Context Capitulation
The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Psalm 93:1 NASB
Not be moved– If you have been a reader of this daily investigation project for awhile, then you know that I don’t shy away from controversy. You might even conclude that I encourage it. Of course, I won’t admit that. As I have written in other places, “Don’t call me a heretic until I actually am one.” But I will admit this: I just can’t take the pablum served up as deep religious thinking. If I’m going to explore some issue, I want to search it out to the bottom. I’m not interested in the typical surface platitudes that make an audience think they have asked the tough questions when all that has really occurred is an exercise in learning vocabulary.
Now you might ask why I’m so exasperated today. I’ll tell you. I have finished reading a book that claims to unravel various Christian assertions, thereby helping the reader understand the true message of Christianity. This book comes with glowing accolades by no less than eleven famous Christians. It meets all the requirements necessary for a Christian “best-seller,” i.e., lots of personal anecdotes; a “homey” emotional writing style; the use of theological and scientific vocabulary; and a personally compelling series of intellectual changes brought about by encounters with a messy world. It’s packaged nicely. It’s just a bit over the 200 page easily readable limit for average readers. It doesn’t require any real technical understanding of the issues or arguments. It uses eighth-grade words. It has some creative metaphors.[1] In fact, it’s exactly what you would expect from an author in popular Christian literature.
But these are not the reasons I find it objectionable. Well, these aren’t the only reasons.
Perhaps I’m just a bit too academic. That’s why I like Heschel and Waltke, Zornberg and Paglia. I like authors who make me think, who push deeper and deeper so that I walk away changed. I don’t like “intellectual” pablum. I don’t like simple questions with simpler answers, even if those questions and answers challenge doctrinally-held positions. I want you to show me why you think you’re right, not serve me another round of ideas I have already explored. And that’s the problem with this book. It doesn’t really come to grips with anything substantial. Yes, it raises the usual intellectual challenges to Fundamentalism, but that isn’t anything new. This author may have experienced a conversion from a Fundamentalist background, but what the author presents as an alternative is just as naive. It’s just “modern” naive. Of course, it makes the reader feel as if some real transition has taken place. But the context hasn’t changed at all. The classic theological assumptions are still firmly in place: God knows everything including all future events; Jesus is God; Christianity is the development of Jewish thinking; the Church is God’s creation replacing Israel, etc.
Rachel Evans’ real issues are revealed in her mistaken view of Yeshua’s divinity (she refers to him as Jesus, of course). “Despite boasting infinite wisdom and limitless knowledge, Jesus chose not to overtly address religious pluralism, the problem of evil, hermeneutics, science or homosexuality.”[2] Other than the imported Christian idea of the Trinity, I simply can’t find any biblical reference that suggests Yeshua claimed “infinite wisdom and limitless knowledge.” She probably has “I am the way, the truth and the life” in mind, but in cultural context this is no claim of “infinite wisdom and limitless knowledge.” And that’s a big problem. Evans simply ignores the cultural context of Scripture. She treats the Bible as a “Christian” document. Her transformation from Fundamentalism is really a saga of her inability to recognize that religious pluralism, the problem of evil, hermeneutics, science or homosexuality are notbiblical concerns. She wants a biblical faith that can accommodate modern thought without allowing the Bible to be an ancient document. So she needs “engagement.” That’s why she can say this:
“Christianity never could have survived the ebb and flow of time, much less its own worldwide expansion, had God not created it with the innate ability to adapt to changing environments.”[3]
She is correct. Well, not quite. Other ancient religions have survived. Judaism is but one example. The paradigm case is paganism. As Paglia points out, “ . . . Judeo-Christianity never did defeat paganism, which still flourishes in art, eroticism, astrology, and pop culture.”[4] To which we might add:
“Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual . . . Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity . . . and the mystic theology that made Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and obscured the Christian creed . . . Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world.”[5]
Evans wants to be a Christian without actually understanding what that really means. Of course, that’s exactly what her readers want as well. It’s another dose of beliefs without real investigation. Everywhere in the book she implicitly adopts Christian thinking.
“Jesus told the first Christians,”[6]
“It is about living as an incarnation of Jesus, as Jesus lived as an incarnation of God.”[7]
“Consequently, the focus of the early church was not on the state of one’s soul immediately after death but rather on preparing for a new kingdom here on earth, . .”[8]
She describes Jesus as one who “associated with sinners,” “broke rules,” “gravitated toward the sick,” “preferred story to exposition,” “answered questions with more questions,” “had no list of beliefs to check off,” and “healed after being hurt,” but it never crosses her mind that this is a Jewish view of the Messiah.[9]
She calls Jesus “God in sandals.”[10]
Evans’ real problem is with Fundamentalism and, in particular, the Fundamentalist views on “religious pluralism, the problem of evil, hermeneutics, science [and] homosexuality.” The traumatic, inexplicable disaster of human life on this planet just can’t be reconciled with a good God who knows it all in advance. For her, the issue is still “getting saved,” even if getting saved now means something other than going to heaven. And since most of the world doesn’t embrace the Jesus of Fundamentalism, her heart for the downtrodden of the world leads her to a justification of religious pluralism, or at least to the possibility that God will savethose who never had the chance to hear about Jesus.
“We are not saved by information. We are saved by restored relationship with God, which might look a little different from person to person, culture to culture, time to time.”[11]
Did you notice that the assumption is still thoroughly evangelical Christian, that is, God’s real purpose is to save people?
Most of all, it seems that Evans wants a world where things are “fair.” She decries the ancient culture of the Bible where “women were generally sold by their fathers to the highest bidder, men were free to take as many wives as they pleased, and women who had been raped could be required to marry their rapists.”[12] Unfortunately none of these statements accurately represent the ancient Hebrew culture, but they make enticing reading.
“I struggle to accept what can be described only as misogynistic elements in biblical stories and law: how women are assumed to be responsible for infertility, how Paul said that women are more easily deceived than men, how no one objected to polygamy or the kidnapping of virgins as spoils of war.”[13]
Evans displays the typical interpretations of the text prior to serious investigation of culture and context, in spite of her insight that:
“The Bible doesn’t exist in a vacuum but must always be interpreted by a predisposed reader.”[14]
The problem is that she employs a hermeneutic (method of interpretation) based on the current reader rather than the original audience. So, of course, she finds many of the situations and decisions of biblical characters appalling. They aren’t “enlightened” modern people. That’s precisely what we would expect to find if we don’t treat the Bible as an ancient, Semitic document, but when Evans suggests that Christianity survived because it evolved by embracing the cultural ideas of the times, she implicitly rejects interpreting the Bible as it was written. Her own words highlight the problem:
“Of course, we all carry around false fundamentals. We all have unexamined assumptions and list of rules, both spoken and unspoken, that weigh down our faith. We’ve all got little measuring sticks that help us determine who’s ‘in’ and who’s ‘out,’ and we’ve all got truths we don’t want to face because we’re afraid that our faith can’t withstand any change. . . We all have pet theological systems, political positions, and standards of morality that are not essential to the gospel but that we cling to so tightly that we leave fingernail marks on the palms of our hands.”[15]
Rachel Held Evans writes for people who are just waking up to the history of Christianity, the assumptions of the Church, the separation from a Jewish-Hebrew way of life and a completely different approach to the text. The problem is that she is just waking up too. She rightly recognizes that faith is not a matter of certainty and that doubt—questioning—is the process of drawing closer to God. But she’s still stuck in the Christian camp, still loaded with unexamined assumptions like: “Where would we be if the apostle Peter had not doubted the necessity of food laws?”[16]
In the end, Rachel still assumes that her Christian interpretation of the texts is correct. Until she comes to terms with that, she will just be sleepwalking.
So I finished my criticism of Rachel Held Evans’ book, and a few days later I realized that if I looked at the material I wrote ten years ago, I would probably have said the same thing about my own work. Rachel isn’t even thirty. She’s on the path. I need to be more tolerant. I have a long way to go too.
Topical Index: Rachel Held Evans, Faith Unraveled
[1]“A heavy rain clawed at my dorm room window like a frantic cat.” Rachel Held Evans, Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions (Zondervan, 2010), p. 93.
[2]Rachel Held Evans, Faith Unraveled, p. 103.
[4]Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickenson, p. xiii.
[5]Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Vol. 3: Caesar and Christ, p. 595, 599.
I appreciate this post…it ressonates “like the oneness I experience with my running refrigerator as my hand pauses on the handle just before opening the door”. Seriously, you expressed many of my own sentiments regarding today’s christian culture, which seem similar to those of Paul, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” In this impaired and broken culture, let’s pray that we may press on to maturity in Christ. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Well there goes asking Skip to review my book…
Still working on my book. It’s in my head rattling around. Still under the assumption of, “I should right a book.” But I keep asking myself, “What do I really have to say that’s worth being read?” Nothing yet.
?
Richard G. ?. Martin Luther gave the Apostle James only 1 star for his radical NT book that bears his name. His negative review of Yeshua’s brother’s Hebraic understanding of ‘works with faith’ is still the ‘gospel truth’ to many. Sadly most people believe what they already have been taught and any new information just reinforces their preconceived notions even if it has the potential to alter their understanding and shift their paradigm. But thankfully, YHWH just keeps chipping away at our false belief systems until it completely crumbles or we allow Yeshua to ruin, rule and reign.( Mt 21:44 “And whoever falls on this stone will be shattered, and it will pulverize to dust everyone upon whom it will fall.”)
It is only when we become “His story” and an open book that no person’s review of our words or deeds matter to us anymore…except His.
At her age she is already ahead of me. I only started this journey 8 years ago in my 40s so good for her. My problem is that if I read her book I might still find myself in agreement with much of what she writes and not realize the error in it. Skip, I have been learning from you for at least 5 yrs now and yet grapple with the understanding of what God’s purpose for us is. If to live righteously on this earth is it, I am found very wanting! Is this an issue I need to work out yet? I need to know that death is not the end. I need to believe that there is life after this one. If my righteous walk does not serve the eternal in some way I struggle to find the full value in it. Reading the Psalms and Proverbs and Skip for that matter, confirm I am not alone in my discouragement in righteousness seemingly lacking in power to change an evil and destructive world. So then what is this all for? I don’t believe in salvation in the same way but it is still a deep rooted belief within me. The belief that my life can serve a greater good and that good will sustain me into eternity is still a part of me. I believe I am here to serve the Creator and follow His Torah if I am to be His servant. In the end what does that produce? Does anyone know? I am very open to discussion on this PLEASE! I have read Crosswords by Skip and have a better understanding but it still looks like salvation to me. It seems I still need some deeper understanding and a shift in my beliefs. I have learned that up until the age of five our brains are in a state of complete acceptance of the information we are given. We have no ability to filter that information and if it comes from trusted sources ie. parents, teachers, pastors, it is accepted as unquestionable truth and becomes foundational to our lives. Literally foundational. Maybe that is why this time of year is so very hard for me. Others chuck Christmas away with wholehearted disgust. I grieve this time of year. I loved the holiday more than any other time of the year. It for some reason, takes me back to when I was four and five years old. There is a deep sense of warmth and family, love and togetherness and right or wrong in it’s timing, a love, appreciation and sincere heartfelt gratitude for the Messiah. There is no substitute for all of that in my life now and the loss can be overwhelming to me. Any suggestions on how to shift my four year old heart and brain into letting that go? And of course what is the substitute for salvation as well? Seemingly these two now seem to go hand in hand in a way I ddin’t see until writing this out. Sorry for the long post but all and any insights are very much appreciated.
I think you expressed great awareness of the challenge. Might I suggest one more step . . . And then another . . . And then another . . . And, of course, another. Head for the second star on the right, on ‘till morning. That is, keep traveling. It’ll be a nomadic life until the end.
Clear as mud, right?
You are not alone. I resonate with much of your heart here. One thing that has helped me on this journey has been to think more about establishing His Kingdom on earth. We were taught to think more about Yeshua as Savior than Yeshua as King. I don’t find spending the appointed times alone to be very satisfying either. I don’t know anyone in my area that believes as I do. The lack of community is very difficult and lonely. When it seems overwhelming, I try to stay in the present. I try to trust God with the pain and breathe through it. Can I handle the loneliness for one day? Can I forget what is behind me and press on towards a goal to live in the realm of the King? Can I forgive myself and have compassion for myself when my mind slips into old patterns? I wish we could sit together and encourage one another in person. I also have found fasting to be helpful.
Really well put Theresa. Thank you.
Is there a certain time you are supposed to celebrate Yeshua’s birth? Is it the actual date? Or the celebration? Granted Christmas is commercialized. And there is an ugliness to that, but does that mean we can’t celebrate. Maybe others can share how they celebrate the birth of our Savior.
Many say Sulkot is the time believed to be the time of his birth.
Sukkot
And more recently, I’ve seen presentations proposing that it was in the spring (Unleavened/Early First Fruits), not in the fall (Sukkot). And I’m back to “the text doesn’t say, so maybe we aren’t supposed to be ‘celebrating’ it at all. Yah’s pretty clear about His Feasts.” Hmmm
Cheryl, Christmas was always a wonderful time for me, especially for one who grew up in a poor single-parent household. After having several children of my own, Christmas began to lose its joy. It may have been due to the fact that the commercial aspect of it overshadowed the spiritual element. However, once I started following Torah and experienced my first Sukkot, I realized how shallow Christ-Mass was. Sukkot brought family and celebration to real life! It brought me out of the sterile confines of “belief” in a set of doctrines to a nurturing community of people who loved each other. 75 yearly rituals of tearing open shiny presents could never replace the bonds of community shared around one experience of communal meals, campfires, and midrash. Maybe you haven’t experienced this yet? If you need a community to spend time with during Sukkot, connect with us on the Facebook page, “Today’s Word Messianic Community” or email me at inthemote at hotmail dot com. Shalom.
A FB search does not reveal this group. Is it “closed”? Found it! Had to look under the “Groups” tab across the top of the search function page
I have a friend who is now part of a Messianic community. Her daughter is engaged to a young man who is a Christian. She does not want her daughter to marry this person. But my feeling is that we should allow God to work that out between the two. How is her need to keep her daughter from marrying this young Christian man any different than the denominational fighting that goes on within the Christian community? I find it disturbing.
Dear Cheryl, Reading your post brought back the memory of a high-school Sunday School group I led. We had the year-end holiday discussion one fall. We had a wonderful dynamic over a few years that allowed us to have this dialogue safely and respectfully. They asked great questions! I was careful, I loved these disciple-aged seekers as if they were my own. They saw things in our study they had not ever been taught. They connected a lot of the dots themselves. They got uncomfortable with the Truth they were realizing. And then they grew strong. We’d all been lied to about the tooth fairy and the chocolate-egg bunny and the man in the red and white suit. And we were still here, still okay.
One of the girls asked, “Now, what do I do?”
My response was something like this, “It is a time of family closeness. Family gathering. You can keep the family celebration and remove the false religious part, even if only for yourself. Is it more special for your family than Thanksgiving? We’ve made Thanksgiving more special. We still gather with family during late December, but we don’t participate in the gift exchanges or caroling or congregational services. It’s a little awkward, but the family is respectful. We have to respect one another wherever we are in our walk.”
And now, here we are a decade later. We make a point of being with our extended family at Thanksgiving time as much as possible. They have accepted that we do not celebrate October and December holidays.
We now live in a small, rural, Christian community. My husband was raised in the congregation that is still here. We may resemble some of the various labels that have been applied to us the past seven years. We used to have Sabbath fellowship with about a dozen other Messianic seekers within a 30-mile radius. We are alone most every Sabbath, relying on the online community we value. Our understanding of Scripture is still developing. Skip’s work has been incredibly helpful as we wrestle with “those shift[s] my four-year-old heart and brain [are] letting… go” (very well-put, thank you!)
If you aren’t as rural as we are, may we suggest you visit a Chabad fellowship? I found great acceptance with them and wonderful insights in the past. They embrace the “stranger”. And we do feel strange at times. It’s safe to say this is our wilderness journey. It’s not been forty years yet. We hold that as hope!
We’re in north-central Idaho if anyone is ever in need of hospitality.
The only fireproof test I know of for truth is engagement with reality because truth is the only thing that resonates with itself. I think the problem with modern culture, however, is that it is designed to insulate us from that reality – from the truth that we cannot as much as take a breath, much less accomplish God’s kingdom on earth, without supreme obedience to His will. Humanism assumes it is capable of ‘doing’ God stuff without God; of successfully inventing a ‘way’ of life, as well as a religion that ‘supports’ that ‘way’. This house of cards only can stand in a vacuum, however; a vacuum created by a careful ignorance of how reality actually works. Therefore, modern religion does not actually ‘solve’ any real problems, much less ‘give’ us a real relationship with the Author of life. We live an artificial existence, carefully crafted so as to avoid any evidence that nothing in our lives is really truly love: essential connection with reality.
But I think that house of cards could be fixing to tumble by its own design. I think we serve a religion that cannot ‘save’ its adherents from reaping the sure results of ignoring obedience to the law of God in any of its forms; whether it be the moral law or physical law. I am afraid that the artificial construct that gets passed off as a ‘real life’ has set us up for disaster, both spiritual and physical, of a magnitude that nothing in that house of cards can deal with. Our carefully designed substitutes for faith in God; our security systems; the laws of the land that APPEAR to mimic the laws of God; the religions that SEEM to deliver connection with God, ourselves and others; even what passes for our supposed stewardship (actually rape of) the earth: all of it has poised us for an inevitable crash.
Will we, too, find ourselves arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin while reality is beating down the door? How many of us can stand in a day where nothing man-made is still standing? Have we REALLY checked the source of our confidence? Are we REALLY being obedient? Is it REALLY faith, and faith alone, that enables us to get up in the morning? What is truth? I think truth is the stuff that is still working when nothing else is. Judging by the way things are going, I think we may be fixing to get the chance to check that one out!
I think you are absolutely correct about a reset. It will begin on Tuesday Nov 6 when the election is over and neither party will accept the results. It may take 2 years before all comes to a head, but by the 2020 election if there is one, we may be in a bloody battle for survival. Our corporate sin does not excuse any of us from God’s decrees and punishments. Pray for mercy for all God’s people.
For the first time, I am afraid of what is going on in our country and our world. I think the indifference to the violence going on around us may be catching up with us. I would like to change this as I think many people feel the same way, but how. Praying.
As I read this it gradually dawned on me that I recommended this book to Skip! Haha! I did so because I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated her account of her escape from the ‘pablum’ of fundamentalist beliefs, particularly in regard to creationism. It was honest and authentic, and while she doesn’t need me to defend her, I do so while not disagreeing with Skip’s points. They are well taken, and he’s right to bring them up. But for me, there are degrees of pablum, and she escaped from the deepest level, the worst of the worst. As you say Skip, she’s on the road. She’s asking questions, something you continually encourage. I’m on the road too, as are we all. Blessings!
Yes, you did recommend it, and I thank you for that. I was encouraged to see her transition. I just want her to keep going.
Context Capitulation November 4, 2018.
I was wondering who you were talking about and even the name didn’t ring a bell until you continued on. Oh, yeah, I know who you are talking about.
I wrote in my notes: A big know-it-all who knows NOTHING, absolutely nothing. A flake. I am not politically correct (and I don’t mean to offend anyone so ignore me if you don’t like what I have to say) when I say that I hope no one wastes a dime on a book of hers. You can find enough on the internet.
Here is an example of Evans and her thinking:
Q: It seems you are still uncomfortable with the Bible but you intend to remain so, by design. Is that right?
A: Save me from the day when I’m comfortable with stories of God committing genocide.
Front cover of ‘Inspired’: The question of God’s character haunts every scene and every act and every drama of the Bible. There is a picture of a crown and a snake. What????? Haunts????
Evans in an interview with Mike Slaughter about doubts: I have doubts when I learn more about science and our place in the universe.
She said she is going to live Christ’s way. At the end of that interview. She has no idea what that means.
She is ‘pro-life by conviction, though my views on the legalities of abortion are complex, ever-evolving and detailed elsewhere’. Which in reality means she thinks it’s ok to kill babies before birth.
A man by the name of Jim West wrote this: ‘RHE is a journalist. She has a BA in journalism. She isn’t a biblical scholar. She isn’t a theologian. Why on earth does anyone care at all about what she thinks about anything?’ Exactly!
I think she’s an attention seeker (she copied a famous Jewish author who did a year long experiment living biblically) who is using Christianity to get that attention to make political comments. She has a long list of her political beliefs on fb in a post on her vote for Hillary. Wow! Her ignorance and arrogance is baffling and disturbing. She is far away from anything even remotely resembling the truth.
Jeanette. YOu seem upset. I don’t like the “Christianiity syrup” either, but perhaps we should not personally attack someone. SHe is on a journey like we all are.
Context Capitulation, Novrmber 4, 2018: Just saw your post Kathy. I am not sure how I come across. It’s easier for me to use a pc but I am using my cell phone instead. Slow process. I am troubled and upset. I am not attacking her. I am exposing her. You aren’t troubled by even the little I posted? Doesn’t anything seem off at all? No red flags? I tried to share some of her more disturbing comments. There are so many false teachings and practices that have terribly affected believers so I get bothered quickly! I was influenced by many of them and feel both regretful and embarrassed. Based on what she says, I actually wonder if she is really a believer which might not be something others would agree with.
I got tired of all the psychobabble in the Christian world (not only I know) which is why the first ‘messianic’ teachers or articles I read were so refreshing. Dr. Howard Morgan was one of the first. His article about the Sabbath was one of the influences in my decision to start keeping the Sabbath in 2005. I am not interested in his writings anymore and have question marks about things now but I was really so interested in learning as much as I could.
Yes, John, as I was reading I was wondering who it was that recommended it. I bought the e-book, downloaded it, began it and haven’t returned to it. Now, with this and Skip’s comments, perhaps I can re-open it. Yes, may Rachel KEEP WALKING, eyes wide open.
I’m hoping for a day when more people will desire to keep the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua. Until then, all messages of “truths” that people hold dear will just be denominational dogma and religious tradition. Christianity appeals to the flesh. The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God and is not even able to subject itself to the instructions of God. They have a name that they are alive but they are dead. Yes, wake up and repent is the message that needs to be heard. At least Adam and Eve were awake enough to know they were naked. It’s a pretty traumatic realization. Waking up is hard to do.
Skip, I so appreciate how you concluded this post. While I heard and agreed with your words of criticism my gut was knotting up as I reacted to your “harshness.” I often re-read some of your older books and posts and listen to some of your audio teachings and have to laugh at what you had to say then that is in conflict with what you have learned since. I am sure we are all there. I cringe at the thought of what I regurgitated in most of my past teachings. Praise be to YHVH for His mercy and His Hesed!
I view this paradigm world we each live in like being a small chick in an egg. At just the right time (pregnant moment) We find a weak spot in the shell and being to check it out ever so carefully. Soon we have a small crack and we realize there must be a whole world out there. The effort of picking and working at it it gets more and more intense (driven) until we finally kick the shell away and experience freedom. Although, not like the natural world of the chick, we just open the shell to a bigger shell and we start the process over again. However, it is a little easier each time because we now have past experience.
Thank you for continually finding cracks and sharing your “hatching!” But also remember, if you forcefully and prematurely open the shell for another, the chick may be too weak to survive. Just keep pointing out the cracks and encouraging the fight.
I see it from the outside(known “true”) to the deeper inside, like peeling an onion… it makes me cry at a times but it is necessary to receive all the good stuff it brings to my life :-))
Perhaps you might want to read her response to John Piper’s critique of the #MeToo movement on her blog rachelheldevans.com. She talks about the ezer. I think she might be moving in the right direction.
I am sure she IS moving in the right direction. That’s why I bought the book.
I could write my own version of Rachel’s book. We all could. But, getting enough people to actually buy the pablum, now that’s another story! Most of us don’t have the acumen of an “America’s Got Talent” writer or a Skip Moen. Yet we all have a story and a journey that deserves to be shared with others. That is why I’ve started a Facebook group entitled, “Today’s Word Messianic Community.” It is an attempt to bring together fellow travelers who have been blessed and inspired by Skip’s writings in a more personal forum, with the opportunity for more personal interaction and discussion. Please send a request to join the page! I’m anxious to hear from you all.
Could not find the Facebook page, maybe I’m misspelling something wrong:-(
when you do the search, on that page, click on the “groups” tab and it is there!
‘Most of all, it seems that Evans wants a world where things are “fair.” She decries the ancient culture of the Bible where “women were generally sold by their fathers to the highest bidder, men were free to take as many wives as they pleased, and women who had been raped could be required to marry their rapists.”[12] Unfortunately none of these statements accurately represent the ancient Hebrew culture, but they make enticing reading.’
Does she say that? Fairness? These incidents are in the Scripture. I appreciate learning to read Scripture by trying to understand what it would have meant to the original audience. But how do we make apply it to our lives today? What are we to make of these incidents in the Bible where women are raped and slavery is allowed?
Does she say that other religions haven’t survived? It seems a little less criticism and a little more solution might be more helpful. If we are to follow kosher laws, maybe a list of all the animals we shouldn’t eat could be provided. Wouldn’t that be practical and not philosophical? If we are to follow Torah instructions, how about listing the 611? laws divided into what applies to each group? Wouldn’t that be practical and solution oriented?
I don’t think anyone wants to be told what to believe, but maybe some sharing on how one applies these instruction might be practical.
And if those incidents in the Bible don’t reflect the Hebrew culture, what culture do they reflect?
You can find the list by searching the web for “kosher animals.” And yes, as far as I can tell, she says that (that’s why I quoted it). But I do appreciate your comment that solutions rather than criticism matters. You know me (I hope). Sometimes something written just gets me going.
The misogyny of women is a reflection of the Hebrew culture found in the text. But it was not a reflection of God’s intention.
Actually, I don’t think this is found in the text. Listen to Bob Gorelik’s The Captive Woman
Maybe you should write a book using eighth grade words. 🙂 But then again, who doesn’t love an intellectual man? I am out of my league (intellectually speaking)in this community, but I have known this since coming here a few years ago. It is good to be challenged. I think I have learned, but at the same time, I sometimes feel like a dog chasing it’s tail. Before coming to this community, I felt more inclined to live and let live. But now I desire to obey Yehovah. But if the scholars can’t agree, then sometimes it is distressing. When I listened to Dr. Anthony Buzzard talk on the Trinity at your conference, I believe he stated the festivals weren’t applicable anymore. Not sure whether he addressed kosher laws. Just pointing out the various interpretations. I know the critique is about Christianity as an institution, but again before coming to this site, I felt the “Church” was moving in a better direction in terms of trying to reach out to hurting people.. Long overdue I might add. Sometimes it is confusing, but I am grateful to be here learning even if it is only on an eighth grade level. 🙂
Thanks for your comment. Maybe I will try to throw in a few eight grade lessons now and again. As for Anthony, despite his (in my opinion) correct view of he formation of the doctrine of the Trinity, he does hold a Christian view of the law. Just goes to show you that we all need feedback, challenges and dialogue. Of course, I don’t embrace his view of the law, but then I think of Jonathan Sacks and realize that he has a “Christian” view of Paul. I’m sure I have lots of places to clarify what I believe too.
What I was suggesting is you might write a book about replacement theology in layman’s terms so that one could better understand the critique.
Great suggestion, but there are a few out there now. Try R Kendall Soulan The God of Israel and Christian Theology
I am so excited by what I have read from you, Mr. Skip, and those who have commented. Such a beautiful community of talmidim you are!
Considering I just sent you the manuscript to my first book, I am so grateful you recognize we are ALL on a journey….and that, yes, most of us write and read at an 8th grade level regardless of the number of degrees we have or how much we desire to elevate our minds and vocabulary.
Of course, “The Happiness Formula” does not seek to answer questions about the “correct” path to god but rather assets boldly via the research that one’s life will never rise to the highest levels of peace, freedom – happiness – without actively participating in an established “god-system.” The moment I asset to know THE answer for another is the moment I have placed myself in God’s position and, alas, that is NOT the answer. I am unwaveringly confident in the decision I have made for myself as I walk in the dust of Rabbi Yeshua no matter how many times I sound like the “Pagan Christian” I used to tell folks I was because I thought that title was more close to the truth.
As such, it has been my experience that as I share my experience, strength, and hope with people, as I share my life stories without hesitating to state I love Yeshua, people ask me about the God I serve and some have even allowed me to help them lay down their lives on the altar of the Messiah so that they might live and experience a different here and now.
So,,,,back to my first book…..thank you again, Mr. Skip, for taking the time to review what will be a very easy read for you and I pray, one which you can “endorse” insofar as I do not give THE answer for what is the CORRECT system to follow but state for the masses, in order to increase your “happiness quotient,” you must incorporate a “god quotient” into your life. IQ + EQ + GQ = HQ*. Basically, what I write about is even before pablum – I assert that what the masses need is a god in the first place! Remember, the research proves that the 20-somethings and younger are the first group of people in our nation’s history to have NO god. Missionaries from other countries are sending their people to us!
While I have not read the book you critique, (and probably will not because, yes, I personally tire of baby food), alas, the masses may not even be ready to digest mushy, bland cereal. “The problem with following the masses is sometimes the ‘m’ is silent.”
* For what it is worth, you can learn a bit more about “The Happiness Formula” at http://www.thehappinessformulabook.com which will release January 15, 2019.