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August, 2005 |
“My Truth Have I Hid in My Word†|
Posted by Brian Beers at 8/25/2005 11:23:00 AM (9 comments left) |
For nearly a month now I have been mulling over this post on the idea of truth being hidden in Scripture (Yes. That is why posts are so few and far between), and just There is an idea that I have heard in Bible college and seminary. For lack of a better term, I will call it "the superficiality of Scripture." The basic purpose of this idea is to reassure Christians that they should continue to read Scripture. Bible school and seminary professors have observed that some folks are intimidated by references to the original languages. "The Greek means this...The Hebrew means that...and aren't you lucky I went to seminary so I could tell you..." And we certainly don't want to become like the 16th century Catholic Church with an elite clergy and ignorant peasants being told what to believe. We're Protestants. We agree with Luther that everyone should be able to read the Bible and this means in their own language. |
With the development of computers and inexpensive printing over the past 40 years, Strong's groundbreaking concordance has been extended into many tools for Biblical study. We are incredibly rich. Unfortunately we still have to deal with Scripture that was written from 2 to 4 millennia ago in multiple ancient languages and cultural settings. We cannot wish these barriers out of existence, but that unspoken wish has undermined our perception of Scripture. Several weeks ago my pastor said that there is no hidden truth in the Bible. And this has been bouncing around in my head since then. It is the same idea that I have heard before, but now I want to figure out why I am uncomfortable with it. I agree with the general sentiment – we don't want people looking for the next president in the Bible Code. We don't want people led astray by the false doctrine of a dynamic preacher. Still, the statement leaves me uneasy. My discomfort stems from…the placement of the onus. The statement that there is no hidden truth in the Bible puts the onus on the Bible. If it were really up to the Bible to be clear to me then if I can't understand there is a Trinity when I read Scripture then it must not be true…! Of course not! *shudder* But to some extent this is what we (myself included) have to do with Scripture. We seek to understand it, and then we proceed based on our understanding. Our understanding is based on Scripture, but it is fundamentally different. Our understanding is not perfect. We retreat to Scripture to improve our understanding. And our imperfection is why we defend the perfection of Scripture. It is our authority. Anyone can come to Scripture and discover the truth. First exhibit from Scripture is Matthew 11:25. We read, "At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;" Exhibit 2 is Matthew 13:10ff which gives us the purpose of parables. In verse 13 Jesus said, "This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand." God hid the truth from those who claimed to own it. God's character includes hiding the truth albeit in plain sight. But truth does not have to be in plain site. My third exhibit is Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." God has concealed things. It is his glory to conceal things. Perhaps it adds some excitement to his relationship with man –with kings anyway. And here in America we are the kings. We are rich in tools to study the Scripture. We have time in which we can study Scripture. We have a forum in which we can discuss Scripture and improve our understanding of it. So, my fellow kings, do you content yourself with seeing the surface patterns or will you stand with me as we peer into the Scriptures to see our God. |