,

On it may stay his eye;

Or if he pleaseth, through it pass,

And then the heav’n espy.

Herbert is writing about stained glass windows, which tell a story from the Bible. But he could have been writing about the Bible itself. For this is what can happen when we read scripture – we see the truth beyond the words and stories, through to glimpsing heaven or the kingdom of God. Truth that transcends the material world. What is true cannot be limited to scientific or historic fact. The truth we need as human beings is deeper and wider and higher than what we can see, or touch or taste.

There is obvious beauty in the stained glass. There is also beauty in a story well told, in a fitting proverb or a poetic image. And truth and beauty are so intricately linked as Keats’ wrote: “beauty is truth, truth beauty” (Ode on a Grecian Urn).

It’s why we need music and transcendent worship. The Bible alone is not enough for our worship.  It provides resources for hymns and songs and prayers and preaching. It gives a basis for sharing bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. But we must go beyond its provisions and allow the Spirit of God to lead us into the presence of God and change our hearts. Through the Bible we are led to Christ, and with the Spirit’s help to the kingdom of God/heaven. But the Bible, however treasured, is a thing of this age, and the day will come when we shall all know God and the earth will be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

As a book, the Bible is powerless until we read it. Then it requires a sort of double listening. Hearing (or reading) the words and listening for the Spirit beyond all words. Not that God can’t or doesn’t break through and shout at us sometimes, but it is still our responsibility to open our ears and our hearts to Christ.

In reading a text, for example the feeding of the 5,000, the question “what actually happened?” can be asked. Maybe we try to reconstruct one story of the feeding of the 5,000 from the slightly different versions in each of the four gospels. We ask questions such as “Was that a miracle or is there another explanation?”. These questions are fair enough as far as they go. But the point is they don’t go far enough and may prevent us going further – like only seeing the window, maybe admiring the workmanship, but not looking through the window to the heaven beyond.

Imagination

Imagination is perhaps a human key to seeing through the picture or the story in front of us. I love the way children will play imaginative games with the simplest of props (even in this screen-dominated age). Some of the most moving times in worship have been when drawn into the imagined world of a biblical story, its backstory.

Imagine Jesus and his disciples walking to the wedding at Cana, the talk they had, the humour, the poking fun at whoever might be the next candidate for marriage. Jesus having a word with his proud mother, asking her not to land him in it again … then his mother and a steward approaching him. She has that look in her eye … The more we know about the background to any story, such as a wedding or daily life in Palestine, the more our imagination can bring to life the recorded story and create a deeper engagement which God’s Spirit may richly bless.

There are a few more aspects to the Bible as a very human book that I want to explore.

 The Church decided what to include in the Bible

Once again, this is a simple but crucial point. Human beings decided what to put in the Bible.

• The early Church circulated and used the writings of the Bible (both Old and New Testament writings) for many years before they were formally accepted by the Church at Councils in the late 4^th century. Most were undisputed though questions persisted (and still persist) about a few. The Bible, therefore, is not set against Tradition or the Church as a separate source of authority in the Christian life, but instead is dependent on the Church and on Tradition.
• The decision about what’s in the Bible is human at every level, from original stories and source documents right through to the collection we now know as ‘The Bible’. Parallel to this, we trust that the Spirit of God has mysteriously inspired and guided this process at every level also.

Thinking about the recorded words of Jesus

When I first came to a lively faith in Jesus, I was a student spending a summer vacation driving an ice cream van in Pennsylvania. (More about that another time!) When I was heading back home to Dublin, the small Bible church I had joined presented me with a red-letter edition of the King James Bible. Meaning that the words of Jesus are in red.

Most Christians probably value Jesus’ teaching more than anything else in the Bible. It was many years later before I began to think about how those words of Jesus made it onto the page.

• Who recorded the encounter between Jesus and the devil in the wilderness? Presumably Jesus told his followers about it, and they told the story to others and eventually someone wrote it down. There are quite a few stories about Jesus where there are no other witnesses.
• Jesus’ long speeches in John’s Gospel are not likely to be verbatim recording of Jesus’ actual words, as if someone was taking shorthand. They are surely a summary of his teaching as understood and prioritised by the authors of that Gospel from personal memory, stories, and source documents.
• It’s obvious that stories about Jesus were told and re-told repeatedly among his early followers. Some may have been written down soon after his death, some much later. I am sure that sometimes we are very close to the actual words of Jesus, and sometimes we are reading a summary very much influenced by the authors of the Gospels. Luke’s Gospel begins by making it clear he has carefully gathered information from stories handed down over the years.
• Writing down and recording the many stories about Jesus was not a concern immediately after his death, but it became vital because a) The people who knew Jesus first-hand were dying out, so their memories had to be gathered and written down and b) the early Christians expected Jesus to return soon and when this didn’t happen it became clear that future generations would need his life and teaching recording.
• What is indisputable is that the four Gospels only contain a small portion of the things done and the words spoken by Jesus in public or to his disciples. The last verse of John’s Gospel says that the world couldn’t contain all the books needed to record everything Jesus did (John 21:25).
• I find this human process immensely freeing when I come to understanding and interpreting the Gospel accounts, and the whole thing is much more credible because the accounts vary a bit, and the details are sometimes hard to reconcile. I’ve never been troubled by such variations. If there were none, I’d be very suspicious of the veracity of the version I had. If a detective hears exactly the same story from every witness, he or she would conclude it was made up!
• The Gospels would be a great deal duller to read if we didn’t have the drama of Jesus’ words. A good story told in an engaging way is important to people wanting to share Jesus.
• This recognition of the human process of reproducing spoken words applies to many other characters and writings, both OT and NT.  

A Vital Accommodation

Accommodation is an everyday word with a very important (theological) meaning for Christians (and other believers in God). God cannot be known unless he reveals himself to us. He is (of course) beyond our understanding. He is divine and we are human, and we can never hope to bridge the gap of understanding. So, God ‘accommodates’ himself to us, and communicates in ways that we can, at least at some level, understand. Not unlike an adult might ‘explain’ complex issues to a young questioning child.

• The Bible uses language to describe God as if he were a human being – awake or asleep, hiding himself from us, becoming angry or being gentle, remembering or forgetting, changing his mind or repenting what he has done. Broken-hearted in his love for his people.
• When we use a word such as ‘Father’ to indicate God, we do not use it in precisely the same way as a human father. The Bible also speaks of God being like a mother. They are important words to help us relate to God, but they have their limitations. God is not male or female. Jesus is recorded (in John chapter 4) as saying that God is Spirit. By scriptural and human tradition, I find myself using ‘he’ to describe God but I mean nothing as regards his ‘gender’.
• The greatest ‘accommodation’ which God makes for us, to make himself known, is taking human flesh in Jesus of Nazareth. This great truth, the Incarnation, is at the heart of Christian faith, transcending the historical incarnation of Christ and including all the ways God communicates meaningfully with us and allows us to talk to him.

The Majesty of God

It’s not just that God is beyond knowing, holy and different to us (despite being “made in his image”). His majesty, his greatness beyond all comprehension, must surely have us kneeling at his feet in humility. Anything we think we understand has this context.

• Psalm 8: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have set in place, what are human beings that you are mindful of them?”
• As Job struggles to understand his suffering, his only answer is the vast and complex magnificence of creation and the impossibility of understanding God’s actions, leading to his acknowledgement: “I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”
• Isaiah (Chapter 55) advises: ‘Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near….’ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.     … my word … will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”’
• Science today has vastly increased our understanding of this universe which can only add to our sense of wonder. We live on a tiny speck in a mind-blowingly vast universe which might even be one universe in a multiverse. This demands humility from us all. We are so small. So limited on this small, beautiful and fragile planet which seems so big to us. What are human beings that he cares for us?
• Our attempts to understand God and big questions like ‘Why are we here?’, ‘What does it mean?’, ‘What is our destiny?’ and ‘How shall we then live?’ cannot retreat into a glib quoting of chapter and verse in the Bible. But if the Bible is a dynamic record of God-centred historical experience, we set up an encounter which can be lively and honest. But we must never forget that the God who invites us into an intimate relationship to ‘know’ him is magnificent beyond any words.
• Our understanding may be akin to a child learning the physics about, say, light. There is so much to know, and the path towards knowledge will involve learning an unlearning. At ‘A’ level, the student will be told to abandon much of what they learnt for GCSEs. And at university the young physician will again be told that many assumptions in ‘A’ level physics are unreliable, and postgraduate study will see further assumptions questioned or rejected in the pursuit of understanding that is constantly evolving and perhaps ultimately out of reach.
• Again, I think we have a spectrum of truth holding apparent opposites together, as articulated in Graham Kendrick’s wonderful song: ‘Meekness and Majesty’.
• One the one hand, all we can do is bow in awe before the majesty of God, in humility.
• On the other hand, he invites us to know him, to trust him, to join with him and use every gift he has given us to live life to the full.

The one thing we can be certain about is that the Bible was written by human beings for human beings. This may be obvious, but it is very important to remember it. Where and how God comes into the process is a matter of faith.  No-one thinks the Bible dropped from heaven, but it sometimes sounds as if Christians think God wrote it or dictated it.

The Bible doesn’t need defending, it needs reading

• Because it is so extraordinarily precious, we can spend a lot of time ‘defending’ the truth of scripture. But in doing this, Christians have often shackled the Bible, denying its freedom to challenge and subvert our human schemes of interpretation. Or perhaps more correctly, denying God’s freedom to challenge us through the Bible as it becomes the living and active word of God. We do the same thing with God himself. We are created in God’s image, but that doesn’t stop us trying to return the compliment and create ‘God’ in our image! Subconsciously, perhaps, remoulding him to make him more like us, reflecting our presumptions and prejudices, like we can do with the Bible.
• To point out the human and fallible side of the Bible is seen by some as negative, because it is against the view that the Bible is “infallible” or “inerrant”. In my view, to use these words reveals a misunderstanding of the nature of the Bible, as if we were only to read it to find instructions to be followed. In fact, the very obviously ‘human’ nature of the Bible is what makes it alive and real and endlessly worth reading to encounter the God at its heart.
• I have known so many people who are afraid of studying the scriptures in an academic way. As if questioning and critical study would destroy our simple faith and the Bible would lose its otherwise undoubted power to speak to us. I’ve met many pastors who loved their flock and wanted to spare them the doubts that critical study would involve. However, I think this is ultimately a failure of care. It requires dishonesty. It often ends in tears. Without doubt there is no faith. And certainty has no need of faith.

A Story from Sudan

• I remember well a time in South Sudan at a conference run for Church leaders at a place called Kajiko. We read together passages from Lamentations and the Psalms and gave pastors an opportunity to share together their genuine feelings after many years of ministering amongst the horrors of war. It eventually led to such a release of faith and celebration, like opening the floodgates. They had been so used to finding simplistic explanations, defending God to their people week in week out, and finally they could share with each other and cry out to the Lord in their pain and anger and confusion. It didn’t lead to a lack of faith, but to a genuine outpouring of faith and joy. Only God can do this.
• One passage we looked at was the end of Matthew’s Gospel (chapter 28) – a high point as the risen Christ sends the disciples out to make disciples of all nations. When the eleven disciples see Jesus, they bow down and worship him, “but some doubted” (28:17). How liberating then and now for the pastors (and for us) to know that Jesus still sends us out with our doubts to carry on his work.
• To hide our doubts harms the mission of the Church. They can make us fearful to say anything at all about our faith. Christians don’t have all the answers, but all of us have experience of God to share. We do turn to him in prayer and have a story to tell. Jesus means a great deal to us. Let us just tell it as it is and admit our own uncertainties and trust the rest to God. My own impression after many years of pastoral ministry is that Christians expressing their doubts is actually helpful in their witness to others. It makes it more real.

Faith Seeking Understanding

• And as regards the Bible in particular, we need to introduce people to it in a balanced way, according to our own experience of its treasures and its potholes. Initially we can point people to so many wonderful encouraging passages, but if we are encouraging them to read the Bible for themselves (we should!) then we need to prepare them for the difficult parts and the mixed messages.
• As Christians, in reading the Bible as in the whole of life, our journey is one of “Faith seeking Understanding” as St Anselm (11^th century Archbishop of Canterbury) famously put it. Many people are anxious to prove the Bible ‘true’ by which they mean factually correct, wanting any story to be told exactly as an imaginary camera would record it, rather than being true to the normal expectations of storytelling which always reflect the agenda of the storyteller, leaving room for a little creativity!
• Not so much “never let the truth stand in the way of a good story” but rather “make sure the truth is illustrated by a good story”!
• We sometimes hear or read that this or that episode of scripture is ‘proved to be true’ by archaeology or other investigation. The fall of Jericho is a favourite, but there are no remains of Jericho from Joshua’s time despite what is sometimes claimed. So we have to think a bit differently about this striking story now, both at the human level (the writers’ agenda) and also trying to understand why God might be happy to have such a story in the Bible.
• Our confidence is in God, and that nothing can separate us from his love. His purposes are always good, and this faith gives us a freedom to engage in the search for understanding without fearing what unexpected things we might discover and have to work through. In fact, it will often be the unexpected things that lead us deeper into God.
• The scriptures encourage us to engage with them. The fact that the inspiration of holy scriptures is not too far from inspiration as we know it today encourages us into a relationship. God doesn’t tend to bypass our humanity with its weakness and failings, but he works with them. Like he does with every biblical character like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. We are not to idolise anyone (except maybe Jesus)! 
• Nor are we to make an idol of the Bible so that it replaces the living God. We speak of the holy Bible, but only God is truly holy. And according to the Bible, God allows himself to be questioned. How much more can we question the writings in the Bible in our search for understanding and integrity.

St. Paul

• St Paul is undoubtedly a brilliant and pioneering theologian whose writings are foundational and without which we would be lost. He occasionally notes, and few would dispute, that his teaching is deeply influenced by his culture and personal context. I think this enables us to hold lightly some things he writes about slavery or women or hair or the mysterious baptism for the dead he mentions in 1 Corinthians 15.
• It helps me to imagine the man Paul. I see a mixture of brilliance, passion, stubbornness, humility, pride and faith – a tough working man (tentmaker), who has braved the seas and so many physical hardships in his travels. In chapter 11 of his 2^nd letter to the Corinthians he boasts about the floggings he has received and all he has suffered.
• He is a Roman citizen, born in Tarsus but brought up in Jerusalem. A Pharisee, and an expert in the Jewish Law, he trained under the great Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22: 2). He persecuted Christians, even to their death, and on one such a mission he was converted when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus.
• He is more than willing to state his credentials compared to the false teachers who are leading the Corinthians astray: “I am not in the least inferior to those super-apostles, even though I am nothing” (2 Corinthians 12:11). In the same place we read of his mysterious ailment which, despite his repeated prayers, God doesn’t take away. So, he learns to be content and see the positive side of his weakness.
• He is self-assured enough to challenge Peter with hypocrisy face to face, yet he calls himself the least of the apostles, because he persecuted the Church (1 Corinthians 15:9).
• This is the formidable person whom I can now imagine writing a letter from his prison cell. He is deeply prayerful, committed to seeing the young Christian communities grow in faith and understanding. He receives news from them, and I imagine inspiration coming to him as he struggles in prayer, sometimes searching for the best words, sometimes wondering what on earth he can say when there are no ‘oven-ready’ answers. He must use his brain, his scrolls and his prayers to listen for God’s leading. Perhaps, as I have often found, he starts writing and the inspiration starts to come.
• This is the scenario I imagine when I read the letter to the Corinthians. Getting to chapter 15, Paul is desperate to share his deep faith in the resurrection. He is straining to understand and to share what he senses he is given by the Holy Spirit. I don’t for a minute think that he understands everything, but as he writes he knows what to say. It’s from him. It’s inspired. It’s somehow from God. It’s what’s needed. And he wants to dance and sing as he writes and believes: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

I do understand that in some ways the Bible is NOT an inclusive book! Coming from ancient paternalist cultures, women especially get a raw deal. But it didn’t drop from a timeless vacuum in heaven. It is a product of the cultures in which it was written, and it can be woefully blind. That said …. we can easily miss the many ways it is an inclusive book. It recognises that truth is a many-sided thing, and that inspired teaching and prophecy can be different in different times and places.

GOD IS LOVE

Primarily, of course, the Bible is inclusive because love is at the heart of it. Because God is love. Because mercy triumphs over judgement. Because God freely chooses to forgive us and free us from the burden of our sin. Because through Christ God is reconciling the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, to himself, breaking down every human barrier. Because in it we find God humbling himself in Jesus, and we meet the Prodigal Father, waiting for his Prodigal children, ready to embrace us and welcome us home.

ALL NATIONS

One of the lessons Israel has to learn is that being chosen by God is no excuse for nationalistic self-preoccupation. God loves other nations too. Jesus nearly gets killed off earlier than planned when he reminds the crowd (in Luke 4) how God has blessed people from other nations. Israel has a crucial role but no exclusive hold on God’s affections. The first chapter of the Bible has God creating all people in his image.

The Bible itself is a source of unity, despite our varying interpretations! Across the world we have a shared basis to our faith in Christ. We would be lost without the Bible.

EXTRAORDINARY VARIETY OF WRITINGS

The variety of writing and settings has been noted elsewhere. It is an extraordinary mix of styles and genres over hundreds of years of Israel’s history leading up to Christ and the spread of the Gospel into all nations.  Its genius is its diversity AND its unity. It invites us endlessly to discover new relevance and meaning, so that with the Spirit’s inspiration it becomes the word of the LORD.

THE PARTICULAR PLACE OF WISDOM LITERATURE

• Wisdom Literature is an influence in many biblical writings beyond the core OT books of Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.
• King Solomon is closely associated with Wisdom and promoted study of the world around in his court in Jerusalem, probably in formal ‘schools’ as are known in Egypt and Babylon. The Book of Proverbs contains a collection of sayings from Egypt. The Queen of Sheba visits King Solomon indicating not just Solomon’s wisdom, but the sharing of knowledge across nations in the common quest to know and understand the world around.
• Orthodox Israelite wisdom begins with God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). However, its main focus is not faith, but learning from the world around and passing on that knowledge to help people to live well. Derek Kidner writes:
• “Where the bulk of the OT calls us simply to obey and to believe, this part of it …summons us to think hard, as well as humbly; to keep our eyes open, to use our conscience and our common sense, and not to shirk the most disturbing questions.” (D Kidner Wisdom to Live by, p.11)
• The books of Ecclesiastes and Job both challenge the belief that people receive their just desserts, that life is fair. Ecclesiastes is thoroughly subversive to the dominant belief in Israel that the good prosper and live long, while evil is thwarted. The book of Job, like similar writings from other nations, probes the issue of unjust suffering. The innocent sufferer, Job, is vindicated over his ‘comforters’ who wrongly claim he is suffering because of his unconfessed sin.
• Nothing teaches like a well-crafted story, and the Bible has many, from creation through to Jesus’ parables. Teaching stories are a feature of Wisdom Literature.
• Wisdom Literature focuses on creation, the world around. This is inclusive since it transcends all religions, offering common ground in contrast to the tendency of religions to stress their exclusive beliefs.
• Wise men or ‘magi’ come to the baby Jesus. They study the world around and have a key part in the Gospel which affirms their search for understanding as well as affirming the kingship of Jesus over the nations.
• Jesus constantly focuses on the world around in his teaching, drawing especially from nature, farming and people’s everyday life.
• Proverbs chapter 8 creates a wonderful personification of Wisdom: “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works … I was there when he set the heavens in place …. I was the craftsman at his side … filled with delight day after day.” It provides the background for the opening of John’s Gospel where Jesus (“the Word”) is with God in the beginning.
• In the early part of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes a lot about wisdom, referring to Jesus as “the power of God and the wisdom of God”.
• Elsewhere, Paul writes of his desire for the followers of Jesus: “.. that they may have complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3)
• The influence of Wisdom Literature acts as an antidote to overly neat theology, or insistence that there is only one right point of view. It fosters common sense, encourages us not to leave our brain at the church door and welcomes doubters!

THE BIBLE INCLUDES DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF EVENTS RATHER THAN TRYING TO SMOOTH OUT THE DIFFERENCES

• At the heart of the Bible are the FOUR Gospels. Not one combined smoothed out story of Jesus’ life and teaching. There are differences and inconsistencies (though some people spend a long time trying to iron them out). But how much richer we are to have all four! The early Church’s priority was to include inspired writing, not to stand in judgement over every detail as our modern western culture often does.
• We have two creation stories in Genesis because they come from different traditions or sources. But both are included. They could have been tampered with to create one united story, but we would have lost the power of the stories which have their own priorities and inner logic.
• It’s sometimes easy to unpick different sources in the Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy) that later editors sewed together, but the emphasis again seems to have been on using the original material, even if the stories don’t always gel perfectly. Such as the story of Noah and the Flood. (The two sources of the Flood story use different words for God translated usually as ‘God’ and ‘The LORD’ – i.e. Yahweh.)
• All authors have an agenda, whether writing ‘history’ or a letter. The fact that scholars can still discern the different sources, and often the priorities of the editor(s) that tied them together and brought them into their current form, testifies to a desire to be inclusive.
• Under the heading A Spectrum of Truth (1), I pointed out that the writer of 1 & 2 Chronicles gives a very different account of Israelite kings, and especially of David and Solomon, than the account given by the books of Samuel and Kings. Again, those who decided what goes into the Hebrew or Christian Bible knew this but saw inspiration in both accounts so included both.

OTHER EXAMPLES OF INCLUSIVITY

• No-one has ever seen God according to John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16. 1 John 4:12. Exodus 33:20 says no-one can see God and live. BUT in Exodus 34:9 Moses and 73 elders of Israel saw God. Moses regularly sees God ‘face-to-face’. Isaiah (6:1) writes of his terror because he has seen God. Other key characters ‘see’ God. And yet in the mystery of God, I find this inclusion of both ‘truths’ is fitting.
• The Book of Hebrews was one of the documents most spoken against when the early Church was considering what to include in the New Testament. The traditional authorship of Paul was doubted, and one passage (10:26-31) was not felt to be good teaching.  BUT they included it despite their reservations. They could have cut out the offending passage but did not think it was their job to cut out uncomfortable verses out of Scripture. Of course, there were documents not judged worthy of inclusion, but the over-riding rule was to include wherever possible.
• I think the same is true of some of the stories Jesus tells in the Gospels which we still find very hard to understand but which therefore get us thinking hard. For example, Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman, the parable of the unjust steward and the parable of the workers in the vineyard. When something is unusual or hard to understand, scholars often conclude that it must be original since the Church or early editors wouldn’t have made it up! Peter’s embarrassing denial of Jesus is one of many more incidents that reveal the Bible’s tendency to include rather than omit uncomfortable sources.

A SPECTRUM OF TRUTH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Does Jesus reinterpret, fulfil, or change the Old Testament Law? And what force does it have for Christians? Are the New Testament writings a kind of New Testament Law?

These are crucial issues as we try to understand what weight biblical writings have as guidance or regulations to be followed. The Bible contains a spectrum of teaching on each of the above questions. And I don’t think that is very surprising! The more detailed ‘rules’ you have, the more you tend to legalism and lose sight of the most important issues of love, salvation, forgiveness, healing, freedom, justice and the crucial role of the Holy Spirit.

Christians and The Law

• Christians can’t follow the OT sacrificial or ceremonial laws because Jesus’ sacrifice is the fulfilment of that whole system. His blood is shed once for all, and his sacrifice enables us to ‘boldly approach the throne of grace’ or ‘enter the most holy place’ (Hebrews 4:16, 10:19).
• Many laws included a stipulation that they were “a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.”
• In general, what are known as ‘the moral laws’ remain but exactly which those are, and what force they have, is questionable. This was a huge issue for the early Church and remains difficult today.
• Early Christians changed their ‘Sabbath’ day from the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection. Apart from communal worship, Sabbath observance diminished in importance, certainly for Christians. This is despite very strong language in Exodus 31 and the stipulation that anyone working on the Sabbath is to be put to death!
• There was a hotbed of debate among Jews in the early Church as to how much of “the law of Moses” Gentiles were required to obey when they became Christians. And particularly if they must be circumcised, which was so central to Jewish identity. Of course, only Jewish boys and male converts were and are circumcised which raises another shedload of issues.
• Acts 15 records the dispute and a key meeting in Jerusalem to address the issue. Present were the leaders of the early Church including James (“the brother of the Lord”), Peter and Paul. It was probably only 10 or 12 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They decide that only a few requirements of the Jewish Law are necessary for followers of Jesus. Circumcision is not necessary. What must be adhered to by Gentiles is a very short list of food laws and the command to avoid sexual immorality. We must suppose that other more general ‘moral’ laws would continue to be taught, not least the 10 Commandments.
• One of the stipulations from the Church leaders is: food offered to idols should not be eaten. But Paul will later state that eating food offered to idols is fine in some circumstances (1 Corinthians 10). In this and another instance in his 1^st letter to the Corinthians Paul writes: “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 10:23). So, there’s a spectrum of response possible.
• In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus is recorded as saying that he has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it. He says that no change will be made to even the smallest detail of the Law until everything is accomplished. However, he then goes on to reinterpret the Law (“you have heard it said, but I say to you … “) by some very challenging examples which set very demanding moral standards and carry the threat of judgement for those who fall short. No doubt Jesus is ramping up the rhetoric as a rabbi might, but even if we are not meant to take these literally (e.g. to gouge your eye out if it causes you to sin) it’s not exactly clear how we should understand these pronouncements of Jesus.
• The recorded teaching of Jesus is different in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) from that in Mark and Luke. In Mark chapter 10, Jesus interprets a stipulation allowing divorce in Deuteronomy (24:1) as being “because your hearts were hard”. Divorce is one area where Christians have different understandings of biblical teaching and this is not the place to take it further, except to say that a spectrum of views on divorce can clearly be said to be “biblical”.
• In Ephesians chapter 2 (a letter attributed to Paul but of disputed authorship) we read that Christ has abolished in his flesh (by dying on the cross) the Law with its commandments and regulations, to bring about a new unity in him for both Jews and Gentiles.
• In his angry letter to the Galatians, Paul is writing to believers whose faith he had nurtured and who were now being deceived. Influential teachers there wanted the Gentile Christians to be circumcised and obey the Law given by Moses and keep Jewish special days and seasons and festivals. But Paul saw they were in danger of losing their freedom, turning their back on Christ, and allowing themselves to be enslaved again by the Law. If they regarded themselves as subject to the Law, then they must obey all of it to be put right with God – an impossible task.

The Holy Spirit and the Law

• Although the Old Testament clearly expects a heart response to God, the New Testament takes this to a different level, chiefly through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit ‘the Paraclete’. The Greek word means literally the one called alongside.
• The work of the Holy Spirit in the individual and in the Christian community is utterly central to the mission and inner life of every Christian community and individual after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. In his letters to both to the Romans (chapter 8) and Galatians (chapter 5), Paul writes that the Spirit lives within us and enables us to know God as “Abba”, an intimate word for a Father.
• For Paul, the role of the Spirit means: “.. we have been released from the Law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:6)
• Paul’s argument is complex and slightly different in Romans (a later and more careful treatment of the subject) than in his earlier angry letter to the Galatians. The Law is given authority to guide the Israelites through their history and ultimately lead them to Christ. After his ascension, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit from the Father to be their guide in the new age, when the New Covenant is the basis of their relationship with God.
• However, the New Testament documents, and common sense (a much-undervalued theological resource!), make it clear that elements of the OT Law, and fresh teaching in the NT, still need to be followed. Inevitably, there will always be a spectrum of teaching about what parts of the Law and of New Testament are necessary in different times and contexts.
• So, although we are released from subjugation to the Law, the Bible, both OT and NT, continues to act as a check on an unbridled ‘freedom’ of the Spirit.
• For many, the key insight is Paul’s conclusion to the inner conflict between the Holy Spirit and our selfish/sinful nature. We will get it wrong but the deeper truth is we are forgiven: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 1:1-2)

Faith and Works.

• Jesus is recorded as saying ‘by their fruit you shall know them’ (Matthew 7 and 12, Luke 6) – meaning this is how to discern who is good and who is evil. Being judged by the fruit we produce seems very much like being judged by our works – though the fruit Jesus is thinking of might include what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace etc (Galatians chapter 5).
• Also found in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  (Matthew 7:21)
• In Matthew 16:27 Jesus speaks of his return in glory when he “will reward each person according to what he has done.” And Paul echoes this in 1 Corinthians 5:10 when he writes about the judgement seat of Christ where every person will “receive what is due to them for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
• It’s not easy to discern the relative importance of faith and works in the Christian life, but both are always necessary. Paul is clear that we are not justified (made right with God) by obeying the Law but by trusting in God as we know him in Christ – i.e. through faith. We are saved by the grace (unmerited favour) of God who gives us the gift of faith, to do the good works that He has already prepared for us (Ephesians 2:8-10).
• The overall message is clear. True faith will show itself in good works. Without good works our ‘faith’ is dead (James 2). But the question remains: do ‘good works’ actually reveal faith? Almost by definition good works reveal love and so, for me, good works do reveal faith. Thus, those who have no obvious belief in God may still have what we may call ‘saving faith’ which God chooses to honour alongside those who consciously sign up to a confession of faith.

The ‘Law’ of Love

• Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus summarising the Law in the two great commandments: to love God wholeheartedly and to love our neighbour as ourselves. In Luke’s version (chapter 10) Jesus says: “Do this and you will live”. In Matthew’s version (chapter 22) Jesus says: “All the Law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
• This law of love is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching, but it can be difficult to agree on what is loving, since true love will challenge us. In bringing up children, love will discipline and correct. It’s not loving to tolerate every form of behaviour. 
• After washing his disciples’ feet (in John 13), Jesus gives them what he calls a new commandment – to love one another as he has loved them. This will be how people will know they follow Jesus – love expressed in service.
• In Romans chapter 13, Paul writes that all the commandments are summed up in one rule: love your neighbour as yourself and “Therefore love is the fulfilment of the Law.”
• The first letter of John chapter 4 contains a wonderful passage on love and the words: “God is love”. The author goes on to say: “This is love for God: to obey his commandments” (1 John 5:3).
• An essential part of Christian faith is that we can disagree but still love each other. Sadly, history does not show this very much. Cruelty is often perpetrated by Christians against other Christians with whom they disagree. Much debate is plagued by disrespect, bitterness and hatred. A willingness to respect one another and a humility before ‘truth’ would allow for the spectrum of teaching that the Bible inspires. It’s surely the minimum we should expect from each other.

Does Jesus fulfil the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah?

Christians will answer a resounding “Yes” to this question. But it’s not quite so straightforward.

• In Jesus’ day, nobody predicted or expected that the Messiah would have to suffer and die. At least there is no evidence of anyone expecting this. The key OT passage about a suffering servant of Yahweh is found in Isaiah chapters 52 and 53.  But nobody connected it to the Messiah. I’m not for a second disputing that these do point to Jesus and that they are Messianic. The point is that the greatest event in history, the coming of God to us in Jesus, happens in a way the Bible can only with hindsight be seen to foretell. Until then, no-one thought of a suffering Messiah.
• Jesus fulfils all sorts of OT prophecies but mostly Jesus’ Messiahship is understood as the one Christians focus on at Christmas – the prophesied King who is a descendant of king David who will bring in God’s reign, a reign of peace and justice, a restoration of paradise where the lion will lie down with the lamb (Isaiah 11). From the Hebrew language, ‘Messiah’ means ‘Anointed One’ (‘Christ’ is the equivalent from Greek, the language of the NT). Anointing is a key requirement for a king (as we have just observed with King Charles the Third).
• There were many and varied expectations based on Old Testament prophecies – the kingdom of Israel would be restored (the disciples ask Jesus when this will happen in Acts 1) and Jerusalem would be highly honoured among the nations.
• OT prophets write of the ‘Day of the LORD’ (‘Day of Yahweh’). Sometimes it is a day of judgement of Israel’s enemies, sometimes a historical and terrible day of judgement and salvation for all nations (including Israel) and sometimes it is the day when Yahweh will intervene to draw the whole world into a new age, best described as the reign of God or the kingdom of God. No human agent or Messiah is included in prophecies concerning ‘the Day of the LORD’.
• The problem is that this Day of the LORD doesn’t come with Jesus, it gets postponed until he will return in glory (e.g. Matthew 24), as does the vision of the kingdom from Isaiah 11. Many Jews therefore believe that Jesus cannot be the Messianic King of the Old Testament, because the accompanying expectations don’t happen. There is no hint of a ‘now but not yet’ in the Old Testament, no hint of the kingdom coming in two stages, although Jesus does address this by his promise to return in glory.
• However, the promises about Israel and ‘last things’ do tend to ‘roll over’. Ideal visions for the nation are painted before entering the land. Then again with the promises to king David. Then on return from exile (in two stages Isaiah 40-55, and then later Isaiah 56-65). These, mixed in with some extraordinary passages about God’s love for Israel, keeps the nation looking forward in hope when things go wrong. So, the promises tend to roll over, and they never fail to be big promises.
• I absolutely believe in the ‘now but not yet’ of Jesus’ kingdom. And I think this is a warning. A warning about thinking we know from the Bible what God will do or what he thinks. None of the OT prophecies, even taken all together, come close to predicting who Jesus would be and what he would do. It’s the same if we try to predict details of the end times when Jesus will come again. It’s a warning for thinking we know the mind of God.
• But if we accept that the ways of God are past finding out (as in Isaiah 55) then everything we think we know will be held humbly and in the conviction that ‘God’s thoughts are not our thoughts neither are his ways our ways’ (as in Isaiah 55). This is vital in understanding and interpreting the Bible.

And finally, a recognition of some other important issues where there is a spectrum of views and of Biblical teaching. You could add yours, no doubt!

• How or when Jesus will return.
• How to structure the Church – according to ‘Offices’ (Deacons, Bishops etc) or charismatic gifts (Body of Christ).
• Priesthood.
• Gender
• What we teach and practice about Healing or Prayer or the work of the Holy Spirit.
• What happens when we die.
• Sexual Morality
• Rules and practice for ‘Holy Communion’, ‘The Lord’s Supper’ etc

WHICH IS TRUE: ‘TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH’ OR ‘MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK’? I love the book of Proverbs. It’s an example of WISDOM LITERATURE and is mostly two-line sayings about ordinary life. When I’ve taught it, I’m surprised how little people dip into it, because it’s great fun, and of course, very pithy and witty too. One of my favourite proverbs is:

Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand

is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. (Proverbs 26:9)

Proverbs need good handling – whether old ones or new ones. There’s always a context and it’s often vital.  I’ve asked about the two modern proverbs above (‘too many cooks’ etc), because it illustrates the point well (I might have used Proverbs 26:4 & 26:5). At times we really need more help, and at other times we just need people to get out of the kitchen!

There’s a spectrum of possibility when we are doing something. At one end of the spectrum we need no more help at all. At the other end we need as much as we can get. So, in some situations, encouraging people to go and help is just what’s needed. In other situations, it is totally the wrong thing. It all depends … The key is being able to discern. That’s wisdom.

The Bible can be like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand. Misapplied teaching can be very destructive. We’ve probably all come across dodgy teaching from the Book of Revelation and its prophesies, sometimes creating great turmoil. Thoughtless teaching about healing (misusing Bible passages) can be incredibly damaging. In the temptations of Jesus, the devil quotes Scripture but abuses it.

There are, of course, the timeless truths such as many churches proclaim in a Creed (a statement of belief), be that a traditional one like the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed, or a shorter ‘modern’ one. But how we live as disciples of Christ and as his ambassadors is much more context-driven and it’s not surprising that issues crop up which are harder to agree on. We are totally committed to the big principles of love, justice, forgiveness, mercy, the fruit of the Spirit etc. but how to apply and embody those values in each time and place and culture is often not straightforward.

A SPECTRUM OF TRUTH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

• ISRAEL AND SURROUNDING NATIONS.

On the one hand: Israel is called to be holy, set apart from other nations. And ethnically pure. NOT to mix with surrounding nations, though they are to treat the foreigner among them kindly. But they are NOT to intermarry because they may be led astray.  In an extreme application of this, Ezra insists that all foreign wives are divorced and sent away after the exile (Ezra chapter 10).

On the other hand: The book of Ruth celebrates the story of how Ruth, a Moabite widow marries an Israelite man and becomes the great grandmother of the iconic king David.

On the one hand: Most prophets prophesy punishment for foreign nations and the ultimate triumph of a repentant Israel (e.g Joel and Nahum). It’s pretty much the job of a prophet in Israel to prophesy against the nation’s enemies.

On the other hand: Isaiah records God’s punishment but also his love for other nations and how they too (Egypt, Assyria and Sudan in particular) will share in future peace and blessing, worshipping God as his people alongside Israel. In chapter 45, Cyrus the Persian ruler is called Yahweh’s ‘Anointed ‘ i.e. Messiah.

Through the prophet Jeremiah, Yahweh calls the king of Babylon his servant, and tells the exiles taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to pray for Babylon’s peace and prosperity.

The book of Jonah recounts the faithful repentance of Israel’s arch-enemy Nineveh (Assyria), and the shame of the Israelite prophet who simply wants them destroyed. Yahweh says: “Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

Thus, although hatred for enemies and ethnic purity are dearly held doctrines in Israel, there is a spectrum of responses to other nations in the OT.

• SACRED WORSHIP OR SOCIAL JUSTICE?

On the one hand: the details of sacred worship (construction of the Tabernacle and the Temple, rules about vestments, sacrifices, festivals, ritual laws etc.) take up a huge part of the Books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, and several other books including the later chapters of the Book of Ezekiel as it looks forward, post exile, to a vision of renewed worship in a new temple in Jerusalem.

On the other hand: prophets like Isaiah, Amos and Hosea prioritise social justice and morals above formal worship and say that Israel’s worship has become a burden to God. He desires mercy, not sacrifice. He longs to see justice. God is even said to hate their assemblies, their sacrifices, prayers and incense, demanding action on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the widows and the orphans.

• THE GOOD WILL PROSPER AND LIVE LONG?

On the one hand: The dominant message of the OT is that leading a good life will bring prosperity and long life. This is an assumption throughout the OT for the whole nation (obedience = blessing), and most baldly stated for individuals in the Book of Proverbs.

On the other hand: The Book of Job presents a good person (Job) who is innocent but nevertheless terrible things happen to him. The book is a protracted argument between the innocent sufferer and his ‘comforters’ who are (wrongly) convinced his suffering must be the result of his unconfessed sin.

Like Job, The Book of Ecclesiastes is also a full-frontal attack on any connection between goodness and prosperity, and therefore on the view that we can see God’s fairness in our experience of life. “All is vanity” is its characteristic refrain.

• THE KING.

On the one hand: When the Israelites demand a king (1 Samuel 8) to lead them so they can be like other nations, Yahweh says (to Samuel) it is a sign that the people have rejected him (Yahweh). And forgotten their calling to be a holy nation, different to all the other nations. But God tells Samuel to agree to their request and anoint a king for them. So, Israel gets its first king, Saul.

On the other hand: Moses, in the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 17 (before Israel enters the land), foresees Israel eventually asking for a king and there’s no problem just a bit of advice for the king and Yahweh will choose one for them.  God will later promise the second king, David, that a descendent of his will always reign in Jerusalem (if the nation is faithful). David becomes a revered figure and an icon of the future Messiah. So, it turns out to be a good thing that Israel did the wrong thing and asked for a king!

• HISTORIES OF DAVID AND SOLOMON TOLD VERY DIFFERENTLY

On the one hand: the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings tell the stories of Israel’s first kings Saul, David and Solomon in some detail. There is a readiness to show all three in a critical light. Compared to the Book of Chronicles it’s a ‘warts and all’ approach.

On the other hand: The Book of Chronicles uses large chunks of the books of Samuel and Kings, but it omits everything that might detract from David’s halo. It presents him as a hero of the faith. There’s much left out, most notably David’s adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. It never refers to David’s weakness, as in later years when he faced the rebellion of his son Absalom, and the political machinations leading up to Solomon finally getting his father’s blessing to succeed him on the throne.

One the one hand: in 2 Samuel 7, David wants to build a Temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant, but Yahweh tells him that it’s not his job to do that, but he will give him a son to succeed him on the throne and his son will build the Temple. We hear no more about it in David’s reign. The Temple is planned and built in Solomon’s reign.

On the other hand: In the Book of Chronicles (1 Chronicles chapters 22-29), David directs the preparation for building the Temple and plans the work of the priests and especially the Levites for their role in leading worship in the temple. Thus, the Temple worship (and role of the Levites) gets the great king David’s stamp of approval in this version of events.

On the one hand: According to 1 Kings 11, it is Solomon’s idolatry which causes the kingdom to divide in two. Yahweh tells Solomon that after his death he will tear 10 tribes away from Solomon’s descendants because of his unfaithfulness (leaving just Judah and Benjamin).

On the other hand: In Chronicles, Solomon is glorified alongside David, and can do little wrong. There is much about his wealth and wisdom, and nothing about his hundreds of foreign wives and descent into idolatry. Most of the blame for the rupture of Israel falls on Jereboam who leads the rebellion against Solomon’s son Rehoboam and becomes northern Israel’s first king. Thereafter the northern kingdom is ignored by the Chronicler although the Book of Kings tells the stories of its kings up to their defeat and exile enforced by Assyria in 722 BC.

• THE PSALMS. Perhaps no book in the Bible reveals the spectrum of truth better than the Psalms. This is because the spectrum of truth is not about what is true and what is false, but about how truth varies with the context. And the Psalms take us through the whole gamut of life’s experiences, saying how totally trustworthy God is, or complaining about how he has gone back on his promises; celebrating his saving help or complaining that he has forgotten us; finding creation a magnificent and trustworthy place, or a scary one because God may withdraw his blessing at any time.

• John Goldingay, brilliant author of the ‘Old Testament for Everyone’ commentaries (my former OT teacher), writes in Theological Diversity and the Authority of the Old Testament (1987 p.13): “Israelite faith changes with the changing world; theology is a historical affair.”

The New Testament was written over a much shorter period. Probably all within 70 years of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul’s letters were generally the earliest writings and date from about AD 50.

Despite the short time period of composition of the NT documents, it was not until the late 4^th Century that the wider Church agreed consistently what to include. However, most had been widely used and circulated since at least the 2^nd Century. The documents were judged on three grounds: the history of their use, analysis of their contents and their authorship (they were all thought to have ‘apostolic authorship’). There were other writings which were, and are, highly valued, which Christians were encouraged to read, but not given the exclusive recognition of what we now know as the New Testament.

Inevitably, there were other documents not considered worthy of this level of approval, or were considered positively misleading or ‘heretical’. There’s really no evidence that alternative gospel histories were suppressed by the early Church, but that sort of story does sell books!

THE GOSPELS. In the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) we have four different accounts of Jesus’ life and teaching, his death and resurrection. Mark is usually thought to be the first written down, in mid to late 60s AD, then Matthew and Luke and finally John’s Gospel, maybe in the 90s. Undoubtedly earlier documents existed which were incorporated into the Gospels we now have, but we can’t now identify those sources.

Writing down and recording the many stories about Jesus was not a concern immediately after his death, but it became vital because a) The people who knew Jesus first-hand were dying out, so their memories had to be gathered and written down and b) the early Christians expected Jesus to return soon and when this didn’t happen it became clear that future generations would need his life and teaching recording.

Though styles and emphasis are different, the first three in particular have much common content and are usually referred to as the Synoptic (meaning ‘one view’) Gospels because they present a similar or united view of Jesus: Matthew, Mark and Luke.

John is generally thought to be the last written, with much greater differences in style and content. Many stories are only told in John’s account. One explanation is that John’s followers (the Johannine Community) had at least Mark’s Gospel as a source so, far from wanting to repeat it, they focused on what they knew was different and important to them. But we might still ask why a story so extraordinary and important as Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead Is not included in any of the other three Gospels.

What is indisputable is that the four Gospels only contain a small portion of the things done and the words spoken by Jesus in public or to his disciples. The last verse of John’s Gospel says that the world couldn’t contain all the books needed to record everything Jesus did (John 21:25).

It’s obvious that stories about Jesus were told and re-told repeatedly among his early followers. Some may have been written down soon after his death, some much later. I am sure that sometimes we are very close to the actual words of Jesus, and sometimes we are reading a summary very much influenced by the authors of the Gospels. Luke’s Gospel begins by making it clear he has carefully gathered information from stories handed down over the years.

I find this human process immensely freeing when I come to understanding and interpreting the Gospel accounts, and the whole thing is much more credible because the accounts vary a bit, and the details are sometimes hard to reconcile. I’ve never been troubled by such variations.

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. A history of the early Church, this is the sequel to Luke’s Gospel by the same author. Luke’s Gospel tells the story of what Jesus said and did in the power of the Holy Spirit, and Acts is the story of how the Church carried on the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s the story of the Gospel spreading out from Jerusalem across the world, and particularly to Rome, the centre of the Roman empire. Non-Jews are welcomed as circumcision and other Jewish rites and regulations are agreed to be no longer necessary (although this remained a major point of contention).

THE LETTERS OF PAUL. It’s hard to overestimate the immense contribution St Paul has made through his missionary journeys preaching, teaching and starting Christian communities around Asia Minor, and the theological foundation he has given the Christian faith through his letters to the new Christian communities in their own contexts. They are not theological treatises but address real situations which we can sometimes discern by what Paul writes. The Epistle to the Romans is an exception in that it appears to be laying out Paul’s theology quite systematically. It was probably conceived as a letter of introduction, laying out his beliefs and his credentials in anticipation of his plan to travel to Rome, the centre of the Roman Empire.

With occasional help from James and the early Church in Jerusalem, Paul steered the early Church through extremely stormy waters, not least in determining what Jews should keep, and non-Jews take on board, from the OT Law when they start to follow Jesus. He gave firm founding principles which have continued to light the way for Christians across many times and cultures.

Even within Paul’s writing, the situations change from early writings to later writings over the 15-20 years he writes. His theology can be seen both to develop as the early Church develops and vary in emphasis according to the issues raised by the Christian community he is writing to. The order of his letters in the NT is basically on length (like prophets in the OT)and certainly not on which was written first.

There is disagreement about the authorship of some of Paul’s letters: as to whether they are genuinely from Paul or written by someone under his direction or by someone claiming the authority of Paul’s name, believing they are writing in the spirit of Paul.

HEBREWS. Written for Jewish Christians by an unknown author, it’s more a sermon than a letter. There is much use of Old Testament scripture, some of which is creative! It focuses on the supremacy of Christ and of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant.  Acceptance as a part of the NT was questioned, because of two issues.  1) the letter had been attributed to Paul but significant leaders in the early Church (correctly) doubted this and 2) because one short passage (6:4-6) states that repentance is no longer possible for one who sins after coming to know Christ. Not many accepted this harsh teaching.

GENERAL EPISTLES.  James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1,2 &3 John, Jude. 

JAMES. Author said to be James, traditionally the brother of Jesus, but many dispute this. He focuses on living out the Christian life in a practical way, stressing Love and Wisdom. As in wisdom literature, there are stark warnings – especially about controlling the tongue. JAMES is thought by some to conflict with Pauline theology because it stresses works and conduct rather than faith.

1 PETER. Author may have been the apostle Peter from Rome in mid-60s AD. He has much to say about suffering and identity to scattered Churches in Asia Minor (Turkey). It is sometimes thought to be a sermon for newly baptised believers.

2 PETER. Most scholars think it was written well after Peter died (so after 65 AD), by followers of Peter writing in his name. Probably the most questioned document before being included in the NT collection.

1 JOHN. Likely to have been written by a community of Christians following John the apostle: known as the ‘Johannine’ community. It is a strong sermon against wrong teaching, moral failings and lack of love, with an inspiring opening and a wonderful passage about love which is often used as a wedding reading (4:7-21). It’s interesting to compare it with John’s Gospel which is confident in the Holy Spirit’s guidance, but here Christian communities are exhorted to be united in what they believe and to reject deviations from the universally agreed faith.

JUDE. A letter attributed to James’ brother Jude, but few accept that he was the actual author. It is a diatribe against ‘godless men’ guilty of immorality and refusing to accept authority.

THE BOOK OF REVELATION. The author is John, exiled to the island of Patmos. Exactly which ‘John’ is not clear. REVELATION is unique in the NT. Similar writing of the time is known outside the Bible, but in the Bible only the second half of the OT Book of Daniel is like it. Both are ‘Apocalyptic’ writing – meaning the revealing (revelation) of secret things.

Revelation lifts the veil and we read about amazing beasts and learn about heaven and hell and angels and suffering in the battle between good and evil. About God’s shaping of history in the past, present and future. Its main purpose is probably to give encouragement to Christians in very difficult times when they may be wondering if God is in control, especially against the might of human empires, and Rome in particular. Fear of the Romans and persecution may well be one reason why this widely circulated subversive document is written almost in code.

We will, even more than the original audience, struggle to understand many of the allusions. But amidst the mystery, perhaps we’re not expected to do much more than glimpse and trust the truth that God is in control, and through Christ evil will be punished, faith and goodness rewarded and all suffering finally ended when he comes again to make everything new.

In addition to the apocalyptic stories, there are some much more straightforward sections at the beginning and end of the book. The letters to the Churches are great food for thought at the start, and the concluding two chapters are totally inspirational as we envisage the glorious end of this age: suffering and death defeated and the kingdom of God fulfilled.

The scriptures we know as the Old Testament were available to Jesus and Jews of his time as individual scrolls in the Temple in Jerusalem, and in local synagogues. The collection came together over several centuries by many different authors and groups of editors and were copied by hand again and again. Many stories began as ‘oral tradition’, stories told out loud and passed on from generation to generation, eventually being written down to form part of the record of God’s dealings with Israel, as a resource to help Israel know their God and how to be faithful in that relationship.

IN THE BEGINNING. I spent several years living and working in Sudan and Uganda. I discovered that most tribal groups had stories of their origins and of how the world as they know it came into being – their creation stories. Probably all peoples do in some form or another.

What we have in the Bible are the stories Israel came to tell, starting with their two creation stories. I’ve written elsewhere about them under the title ‘Discerning the Spirit in the Midst of Chaos’. They are foundational and reached something like their present form in the 6^th century BC when Israel was in exile. Like many African creation stories, Genesis 2 and 3 (the Garden of Eden) tell a story explaining why God, who loves the people, is now distant and does not live with his people. The cause is human failure or ‘sin’. In the next chapters, the failures multiply as Cain kills his bother Abel and the human family gradually descends into evil and chaos. So God resolves to destroy all living creatures by a huge flood and start again with Noah and his family and the animals which come into the ark.

The last story of the tower of Babylon in Genesis 11 has human beings working together to build a tower which reaches to the heavens in order to ‘make a name for ourselves’. This attempt at self-glorification is a challenge to, and a rejection of, their God, so he divided them by making them speak different languages and they then scattered across the world.

A SKETCHY OVERVIEW OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY. The story of Israel starts in Genesis 12, with God choosing and making promises to Abraham and Sarah in about the 17^th or 18^th Century BC (dating is difficult). God calls Abraham and Sarah to leave Haran and takes them south to the land of Canaan. He promises to give the land of Canaan to their descendants and make them a great nation. Through God’s blessing of Abraham and his descendants the whole world will be blessed.

The ‘history’ takes us very selectively through stories of Abraham’s descendants Isaac, and then Jacob whose family become slaves in Egypt where they grow numerous before being freed under the leadership of Moses and eventually entering Canaan in the 13^th century BC under their new leader, Joshua.

It’s a fairly disparate nation in the time of the “Judges” in the 12^th century BC. The 12 tribes are finally united under the first kings Saul, David and Solomon in the 11^th and early 10^th centuries. After Solomon 10 northern tribes rebel, and the one kingdom becomes two kingdoms. The descendants of King David rule in Jerusalem (over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) until their eventual defeat and exile to Babylon in 587 BC. The northern kingdom (Ephraim or just ‘Israel’) has its centre in Samaria and is defeated earlier and taken into exile by Assyria in 722 BC.

In the 6^th Century the Judah-ites (from the southern kingdom) in Babylon are allowed to return home by decree of Cyrus the Persian Emperor. Apart from a brief period of rebellion, Israel then lives under the authority of the changing regional superpowers up to (and beyond) Jesus’ day when Rome is in control. The last writings in the OT (not including some disputed ‘Deutero-canonical’ books and a couple of additions to existing prophetic books) are from the 3^rd or 4^th Century BC.

The Bible is not just a human record, but through Israel’s history and by the recording of that history, God makes himself known and his purposes known, not just for Israel, but for all people. In this way, Israel is a priestly nation, making God known to the world.

THE EXODUS. One of the most wonderful stories ever told in the Bible or anywhere else, is that of Jacob’s son Joseph (of the many-coloured coat) in the Book of Genesis. Joseph’s adventures take him to Egypt where he becomes favoured and powerful under the Egyptian king, Pharoah. He is then able to bring his father and the rest of his family to Egypt where they are well provided for in a time of famine. God has given Jacob a new name, Israel, so his children and their extended families become known as the Israelites.

Over generations, that initial welcome of the Israelites by the Egyptians turns into fear and then enslavement.  God eventually calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of that slavery. When Moses is called in Exodus 3 (at the burning bush) God reveals his special name to him as YHWH or ‘Yahweh’. This holy name is a name which cannot be translated but is linguistically very close to ‘I am’ or ‘I will be’ and God does promise Moses: “I will be what I will be” (or possibly “I am who I am”). Most Bibles follow the tradition to substitute LORD (always in capitals) for ‘Yahweh’, out of respect for the holiness of the name and so as not to misuse it, as is required by the 3^rd Commandment.

The Exodus is the key event in creating Israel’s nationhood and reveals their God as the one who liberates them from slavery. The 10 Commandments are prefaced by the statement “I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 20). Through Moses, Yahweh institutes the annual Passover Festival to recall the events of their liberation, ensuring the nation never forgets.

THE HEART OF THE OT IS THE COVENANT. The heart of the OT is the historic (13^th century) giving of the Law to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai (Exodus chapter 19 onwards). This is a few months after the EXODUS and many years before they reach the promised land. God offers the Israelites a formal ‘covenant’ (a sort of treaty) to be his chosen people, and Israel accepts this knowing it will mean complete obedience. Then, and only then, God gives them (through Moses) rules and guidance for how to be his people, starting with the 10 Commandments. This agreement or treaty between God and his people is called a ‘covenant’, which is sealed in a ritual of blood sacrifice (the blood of the covenant) on the holy mountain in Exodus chapter 24.

Christians call this the ‘Old Covenant’ or the ‘Old Testament’ (from the Latin word used for covenant: testamentum). Christians believe that the Old Covenant, which was the basis of God’s relationship with Israel, is superseded by the New Covenant (i.e. New Testament), as promised in the OT and subsequently fulfilled in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Luke’s Gospel records Jesus as saying, over a glass of wine to be shared at the Last Supper: “this cup is the new covenant in my blood”. Jesus, then, is the new basis of God’s covenant relationship with all peoples.

THE PENTATEUCH. The most precious books of the OT are normally thought to be the first 5 documents, known as the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) or sometimes just as ‘the Law’ (the term is very flexible). Most scholars think that Deuteronomy is the first book of a history (the Deuteronomic History) which continues through Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings.

THE PROPHETS. A prophet is one who speaks on behalf of God. Sometimes that involves predictions of the future. The ‘Major’ Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) come first in our Bibles because they are the longest writings. The ‘Minor’ Prophets are simply shorter documents. They address varying historic situations: before exile, during exile and after Judah (the former Southern kingdom) begins to return from exile.

POETRY. There’s lots of poetry in the OT – not just in the poetic books of Psalms, Lamentations, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Most of Isaiah and much of Jeremiah is poetry. Most bibles show poetry by the way the words are set out on the page.  Poetry helps passages to be learned and memorised. But it’s also important because we read poetry differently to prose – for example, the poet uses more colourful language, images and metaphors.

VARIETY. There are collections of prophetic writings, wise sayings, teaching stories, songs, prayers, lists of ancestors, building instructions, love poetry, some strange apocalyptic writing and much more. The OT is a remarkably varied collection of documents, written as a record to be read aloud to people of faith.

THE LAND. A generation after the Exodus and the covenant at Mount Sinai, after the death of Moses, Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan, the land promised first to Abraham hundreds of years earlier. The extent of the land, and the amount they conquer is disputed, but there is no doubt that the land is central to the identity of Israel’s people. Their eventual exile from this land will devastate the people, but it will bring crucial fresh understanding of God (Yahweh) and what it means to be his people.

WORSHIP. There is a lot of detailed instruction about ‘the cult’ i.e. formal worship. About services and festivals and sacrifices. About purification, ritual holiness and holy articles used in worship including clothing. And a great deal of detail about the construction and re-construction (post exile) of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the New Temple envisaged by the prophet Ezekiel.

KINGDOM. After Israel conquers the promised land, they are a disunited nation of 12 tribes for at least 100 years, battling for control of the land, mostly against the Philistines. The people demand a king so they can be like other nations. This request is granted though it is not warmly received by God or the prophet Samuel, who see it as a rejection of God and his call to be different from other nations.

Nonetheless, Saul is made king followed by David who (despite his failings) becomes the example of a good king, praised as a man after God’s own heart. Depending which bit of the Bible you are reading, God gives David either a conditional promise or an unconditional promise that a descendent of his will always be on the throne of Israel. (Psalm 89 complains to God that he has broken this promise after Jerusalem is destroyed and there is no king)

The kingdom splits into two after Solomon. David’s descendants continue on the throne in Jerusalem for the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin which form the Southern kingdom. Various dynasties then rule in the northern Kingdom over the rest of Israel centred in Samaria. The ‘history’ of both kingdoms is told chiefly in relation to the faithfulness or otherwise of the kings. The northern kingdom is finally exiled after several defeats by the Assyrians in 722 BC. It never reforms. The people who replace the Israelites in Samaria and the former northern kingdom are a people mostly brought in by Assyria from other nations. They start to worship the God of the land and will become the Samaritans of Jesus’ time. 

The southern kingdom is finally sent into exile in 587 BC after defeat by the Babylonians. They are allowed to return by decree of Cyrus, the King of Persia, in 539 BC. They never again have their own king, although they do fight and assert their independence for some years during the 2^nd Century BC in the Maccabean Revolt.  

DEVASTATING BUT CREATIVE EXILE. The exile to Babylon in 587 BC meant the loss of the three main things that gave Israel identity: the Land, the Temple and the Monarchy. It was devastating to the people and their leaders – how could this happen to us? There were doubts and deep questions about their own identity and who their God was, which in turn led to new ways of understanding God, his purposes for them and how they should fulfil their calling to be his people. Scholars think that many OT writings reached their current form during this creative time of deep angst and reflection.

Chiefly recorded in the prophetic writings of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah (chapters 40-55), the exile seems to have led to a better understanding that: 1) Yahweh is the God of all nations shaping all of history to fulfil his purposes. 2) He is holy and glorious beyond their imagination. 3) The returned exiles are still to be a holy nation at the centre of God’s purposes for the whole world.

‘God’s Word’ is a widely used phrase that means different things.

1. Sometimes it simply means ‘The Bible’. It’s a sort of shorthand, but I think this may give a wrong impression. As if it were a series of sermons spoken or written by God, and/or a set of instructions from God. It doesn’t do justice to the variety of biblical writings over many centuries from many ancient historical settings and radically different cultures.
2. Our world is full of searchers. People looking for answers to life’s big questions. I often wonder what these searchers think in Christian communities when they hear the Bible spoken of as ‘God’s Word’. I’m all for the awesome respect that may bring. But while many parts of the Bible will speak immediately and deeply to us, especially as we are guided in early stages of faith, the reality of engaging with the whole Bible is much more complex, particularly as to how it is, or becomes, God’s Word to us. Sometimes the phrase can be used to shut down our questioning.
3. Of course, the Bible needs to be read (in public or private) to become God’s word for us today. It doesn’t happen by looking at the cover or touching it! In many church services the reader may finish a Bible reading by saying: “This is the Word of the Lord” and the congregation respond saying “Thanks be to God”. Reading any biblical passage (aloud or not) carries the potential for it to become God’s word to us. It may or may not require further study, explanation or preaching to bring it alive.

I have often heard a reading in Church finish with: “This is the Word of the Lord” and thought: ‘yes, at one time, but it’s way off the mark in this time and place.’ And then if the preacher avoids speaking about the difficult reading, I wonder what on earth the congregation (and especially a visitor) ends up thinking when the passage is a weird one from the Book of Revelation, or some difficult teaching about, for example, divorce, or women keeping silent in Church or the total annihilation of the enemy in an OT reading.

I love an alternative suggested by the Iona community at the beginning of a Bible reading: “Let us listen for the Word of the Lord” and the congregation respond: “Our ears are open”.

4. But above all, JESUS IS GOD’S WORD. Without the Bible we would know little of Jesus. I like the image of the Bible as the clothes (as in the nativity story) which are unfolded to reveal Jesus.  He is the supreme ‘Word of God’ as written in the opening verses of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The passage goes on to assert: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (The Greek word translated ‘Word’ is ‘Logos’ which also means ‘Message’)

THE BRASS EAGLE IN CHURCH

Otley Parish Church, like many Churches, has a large brass lectern, with a big brass eagle on top, where the Bible is placed and from which it is read in Church services.

Children from our local schools would come for class visits to the church, and one of their questions would often be – why is that bird there?

I would explain the use of the lectern and hold up the Bible saying something like: “It’s a wonderful book. The Bible has changed the world, and the lives of countless people, for good.  But nothing happens unless it’s read and enters people’s hearts. The eagle reminds us that the words on the page need to take wings and fly into our hearts, and that’s what the eagle is for – to carry the words into our hearts.”

Jesus is walking with his disciples through a field. It’s the Sabbath and they are picking corn and eating it. The Pharisees (who were maybe hiding in the hedges?) see him and tell him it’s unlawful. Jesus answers that they’ve got their priorities wrong. Human beings (Matthew chapter 12, also in Mark 2 and Luke 6) were not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for human beings. Thus, a legalistic definition of OT Law (don’t harvest corn on the Sabbath because that is classed as ‘work’) is trumped by God’s priority of providing for the people he loves. Jesus goes on to quote his Father’s words through the prophet Hosea “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  And concludes the encounter with the Pharisees by telling them that he (the Son of Man) is Lord of the Sabbath anyway.

The Pharisees are often condemned for being legalistic and losing sight of the bigger concerns of God (like mercy and justice). This legalistic attitude is rooted in Israel’s history as reflected in a considerable portion of the Old Testament. Israel was spiritually and psychologically devastated by its exile from the land and the destruction of Jerusalem (especially the Temple) in 587 BC. And the fact that a Davidic king no longer ruled on the throne in Jerusalem. The cause of this was understood to be their unfaithfulness to the Law, to the God-given regulations. Such unfaithfulness must never happen again. Israel needed to recover its calling to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, defined by obedience to God by which they meant the Law.

So, observing the Law became the dominant national priority after the exile. The story of this new beginning is told in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (see esp. chapters 8-10). Religious leaders became focused on preventing Israel breaking the Law. To do this, they ‘built a fence around the Law’, collecting or introducing copious detailed man-made regulations designed to prevent Israelites from even getting near to breaking the Law. While this response is understandable, it’s hard to see how it could avoid descending into an unhealthy legalism.

And in Jesus’ time, he singles out the Pharisees in particular for this error.

The relationship with God has always been primary. God chooses and offers relationship and then sets the rules to make the relationship work. He chose Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. At Mount Sinai (Exodus 19), through Moses, God asked the people of Israel if they wanted to follow him wholeheartedly, and when they replied “YES”, he gave them the 10 Commandments and the whole of ‘the Law’ to help them live in a right relationship with him and with each other.

Obeying the commandments did not make Israel the people of God, as if they could become his people by obedience (though they could lose that privilege through disobedience). God in his goodness kept on choosing Israel despite their disobedience.

It’s not that different with the Bible as a whole. Although it’s obviously much more than laws and instructions, it’s given not to make us God’s people by ‘obeying’ it but as a gift to help us live as God’s people, with the help of the Holy Spirit and each other. It’s God we are always required to obey.

The prophet Jeremiah, writing before the exile (chapter 31) foretells a time when nobody will need the Bible, because the law will be written by God into everybody’s heart and mind, and everyone will know God. Much the same promise in made in Ezekiel chapter 36. It’s part of the vision of the coming kingdom of God – where God’s good purposes for us and all creation are fulfilled, when love triumphs and all evil is overcome.

According to Deuteronomy chapter 6 the Israelites are to love Yahweh with all their heart. It’s what Jesus says is the most important commandment. God’s commandments are to be in their hearts. This is repeated in Deuteronomy 10. Loving God is certainly to honour and obey him, but it goes much deeper, beyond obedience to a response to God from the centre of our being. This is very much at the heart of NT teaching (strongly linked to the work of the Holy Spirit) but it is still very much present in the OT.

The coming of Jesus, his life, death and resurrection, starts the final phase of history which will conclude with the kingdom of God in all its glory. After his Ascension, Jesus ushers in this new age of the Spirit by sending the Spirit from the Father on the day of Pentecost (as recorded in Acts chapter 2) but the final fulfilment is yet to come. Christ has indeed come to set us free, not just from the shackles of sin and death, but into a freedom that comes through the conversion of our hearts and minds: a new birth which results in the law of love being written there. And when love rules at the centre of our being, we can’t go wrong.

The trouble is, of course, the ‘now but not yet’ nature of this. In Jesus, the kingdom of God has come, is here, but it is not yet fulfilled. Our hearts are changed, converted even, and we are new creations in Christ. But still our sinful nature lives on, so we constantly find ourselves falling short and acting selfishly, a conflict which St Paul groaningly acknowledges in himself (Romans 7). But then in chapter 8 he goes on to celebrate that there is now no condemnation because in Christ we have been set free from the old law of sin and death.

So we live with the tension between the freedom we have in Christ and the guidance and regulation that is still needed in Christian communities.

I have often come across Churches and preaching where the use of the Bible overshadows and obscures the Holy Spirit and the lively relationship with God, becoming deathly in its adherence to a very selective use of the Bible. And there are usually expectations or rules and codes of conduct which are purely cultural. Often this subverts the freedom in Christ which is already ours in part and which is our ultimate destiny.

Of course, there is a complex relationship and a tension between the freedom of ‘the Gospel’ and the restraint of ‘the Law’, as reflected in the teachings and actions of Jesus and St Paul (I find Romans 7:6 most helpful). Those tensions are not resolved in the Bible but passed on to us to chart our way through in our time and culture.