30 - Questions & Comments (2)

OK - blog number 30 - some of you have been very faithful - thanks a million and a half !

Mostly you read and go on - some ask a question or two - and some send me a message at: theverner@gmail.com

ALL are welcome and all questions will be answered. I have no fear of saying - "Hey - I don't really know !"

SO - when someone asked me to explain the difference between two theories - I had to say - "HEY - I don't know !" BUT - I did try to trace some of the history of the concepts - to try to help. But, frankly I do NOT know about some of the ideas which came to us over the years and how some ended up way over on one end of the spectrum and others on the opposite side.

One concept DOES answer a few questions, however - Hebrew scholarship and ideas were abandoned pretty early in the history of the church - and while I don't label it as "anti-Semitism" exactly, it was a political situation about Jesus' death to some extent - and the result is much the same. My personal "take "on it is: blaming OTHERS for Jesus' death and attributing hatred to the act is about as naive and hateful as one can get ! BUT - it was a MAJOR error in a Hebrew Scholarship backlash - and we still suffer for this woeful dearth of common sense.

Think about it - we all killed Jesus. That is just FACT ! And - blaming anyone other than US for His death is "wrong-headed" for sure. PLUS - it is so lacking in humility ! Besides all that - God raised HIM from the dead - so why even get involved with DEATH ? We don't need to ignore it - but trying to get to condemning Jews for killing Jesus is just totally BLIND. Every day of our lives we need to face the TRUTH - I KILLED JESUS. But - God raised Him from the dead and Victory is a gift to me out of that. WOW - what a God we are owned by - that is how we were bought and paid for - praise HIM loudly. You know - "Rejoice always" is not a suggestion for behavior when things are just splendid ! It is a lifestyle of knowing God is in control even when things look very weird. Generally, rejoicing means we see THROUGH a situation and find something on the other side which just is AWESOME ! Now - I ask you - in what possible situation can we NOT see that ?

Anyhow - since we almost LOST Hebrew thought and influence so greatly, we misunderstand Old Testament concepts and even how New Testament concepts come to us in Greek at the hands of Hebrew thinkers. Result - woeful lack of depth on study and learning. This is especially true with Covenant concepts. AND - do we realize that churches have been split over whether to use the Old Testament AT ALL in preaching or teaching ? A church leader said to me about 35 years ago - "Don't believe we need the Old Bible" - and my response was pretty mild - "Really - I have heard some who agree with you." Thank God he did relinquish that harsh position; many may not.

So - that vacuum caused a ripe situation for Greek philosophy to have a major influence in early church thought - remaining to this day. Is that bad ? Well, loosing Hebrew thought isn't helpful. Add to that - the study of Hebrew is not popular for many scholars - and we've about "closed up the well" for that particular water. So MANY NT concepts came from a Hebrew one - and we then go to a Greek idea for a Hebrew meaning. Result - thoughts out of context and doctrines out of whack ! If you've read Newton or Bacon you know their opinion of Greek thought - especially Aristotle with all his genius. "Aristotelian thought simply causes debate - continual debate" - and the actual genuine concepts of Christianity are lost - known for "loving one another" is LOST ! My personal opinion is that the loss of Hebrew contributed to the church becoming a killing church instead of a life-giving one. (Paul wrote - "The Letter kills, the Spirit gives Life" - and obviously Hebrew scholars of Jesus day had become a killing force as well - due to legalism and a lack of conceptual study and understanding of the true FORCE of Scripture.)

Question: WHO will try to restore Jesus' concept of Christians (or followers of Jesus) being known for how they love one another ? Some want that - but they are NOT the forceful and forward generally. BUT many are so hungry for the genuine and are depressed at the state of continual debate and intermittent hate. The word "Gospel" originally meant "the kind of good news that would make you leap off the ground" - but we can "translate" it into a rigid and cold legalism which make us leap into our protective shell and never come out !

Thanks for the privilege of sharing this - the concepts of true Christian life are precious and need to be broadcast all over the world - and study and dispute have their place - a MINOR place in trying to continually find God in the Scriptures - but if that's not the goal - it won't be the result either ! More to come as we continue to the next concept.