A great deal of our understanding of the Godhead comes not from direct doctrinal statements in the Bible but from piecing together small details and passing comments in many diverse scriptures. For instance, the word “trinity” is nowhere found in the Bible but we know, as one example, that God the Father was involved in creation, the Holy Spirit brooded over it, and Jesus was the creative Agent but “there is one God.”
Two scriptures forced themselves upon me recently. In Mark chapter six, Jesus returns to His hometown, teaches in the synagogue, and heals a few sick people. As He leaves Nazareth, the end result is “he was amazed at their lack of faith.”
Another time (Luke 7:9 NIV) a centurion sent to Jesus, asking for healing for his servant. The soldier didn’t want to impose on Jesus so he just asked the Lord to heal from a distance— and Jesus did. “He was amazed at him” and said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
Apparently Jesus can be amazed. Two things amazed Him: (1) His fellow Nazarenes knew Him and still rejected Him, and (2) a foreigner, who wouldn’t be expected to know Him, had absolute faith in Him.
Logic seems to lead to one conclusion— God had not predestined some Nazarenes or foreign soldiers to either believe or not believe. They had an absolutely free choice. This is why the Lord could say in John 3:17, that God sent His Son into the world, “that the world through him might be saved.” The gospel is available to everyone, but only valuable to those who believe.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bible Cosmology (8, and last!)
Review
This series has gone on long enough and I want to finish it off, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up. There are odd subjects and questions that need answers so I’ll tackle a few in this final blog:
What about figurative language?
The automatic answer that comes when you ask the meaning of these descriptions is “figurative language”. The obvious retort is “figurative of what?” I would be the last one to say that all the references I’ve given were intended to be literal. There is obviously some complex imagery in use. And don’t leave out truly figurative geographical and cosmological language like Psalm 98: rivers clap hands, mountains sing, or Isaiah 49, where the sun can “smite”. Without going over every detail, let’s look at a few examples:
(i) “The skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze”. (Job 37:18) Job did not think the skies were a “mirror of cast bronze”, but he didn’t know what they really were. A simile.
(iii) “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow?” (Job 38:22) Another great metaphor for what is above the firmament. It reminds me of the little glass villages that, when shaken, sprinkle snow on the scene.
(iv) “He has pitched a tent for the sun”. (Psa.19:4) Another metaphor for the place the sun goes at night.
(v) “The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up.” (Rev.6:14) Yet another simile, apparently showing a view from earth directly into heaven. The opening of the Skydome in Toronto might be a good comparison.
What is accommodation?
The ancient writers described the cosmos as they understood it (again, flat earth, domed sky, pillars holding up the earth and the heavens, and so on). This is called “phenomenological” language. “Accommodation” describes God’s attitude to those writers—in His own revelation of Himself, He gave spiritual teaching that they could never have learned without Him. On the other hand, they had their own understanding of daily life and the visible cosmos. The Bible is not a scientific book and so God didn’t give them twenty-first century science—or any other century than their own.
Who put all the “phenomenological language” into the Bible?
Most of the phenomenological language is from the original writers, e.g., sunrise, sunset, ends of the earth, floodgates of the heavens, storehouses of the snow. Many of these words are so embedded in our language that we hardly know any other way to talk about the event. No daily weather report mentions “the moment when the sun first becomes visible in the morning”— that is “sunrise”.
What is the significance of silence?
Silence in some ways confirms the premise of this whole blog. For instance, there is no mention of North and South America or Australia in the Bible. The obvious reason is that the writers didn’t know about them and being non-spiritual pieces of geographical information, God didn’t clue them in. This is in exact parallel to the fact that He didn’t tell them any new science either.
What about semantics?
Do we have to be so particular about classifications? A star was simply a light in the sky or even a constellation or a conjunction of planets—it could still be a planet or a comet or a meteor. In the animal world a bat was listed with birds (see Lev.11:19) simply because it was an animal that flew. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish (Jonah 1:17), never mind that generations of readers have called it a whale.
Can we cite a few extra-Biblical references that “accommodate”?
Here are five examples from different eras. Some of the writers believe their statements literally, some “accommodate”, some are just harking back to the old way of thinking for poetic effect.
(i) Bernard of Cluny (12th century), Jerusalem the Golden [The Celestial Country]. “That worms should seek for dwellings Beyond the starry sky!”
(ii) Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice. “Sit, Jessica: look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:”
(iii) Shakespeare, Sonnet When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes. “…The lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate.”
(iv) Donne, John (1572-1631). Divine Meditations, 7. At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go…
(v) Quine, E.C. (1857-1942), BHB Hymn #386, verse 1. “Glory to Thee, enthroned above the sky…”
Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, I have over 200 Biblical references to cosmology and geography. This entire series has touched on only half of them. A belief in Biblical inerrancy has difficulty with this “accommodation” position and so often falls back on the “figurative language” explanation. We have to leave the whole matter of Biblical cosmology in the hands of the ancient writers, themselves. God, of course, knows the ultimate truth about cosmology and He won’t deceive us.
This series has gone on long enough and I want to finish it off, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up. There are odd subjects and questions that need answers so I’ll tackle a few in this final blog:
What about figurative language?
The automatic answer that comes when you ask the meaning of these descriptions is “figurative language”. The obvious retort is “figurative of what?” I would be the last one to say that all the references I’ve given were intended to be literal. There is obviously some complex imagery in use. And don’t leave out truly figurative geographical and cosmological language like Psalm 98: rivers clap hands, mountains sing, or Isaiah 49, where the sun can “smite”. Without going over every detail, let’s look at a few examples:
(i) “The skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze”. (Job 37:18) Job did not think the skies were a “mirror of cast bronze”, but he didn’t know what they really were. A simile.(ii) “The water jars of heaven”. (Job 38:37) The water is held up there somehow, but Job didn’t really know how. He refers to water jars; other places refer to storehouses and floodgates. These are metaphors, without the actuality ever being defined.
(iii) “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow?” (Job 38:22) Another great metaphor for what is above the firmament. It reminds me of the little glass villages that, when shaken, sprinkle snow on the scene.
(iv) “He has pitched a tent for the sun”. (Psa.19:4) Another metaphor for the place the sun goes at night.
(v) “The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up.” (Rev.6:14) Yet another simile, apparently showing a view from earth directly into heaven. The opening of the Skydome in Toronto might be a good comparison.
What is accommodation?
The ancient writers described the cosmos as they understood it (again, flat earth, domed sky, pillars holding up the earth and the heavens, and so on). This is called “phenomenological” language. “Accommodation” describes God’s attitude to those writers—in His own revelation of Himself, He gave spiritual teaching that they could never have learned without Him. On the other hand, they had their own understanding of daily life and the visible cosmos. The Bible is not a scientific book and so God didn’t give them twenty-first century science—or any other century than their own.
Who put all the “phenomenological language” into the Bible?
Most of the phenomenological language is from the original writers, e.g., sunrise, sunset, ends of the earth, floodgates of the heavens, storehouses of the snow. Many of these words are so embedded in our language that we hardly know any other way to talk about the event. No daily weather report mentions “the moment when the sun first becomes visible in the morning”— that is “sunrise”.
What is the significance of silence?
Silence in some ways confirms the premise of this whole blog. For instance, there is no mention of North and South America or Australia in the Bible. The obvious reason is that the writers didn’t know about them and being non-spiritual pieces of geographical information, God didn’t clue them in. This is in exact parallel to the fact that He didn’t tell them any new science either.
What about semantics?
Do we have to be so particular about classifications? A star was simply a light in the sky or even a constellation or a conjunction of planets—it could still be a planet or a comet or a meteor. In the animal world a bat was listed with birds (see Lev.11:19) simply because it was an animal that flew. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish (Jonah 1:17), never mind that generations of readers have called it a whale.
Can we cite a few extra-Biblical references that “accommodate”?
Here are five examples from different eras. Some of the writers believe their statements literally, some “accommodate”, some are just harking back to the old way of thinking for poetic effect.
(i) Bernard of Cluny (12th century), Jerusalem the Golden [The Celestial Country]. “That worms should seek for dwellings Beyond the starry sky!”
(ii) Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice. “Sit, Jessica: look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:”
(iii) Shakespeare, Sonnet When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes. “…The lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate.”
(iv) Donne, John (1572-1631). Divine Meditations, 7. At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go…
(v) Quine, E.C. (1857-1942), BHB Hymn #386, verse 1. “Glory to Thee, enthroned above the sky…”
Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, I have over 200 Biblical references to cosmology and geography. This entire series has touched on only half of them. A belief in Biblical inerrancy has difficulty with this “accommodation” position and so often falls back on the “figurative language” explanation. We have to leave the whole matter of Biblical cosmology in the hands of the ancient writers, themselves. God, of course, knows the ultimate truth about cosmology and He won’t deceive us.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Bible Cosmology (7)
The Underworld (The Grave, Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Hell)
The third component of this three-decker universe is the Underworld. It seems, in fact, to be a physical place as much as a spiritual one. The first mention of Sheol is in Genesis, where Jacob says that he will go down to the grave (Gen.37:35) to his son, Joseph. The direction he states is important because obviously, when he died, he would not visibly go up. It is the “realm of death below”, and in the “depths”. People can go down alive into the pit— this has to be more than just dying. In Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram went down alive (Num.16:30-33). In Deuteronomy, God refers to a fire “that burns to the realm of death below.” (Deut.32:22) And Samuel’s spirit came up out of the ground. (1 Sam.28:13) The mysteries of God are “deeper than the depths of the grave,” Job 11:8,9) and Job speaks of those who “go down to the grave in peace.” (Job 21:13) On a less happy note, another Psalmist says, “I am counted among those who go down to the pit…You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.” (Psa.88:4,6) Happily, the Psalmist tells us that “from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up” (Psa.71:20) and “You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psa.86:13)
There is life (or at least conscious existence) in the Underworld because Isaiah says about a recently dead celebrity, “The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming.” (Isa.14:9) “You are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (Isa.14:13,14) Amos speaks of a physical underworld that could, at least theoretically, be accessed with a shovel: “Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them.” (Amos 9:2) Jonah himself felt that he had been alive in the underworld because he said, “from the depths of the grave I called for help,” (Jonah 2:2) and, “You brought my life up from the pit.” (Jonah 2:6) The Lord takes up the same picture and asks Capernaum, “Will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.” (Luke 10:15)
There is a good deal more that could be said about the Underworld. For instance, part of it was a place of torment and, across a great gulf, was a region of peace and contentment. (Luke 16) And the Bible gives instructions about how to go to one place or the other.
Endings
The end of this earth (and the entire cosmos) as the Bible describes it, is an awesome sight. The Apostle John tells us that there will be “a great earthquake”, so tremendous that “every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Rev.6:12-14) This same passage tells us that the sun will turn black, the moon blood red and the stars in the sky will fall to earth. Isaiah tells us that “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll.” (Isa.34:4) Peter indicates that “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2 Pet.3:10,12) Finally, Jesus Himself assures us that “Heaven and earth will pass away…” (Mat.24:35)
How to explain all this in terms of the science of today? For starters, the study of tectonics has defined plates on the earth’s crust that are surrounded by intense volcanic and earthquake zones. By comparison, the February 2010 earthquake in Chile moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet westward.
A series of super-volcanoes could put thousands of cubic kilometers of dust into the sky— enough to darken the sun and turn the moon blood red. Earlier in this series we saw the sky compared to a dome or a scroll or a tent. If the ancient writers had this picture of the sky, it was only a step to viewing that dome destroyed or that scroll rolled up. And if that firmament gave way, who knew what would happen to the earth?
The third component of this three-decker universe is the Underworld. It seems, in fact, to be a physical place as much as a spiritual one. The first mention of Sheol is in Genesis, where Jacob says that he will go down to the grave (Gen.37:35) to his son, Joseph. The direction he states is important because obviously, when he died, he would not visibly go up. It is the “realm of death below”, and in the “depths”. People can go down alive into the pit— this has to be more than just dying. In Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram went down alive (Num.16:30-33). In Deuteronomy, God refers to a fire “that burns to the realm of death below.” (Deut.32:22) And Samuel’s spirit came up out of the ground. (1 Sam.28:13) The mysteries of God are “deeper than the depths of the grave,” Job 11:8,9) and Job speaks of those who “go down to the grave in peace.” (Job 21:13) On a less happy note, another Psalmist says, “I am counted among those who go down to the pit…You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.” (Psa.88:4,6) Happily, the Psalmist tells us that “from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up” (Psa.71:20) and “You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psa.86:13)
There is life (or at least conscious existence) in the Underworld because Isaiah says about a recently dead celebrity, “The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming.” (Isa.14:9) “You are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (Isa.14:13,14) Amos speaks of a physical underworld that could, at least theoretically, be accessed with a shovel: “Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them.” (Amos 9:2) Jonah himself felt that he had been alive in the underworld because he said, “from the depths of the grave I called for help,” (Jonah 2:2) and, “You brought my life up from the pit.” (Jonah 2:6) The Lord takes up the same picture and asks Capernaum, “Will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.” (Luke 10:15)
There is a good deal more that could be said about the Underworld. For instance, part of it was a place of torment and, across a great gulf, was a region of peace and contentment. (Luke 16) And the Bible gives instructions about how to go to one place or the other.
Endings
The end of this earth (and the entire cosmos) as the Bible describes it, is an awesome sight. The Apostle John tells us that there will be “a great earthquake”, so tremendous that “every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Rev.6:12-14) This same passage tells us that the sun will turn black, the moon blood red and the stars in the sky will fall to earth. Isaiah tells us that “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll.” (Isa.34:4) Peter indicates that “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2 Pet.3:10,12) Finally, Jesus Himself assures us that “Heaven and earth will pass away…” (Mat.24:35)
How to explain all this in terms of the science of today? For starters, the study of tectonics has defined plates on the earth’s crust that are surrounded by intense volcanic and earthquake zones. By comparison, the February 2010 earthquake in Chile moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet westward.
A series of super-volcanoes could put thousands of cubic kilometers of dust into the sky— enough to darken the sun and turn the moon blood red. Earlier in this series we saw the sky compared to a dome or a scroll or a tent. If the ancient writers had this picture of the sky, it was only a step to viewing that dome destroyed or that scroll rolled up. And if that firmament gave way, who knew what would happen to the earth?
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