Why should Christians study the whole Bible?
One post into Genesis, it is clear that the Old Testament presents difficulties. I would wager that many Christians have devoted time to studying the New Testament without ever studying the Old for a great many reasons:
- A feeling that the New Testament contains all of the information necessary to understanding Christ
- Difficulty with Old Testament language
- A desire to remain ignorant of the challenges presented by the Old Testament
- Doubts about the veracity of Old Testament writings
It is Written
I noted in week 13 that Jesus made numerous references to Scripture. When reading the New Testament, it is important to understand that Jesus Himself was a scholar of the Scripture. From a Christian viewpoint, the primary reason for believing the Scripture to be true is that Jesus confirmed Scriptural writings throughout His time on Earth. Over the next several weeks, I’ll explore a back-and-forth study of the Bible, using the evidence of the actual historical Jesus and that of His miracles as evidence for the sincerity and authenticity of His spoken words.
My primary focus will be on those specific people and places Jesus mentions as recorded throughout the gospels:
Abel
Abiathar
Abraham
Daniel
David
Elijah
Elisha
Gomorrah
Isaac
Jacob
Jonah
Lot
Moses
Naaman
Noah
Sodom
Solomon
Zarephath
Zechariah
There is a reciprocal relationship between the words of Jesus and the text of the Old Testament. If historical and archeological evidence points to a real historical figure who performed real miracles and was really raised from death, His references to Scripture must be considered evidence for the veracity of the Scripture. If Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be the Son of God and claimed that Scripture was the Word of God, we should expect the Scripture to be accurate and plausible. Evidence to the contrary would be evidence against Jesus as the Son of God. So, it is important in the weeks to come that we study not only the New Testament, but also the source document by which Christ Himself lived His life.
I want to apologize for taking a break from the Biblical text so quickly after Genesis 1. Genesis gives rather clearly the Biblical view of Creation and makes the connection between Big Bang and the Judeo-Christian concept of the beginning of the universe. I think, though, that it will be important to view the New Testament and the evidence for Jesus before returning to the Old Testament text, and I did not want to do so without a short intro. I’ll return to the Scripture next week and I promise there will not be another break for quite some time.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
(14 Week) בְּרֵאשִׁית
There is an inescapable difficulty that we have to face when reading the scripture. Especially in the Old Testament, many of the stories simply cannot be proven through science (because there are no measurable data or because the events took place when there were no additional sources for comparison) and many of the stories report supernatural intervention that, by definition, must fly in the face of natural processes. So, how can we possibly look at the Bible in a critical way? Truthfully, there is not a great deal that can be gleaned scientifically from reading most of the Old Testament. The moment of Creation is prehistoric by definition. If there was indeed a great flood as described in the Bible, there were fewer than 10 human eyewitnesses, so any accounts would be based on oral tradition and passed down through generations. The stories themselves are rapid-fire accounts often containing minimal detail lest a mostly-illiterate populous lose their ability to transfer the stories orally.
Adherents to the literal interpretation of the Bible speak to the idea that if anything is possible through God, there is no reason to doubt Biblical history simply because something described therein was naturally impossible. Many also see little merit in seeking archaeological clues to verify/cast doubt upon Biblical stories. While I don’t look to the Bible as literal truth (due mostly to the fact that it contains rather apparent metaphors and that I have never read it as it was originally written), I can’t fault the logic that says a supernatural being could do things that are supernatural. Still, I would not expect anyone who has no other reason to believe in God to garner such a belief by reading the Pentateuch; in fact, I would expect quite the opposite. The stories of the Old Testament are sensational. Numerous acts described in the Old Testament cannot be conceived of without divine intervention. Further, historical accounts of many events were written thousands (or billions, in the case of the Creation) of years after the events themselves.
I wrote in earlier posts about the inception of the universe, and I am fascinated by the fact that the universe came to be. Even more fascinating is that Einstein’s equations tell us the facets of the universe – time and space – cannot have existed (at least as we know them presently) ontologically before the universe because they are interlinked with one another and with the whole of the universe. We are left then with a few irrational prospects (e.g. the non-existent universe caused itself, the universe existed for an immeasurable time obeying different physical laws and spontaneously came to obey the alternative laws we know today, or the universe stemmed from nothingness) or the prospect of a causer of the universe. Within the first 10 words of the Biblical account of Earth’s history we are introduced to the Judeo-Christian causer. According to the Bible, God created the entirety of the universe. If we accept this story, any act following such a feat would pale in comparison.
When I study the Bible, I can’t help but note that the stories are explicit in outlining those instances where God exercised power that was supernatural and those in which God called upon a man to exercise faith in performing tasks that were nearly impossible. In the latter instances, I think we can presume that such feats would have to be physically possible; else, they would not be the feats of men. I think it is important to view critically those events that the Bible describes as acts of men; however, I think it is rather futile to view critically the acts of God except if science can directly contradict statements of the Bible.
If we assume that a supernatural God may exist, we cannot fall victim to arguments that evoke only naturalistic evidence to refute explicitly-stated supernatural phenomena. For example, we cannot say “snakes don’t talk, animals don’t gravitate toward boats, and bushes don’t burn without changing their chemical composition; therefore, the Bible cannot be true.” Such events are said to be supernatural in the text (inherent in that they were performed by God or demon). Still, there are some tools at our disposal.
Let’s look at the Big Bang as an example. I have spoken at length about the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe. If the Bible said that the universe is alive and that it has existed forever, we could cast doubt on such a statement by examining the contrary evidence pointing to a massive explosion that ignited the universe.
In the Beginning
(Source of Biblical text: www.biblegateway.com)
I thoroughly enjoy the text of Genesis 1 because of its simplicity and because of the interesting perspective of creation relative to the earth.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 states simply that God created all. “In the beginning” carries a special kind of significance for me when compared against the literal beginning of time. I’m not saying that there was any understanding of General Relativity contained within the opening text, but I just think it’s neat that “the beginning” is exactly what Einstein tells us the Big Bang was.
On with the story
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Sequence of the Creation
There is only One who could relay the story of Creation, and verse 2 gives some insight as to the perspective God uses when relaying the story. His spirit hovers over the earth (Genesis 1:2), so I read the Creation story as told by One who has inhabited the earth throughout its journey; accordingly, I like to picture the events taking place as being told by someone who is both viewing the earth and looking out into the universe, describing the picture as it unfolds.
(Genesis 1:1) God brings the universe into being.
(Genesis 1:2) Billions of years after the Big Bang, we find Earth journeying through the dark expanse of space, fluid in form and without life.
(Genesis 1:3-5) Earth finds itself drawn by the gravitational pull of the sun and begins its orbit for the first time, experiencing the incredible light of the sun after a long journey through darkness.
(Genesis 1:6-8) The clearly-defined atmosphere begins to develop out of the ocean.
(Genesis 1:9-10) The first continents begin to emerge.
(Genesis 1:11-13) Early vegetation that resembles modern seed-bearing plants comes into being.
(Genesis 1:14-19) The veil of the dense early atmosphere is lifted, revealing the distinct sources of Earth’s light and eventually the light of the stars.
(Genesis 1:20-23) The lesser animals we know today begin to populate the seas and the earth.
(Genesis 1:24-25) Higher animals (mammals including livestock) are first seen.
(Genesis 1:26) Man is first introduced having the ability to tame and/or preside over other creatures.
There is a nice symmetry between the Creation story and between the scientific explanations of Earth’s history that I don’t believe should be lost in the poetic delivery of Genesis. It is important to note, though, that the early Bible is not focused on “how” so extracting scientific explanations from Hebrew poetry is a dicey proposition. After all, there are 31 poetic verses to cover the entirety of the Creation. Note, too, that there are a few variances in the interpretation of some of these passages, especially those regarding “light”. The key point, however, to the Creation story is that God created all. He is immeasurably powerful and brought the earth into existence along with the entirety of the universe.
Six Days of Creation
A Creation “day” stems from the Hebrew word “yom” which carries a multitude of different meanings when translated into English. Some scholars believe in a literal 6-day creation while others maintain that “age” might be a more appropriate translation.
Adherents to the literal interpretation of the Bible speak to the idea that if anything is possible through God, there is no reason to doubt Biblical history simply because something described therein was naturally impossible. Many also see little merit in seeking archaeological clues to verify/cast doubt upon Biblical stories. While I don’t look to the Bible as literal truth (due mostly to the fact that it contains rather apparent metaphors and that I have never read it as it was originally written), I can’t fault the logic that says a supernatural being could do things that are supernatural. Still, I would not expect anyone who has no other reason to believe in God to garner such a belief by reading the Pentateuch; in fact, I would expect quite the opposite. The stories of the Old Testament are sensational. Numerous acts described in the Old Testament cannot be conceived of without divine intervention. Further, historical accounts of many events were written thousands (or billions, in the case of the Creation) of years after the events themselves.
I wrote in earlier posts about the inception of the universe, and I am fascinated by the fact that the universe came to be. Even more fascinating is that Einstein’s equations tell us the facets of the universe – time and space – cannot have existed (at least as we know them presently) ontologically before the universe because they are interlinked with one another and with the whole of the universe. We are left then with a few irrational prospects (e.g. the non-existent universe caused itself, the universe existed for an immeasurable time obeying different physical laws and spontaneously came to obey the alternative laws we know today, or the universe stemmed from nothingness) or the prospect of a causer of the universe. Within the first 10 words of the Biblical account of Earth’s history we are introduced to the Judeo-Christian causer. According to the Bible, God created the entirety of the universe. If we accept this story, any act following such a feat would pale in comparison.
When I study the Bible, I can’t help but note that the stories are explicit in outlining those instances where God exercised power that was supernatural and those in which God called upon a man to exercise faith in performing tasks that were nearly impossible. In the latter instances, I think we can presume that such feats would have to be physically possible; else, they would not be the feats of men. I think it is important to view critically those events that the Bible describes as acts of men; however, I think it is rather futile to view critically the acts of God except if science can directly contradict statements of the Bible.
If we assume that a supernatural God may exist, we cannot fall victim to arguments that evoke only naturalistic evidence to refute explicitly-stated supernatural phenomena. For example, we cannot say “snakes don’t talk, animals don’t gravitate toward boats, and bushes don’t burn without changing their chemical composition; therefore, the Bible cannot be true.” Such events are said to be supernatural in the text (inherent in that they were performed by God or demon). Still, there are some tools at our disposal.
Let’s look at the Big Bang as an example. I have spoken at length about the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe. If the Bible said that the universe is alive and that it has existed forever, we could cast doubt on such a statement by examining the contrary evidence pointing to a massive explosion that ignited the universe.
In the Beginning
(Source of Biblical text: www.biblegateway.com)
I thoroughly enjoy the text of Genesis 1 because of its simplicity and because of the interesting perspective of creation relative to the earth.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 states simply that God created all. “In the beginning” carries a special kind of significance for me when compared against the literal beginning of time. I’m not saying that there was any understanding of General Relativity contained within the opening text, but I just think it’s neat that “the beginning” is exactly what Einstein tells us the Big Bang was.
On with the story
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Sequence of the Creation
There is only One who could relay the story of Creation, and verse 2 gives some insight as to the perspective God uses when relaying the story. His spirit hovers over the earth (Genesis 1:2), so I read the Creation story as told by One who has inhabited the earth throughout its journey; accordingly, I like to picture the events taking place as being told by someone who is both viewing the earth and looking out into the universe, describing the picture as it unfolds.
(Genesis 1:1) God brings the universe into being.
(Genesis 1:2) Billions of years after the Big Bang, we find Earth journeying through the dark expanse of space, fluid in form and without life.
(Genesis 1:3-5) Earth finds itself drawn by the gravitational pull of the sun and begins its orbit for the first time, experiencing the incredible light of the sun after a long journey through darkness.
(Genesis 1:6-8) The clearly-defined atmosphere begins to develop out of the ocean.
(Genesis 1:9-10) The first continents begin to emerge.
(Genesis 1:11-13) Early vegetation that resembles modern seed-bearing plants comes into being.
(Genesis 1:14-19) The veil of the dense early atmosphere is lifted, revealing the distinct sources of Earth’s light and eventually the light of the stars.
(Genesis 1:20-23) The lesser animals we know today begin to populate the seas and the earth.
(Genesis 1:24-25) Higher animals (mammals including livestock) are first seen.
(Genesis 1:26) Man is first introduced having the ability to tame and/or preside over other creatures.
There is a nice symmetry between the Creation story and between the scientific explanations of Earth’s history that I don’t believe should be lost in the poetic delivery of Genesis. It is important to note, though, that the early Bible is not focused on “how” so extracting scientific explanations from Hebrew poetry is a dicey proposition. After all, there are 31 poetic verses to cover the entirety of the Creation. Note, too, that there are a few variances in the interpretation of some of these passages, especially those regarding “light”. The key point, however, to the Creation story is that God created all. He is immeasurably powerful and brought the earth into existence along with the entirety of the universe.
Six Days of Creation
A Creation “day” stems from the Hebrew word “yom” which carries a multitude of different meanings when translated into English. Some scholars believe in a literal 6-day creation while others maintain that “age” might be a more appropriate translation.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Why Study the Bible? (Week 13)
So, why study Christianity and not Judaism, Islam, or any other of the thousands of world religions?
For many, the sheer number of world religions is enough to dissuade them from believing that any one religion can hold the truth. Geographical location often has a tremendous impact on religion and it often seems like religion is based mostly on chance (to whom were you born?). So, it can seem as though choosing a religion is just silly. I want to address this in a couple of ways:
First, it is important to note that often times religious people inhabit lands with like-minded religious people because at some point in history, a group of people who shared a faith relocated themselves to a specific geographic location. So, it is the believers who settle a location, not a location that makes believers. That being said, when a large population shares a belief, it is easy to succumb to societal religious pressures regardless of whether you genuinely believe or not (just like any other societal pressure), so religions have a tendency to perpetuate themselves (at least outwardly). Parents and societies will always have a huge impact on their children and mistaken parents/societies will likely beget mistaken children.
Second, societal beliefs have no impact on truth regardless of the size of a society. If there is a God, and 99% of the world’s population believes in God, God exists. If there is a God, and 99% of the world’s population is atheist, God exists.
In a nutshell, it doesn’t matter what the majority believes or why they believe. The only thing that matters is what is true. Over the past weeks, I discussed what it was that led me to seek God. I have given my reasons for not giving as much credence to pantheism or polytheism. Both place constraints on gods based on universal laws and physics; as such, I think that pantheism and polytheism are basically naturalism (i.e. “gods” are of the universe and therefore natural, alien beings). I simply don’t see any reason to define a natural being as a “god”. So, that leaves monotheism.
I want to quickly touch upon the three major monotheistic religions. Each of the three is founded upon Judaism. The Bible adds to the teachings of the Torah via the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy. The Qu’ran adds to the teachings of Torah with the testament of the prophet Mohammed. Neither Judaism nor Islam recognizes the divinity of Christ. As I write on the Old Testament, I will discuss the Messianic Prophecy and will later provide reasons as to why I believe in Christ’s divinity. In short, a discussion of Biblical events will touch upon each of the three.
The direct and indirect accounts of Jesus found in the gospels are the reason that Christianity exists as it does. There is a great deal of evidence (that we will explore in late posts… now you’re probably understanding why I vacillated between beginning with the New or Old Testament) that the gospel authors wrote truthful accounts of Jesus. Might they have been deceived by the great magician, Jesus of Nazareth? That option is still on the table right now, but I believe that it is safe to say that the authors wrote (and died for) what they believed was the truth.
In these accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John note on numerous occasions Jesus referencing the scripture as truth. Indeed, there are several specific stories where Jesus refers to unambiguous passages and people in the Bible. When Jesus chastises the Pharisees, He asks why they have abandoned directives from the scriptures. He references Isaiah, Jonah, Moses, David and several other historical figures and reprimands those who claim to be knowledgeable but who do not defer to the scripture. Jesus taught that the scripture was God’s law and the true story of God’s people. In the very least we should study those people and passages referenced by Christ.
“Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
“"Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?” (Matthew 12:3-12:4)
"He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' " (Matthew 15:3-15:5)
"…for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God" (Matthew 15:6).
"For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:18).
“And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew 22:31-22:32)
When reading the words of Jesus, it seems rather clear that the Pentateuch is His primary source; accordingly, it will be my primary focus as we study the Old Testament. If such stories prove to be mythology and nothing more, I think that we can safely assume that the story of Jesus was folklore as well; conversely, if we study the Bible and find evidence of its truth, Jesus is given more credence via His adherence to this truth.
For many, the sheer number of world religions is enough to dissuade them from believing that any one religion can hold the truth. Geographical location often has a tremendous impact on religion and it often seems like religion is based mostly on chance (to whom were you born?). So, it can seem as though choosing a religion is just silly. I want to address this in a couple of ways:
First, it is important to note that often times religious people inhabit lands with like-minded religious people because at some point in history, a group of people who shared a faith relocated themselves to a specific geographic location. So, it is the believers who settle a location, not a location that makes believers. That being said, when a large population shares a belief, it is easy to succumb to societal religious pressures regardless of whether you genuinely believe or not (just like any other societal pressure), so religions have a tendency to perpetuate themselves (at least outwardly). Parents and societies will always have a huge impact on their children and mistaken parents/societies will likely beget mistaken children.
Second, societal beliefs have no impact on truth regardless of the size of a society. If there is a God, and 99% of the world’s population believes in God, God exists. If there is a God, and 99% of the world’s population is atheist, God exists.
In a nutshell, it doesn’t matter what the majority believes or why they believe. The only thing that matters is what is true. Over the past weeks, I discussed what it was that led me to seek God. I have given my reasons for not giving as much credence to pantheism or polytheism. Both place constraints on gods based on universal laws and physics; as such, I think that pantheism and polytheism are basically naturalism (i.e. “gods” are of the universe and therefore natural, alien beings). I simply don’t see any reason to define a natural being as a “god”. So, that leaves monotheism.
I want to quickly touch upon the three major monotheistic religions. Each of the three is founded upon Judaism. The Bible adds to the teachings of the Torah via the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy. The Qu’ran adds to the teachings of Torah with the testament of the prophet Mohammed. Neither Judaism nor Islam recognizes the divinity of Christ. As I write on the Old Testament, I will discuss the Messianic Prophecy and will later provide reasons as to why I believe in Christ’s divinity. In short, a discussion of Biblical events will touch upon each of the three.
The direct and indirect accounts of Jesus found in the gospels are the reason that Christianity exists as it does. There is a great deal of evidence (that we will explore in late posts… now you’re probably understanding why I vacillated between beginning with the New or Old Testament) that the gospel authors wrote truthful accounts of Jesus. Might they have been deceived by the great magician, Jesus of Nazareth? That option is still on the table right now, but I believe that it is safe to say that the authors wrote (and died for) what they believed was the truth.
In these accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John note on numerous occasions Jesus referencing the scripture as truth. Indeed, there are several specific stories where Jesus refers to unambiguous passages and people in the Bible. When Jesus chastises the Pharisees, He asks why they have abandoned directives from the scriptures. He references Isaiah, Jonah, Moses, David and several other historical figures and reprimands those who claim to be knowledgeable but who do not defer to the scripture. Jesus taught that the scripture was God’s law and the true story of God’s people. In the very least we should study those people and passages referenced by Christ.
“Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
“"Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?” (Matthew 12:3-12:4)
"He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' " (Matthew 15:3-15:5)
"…for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God" (Matthew 15:6).
"For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:18).
“And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew 22:31-22:32)
When reading the words of Jesus, it seems rather clear that the Pentateuch is His primary source; accordingly, it will be my primary focus as we study the Old Testament. If such stories prove to be mythology and nothing more, I think that we can safely assume that the story of Jesus was folklore as well; conversely, if we study the Bible and find evidence of its truth, Jesus is given more credence via His adherence to this truth.
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