Introducing My "Skeptics Believe" Website

Greetings:

If you are one of the readers/subscribers to this blog, you've noted I've not published any posts here since early March. There are a couple of reasons for that, one of which is that I'm posting exclusively now on my new(ish) website: https://skepticsbelieve.com/blog/

Here are some recent blogs on my website that you might find interesting:

• A Series on the book of Ecclesiastes (more to come)
• Qohelet 1: Stop Cherry Picking from Ecclesiastes
• Qohelet 2: Nerdy But Important–Who are What is Ecclesiastes
• Qohelet 3: "Cliffs Notes" on Ecclesiastes
• A Series on the first eleven chapters of Genesis (more to come)
• Biblical Beginnings 1: Order Out of Chaos
• Various miscellaneous article on whatever has peeked my interest (always more to come)
• Unhelpful Spiritual Cliches
• My Theology Doesn't Directly Impact My Reality
• "Aha" Concepts: Rethinking Biblical Inspiration

In addition I have posted recommendations of my favourite and spiritually helpful books, websites, podcasts and videos. I've also included a glossary of common words and phrases used in the study of all things biblical, with a special focus on the...

1. Hebrew Bible/Protestant Old Testament
2. Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books
3. Dead Sea Scrolls
4. New Testament
5. Second Temple Judaism
6. Origins of Christianity

Thank you for subscribing to this blog. Now, I hope you will frequently visit my website https://skepticsbelieve.com/ as I'm adding various materials to it as quickly as I am able, at least 2-3 times per week. 

Take Care and Stay Curious,

Brian

The Most Crucial "Aha" Concept: Practicing a Humble Faith

I don’t remember exactly when this idea sufficiently permeated my consciousness. I think it happened gradually, with ever increasing impact, over a period of five years or so in the mid-2000s. As I opened myself up to truly hearing those with whom I disagreed, I began to see that many other people were searching for understanding and even “truth” with as much energy and integrity as I had been doing and, in some cases, even more! While at the end of the class, lecture, article or book, I still disagreed, I neither felt threatened by that, nor saw their perspectives as entirely wrong and mine as entirely right. I still hold to many of the convictions I once had but with, I hope, a whole lot more humility than I did earlier in my life.

Learning from those with whom we disagree

This concept is so clearly expressed by Edwin M. Good (1928–2014) in his book, Genesis 1–11: Tales of the Earliest World. At the time he wrote this book he was 83 years old (2011). His Preface captures exactly what I am striving to have in my own personal faith journey moving forward, both in terms of having beliefs that I strive to live by and yet sharing them with humility for others to consider. Please read this quotation from Edwin Good; otherwise, my thoughts afterwards won’t make much sense.

If I read Genesis, chapters 1–11, with as much attention as I can, it may be one way to persuade those who read this discussion to do the same with their own eyes and minds. My point is not to set forth the Final Truth about these chapters. I am pretty well convinced that there is no Final Truth to them, which is not to say that they have no truth in them. But sometimes truth makes its way most persuasively by being unfamiliar. Or a proposal’s very unfamiliarity allows a reader to stop and ponder closely what she thinks—or has previously thought—is true. Then if she decides that she thinks something different from me, the thought may well be more precise, more focused, than it was before. One of my aims is to assist people to read with care and to make up their own minds more clearly. 

Early in a long career of teaching at Stanford University, working with the most amazing students and faculty colleagues in many fields of study, I had knocked out of me any notion that my duty was to turn them into my intellectual clones. That experience has spilled over into how I feel about readers of what I write, and this book is perhaps even more centered on that kind of presentation. Not that I will be shy about saying what I think. But I deeply desire readers to understand that my intention is not to provide them with a predigested “true perception” of these stories, but to show what in my own ways I have perceived. I have no difficulty with the idea that one outcome of that reading may be a level of disagreement with me. Fine. Use your own eyes and mind with all their capabilities and qualities and see what you see. And I hope you will notice how many of my sentences end with question marks. 

In fact, one of the surprises in pushing my way through the thickets of these chapters was how my perceptions have changed since I wrote earlier on the same material. There are some statements here that I could not have made twenty or thirty years ago. On the present trip through these texts, I saw a good many things that I simply never noticed before, and I think some of them were for me at those times unthinkable thoughts. Other things I thought back then prevented my seeing some of what I see now. I am grateful to whatever elements of life and experience have made possible such change.

Edwin M. Good. Genesis 1-11: Tales of the Earliest World. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2011. Kindle Edition.  

So many things in these three paragraphs resonate deeply with me, almost word-for-word, with regard to my life experiences, as well as my intentions for my blog and website. 

As I re-explore in detail specific aspects of all things biblical, I hope my example will encourage others to do the same. The conclusions I reach and the beliefs that I embrace through such a re-examination will not be “the Final Truth…which is not to say there is not truth in them.” The goal of my blog and website is “to assist people to read with care and to make up their own minds more clearly.” I spent way too many years of my life certain that I had found and understood “the Final Truth” about so many things. So, I put much of my energy into trying to convince people that my convictions were the ones they must adopt as their own. I gave precious little space for others to truly “make up their own minds more clearly.”  

Sadly, unlike Edwin Good, it was later, not earlier, in my rather long career as a teaching pastor before life’s experiences knocked out of me that it was my responsibility to turn my hearers into my spiritual clones. Unity meant uniformity until about 15 years ago, when gradually, I opened up to the idea that unity doesn’t require precise agreement but rather unity is the result of humility and mutual respect, especially when we see things differently. For several years now, thankfully and finally, I have striven not to give others “a predigested ‘true perception’” of all things biblical “but to show what in my own ways I have perceived.” My encouragement is for my readers “to use [their] own eyes and mind with all their capabilities and qualities and see what [they see].” And if that means they disagree with me, that is absolutely fine.

Some have asked, and others not doubt will ask, “Brian, why have your perceptions of many things biblical changed, especially in the last 15 years?” The reality is I could have not come to these changed perceptions 15 to 20 years ago. Why? There were things I simply did not notice because “other things I thought back then prevented my seeing some of what I see now.” And thus, like Edwin M. Good, “I am grateful to whatever elements of life and experience have made possible such change.”

I can still hold to my faith. Yet, I can do so with a humility that keeps my mind open and allows me to respectfully interact with, and even learn from, those who have reached conclusions different than my own. To grow we must not only truly dialogue with those with whom we agree, but also, and more importantly, with those with whom we currently disagree, while we continue to do our best to live out our presently held beliefs. 

An "Aha" Concept Has Resulted in Many "Aha" Moments

I honestly cannot nail this down to a moment or a specific time in my life, so maybe by definition it is not an "Aha" experience in the truest sense. However, once the dangers of proof texting became clear to me (gradually with ever deeper conviction), avoiding the practice of proof texting became an obsession for me. 

Identifying my own proof texting is a humbling process for sure. It is hard for me to admit (because of my pride) all the ways I supported my specific beliefs and practices by isolating texts from their contexts and then using them to try to convince others of the correctness of my beliefs and practices (often in opposition to theirs). Over the last fifteen years, I have become more aware of the ways that I abused and misused biblical passages. And it remains an ongoing process. One of the key ways of identifying my own proof texting is realizing when a specific word, clause, sentence or short passage is my only proof of my "correct" doctrine or practice. 

A key belief and practice of many restorationist denominations (or at least it used to be) had to do with recognizing the leadership role, and qualifications, of "elder" (aka "bishop," "overseer," and/or "shepherd" or "pastor"). In the restorationist denomination in which I was initially trained and in which I served in the full time ministry, the issue of who was qualified to be appointed as an elder was paramount, and one "qualification" in particular was crucial. As stated in Titus 1:6, "An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient."  For years, I believed and taught that the children of elders must be faithful Christians (i.e., baptized and actively following Jesus as Lord). If any of a man's children either hadn't ever made the decision to follow Jesus or had done so and then later "fell away," that man was not qualified to serve his local congregation as an elder. 

There are several problems with using Titus 1:6 as a proof text that an elder's children must be faithful followers of Jesus. First, this is the only passage that might possibly be interpreted in that way. There is no other passage of scripture that teaches or gives an example of this. Second, interpreting the phrase "τέκνα ἔχων πιστά" as "having believing children" is not the only way to translate this clause. It can, and I have concluded should, be translated as "having trustworthy children". The word "πιστά" from "πιστός" means "trusting, believing, full of faith, faithful, trustworthy, reliable, dependable." The clause that follows "τέκνα ἔχων πιστά" is translated as "not accused of debauchery and not rebellious" (NRSV) or "not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient" (NIV). This final clause defines, in this context, what the adjective "πιστά" means and thus how it should be understood and translated. Understood as "trustworthy/reliable/dependable children" makes more sense given the immediate context and is the more usual meaning of "πιστός." 

Fundamentalists and conservative evangelical denominations and their members, however, are not the only ones who proof text in order to support their beliefs and practices. The same can be, and sadly is, what progressive and liberal denominations do, often in response to the proof texting of fundamentalist and evangelicals. In those cases, all parties are guilty of abusing and misusing the scriptures. Hot topics that often rely on proof texting right now include issues related to LGBTQ, gender equality, and gender identity. Arguing about who has the better proof texts, in my opinion, proves nothing. Rather, a reasoned, mutually respectful discussion that honestly attempts to exegete these isolated texts with respect to their contexts (biblical, cultural, historical, etc.) has a much greater probability of leading to understanding, if not agreement. 

In my last year of formal graduate study, I wrote a paper titled, "What is Actually Prohibited by the Law in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13?" This is one of the passages that the LGBTQ community and supporters call, "clobber passages" because of their proof texting use by fundamentalist and evangelicals to prove that LGBTQ individuals are guilty of "abominable" or "utterly detestable" sin. Yet, after careful examination of the words and phrases used in these verses, and the contexts in which they laws are found, one of the conclusions I came to was...

...the numerous questions that arise from the close reading and various analyses of each verse are not insignificant and should give any interpreter reason to pause and thoughtfully try to provide reasonable answers. Those who insist that these laws clearly and unambiguously prohibit all same-gender sexuality for all people for all time, ignore or minimize the complexities/difficulties of the Hebrew text, misunderstand/misrepresent the meaning of תּוֹעֵבָ֥ה, [the Hebrew word for "abomination"] and/or refuse to take the immediate context into consideration.

Sadly, most proof texting is done arrogantly and self-righteously and is used to not only defend one's belief and practice, but to attack and delegitimize the belief and practice of those with whom the proof texter disagrees. Such an use of proof texts is often referred to as "weaponizing" scripture.

Bottom line: When one strives to avoid proof texting, and thus seeks to appreciate these passages in context, possibilities open up to other potentially valid, or at least reasonable, interpretations that support different beliefs and practices. That is, doing my best to dismantle and avoid proof texting has resulted in many "Aha" moments which have each impacted my spiritual journey.

[Note: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2016/04/the-spirituality-of-snoopy/479664/]

 

I Can See More Clearly Now—My "Aha" Moments

Just recently—like this week—I had my latest prescription lenses installed in my old frames. I hadn’t had my eyes checked in 3 years or more, and according my optometrist, my prescription changed rather significantly. Thus, was explained why everything had been quite blurry—duh! 

Because I didn’t need (or want) new frames (the ones I have are light, yet durable), then I spent more money on getting really good quality lenses with the “latest” technology. I was certainly hoping to see more clearly, but I wasn’t expecting the results to be so dramatic! From people, to nature, to screens, to print, etc., etc., everything was suddenly and dramatically clearer.  In fact, I can’t remember when I last saw my world in such fine and precise detail. I can now read the titles on books from across the room. I can read the small “print” on the TV screen. And I don’t even have to squint. I just didn’t realize how “off” my vision was until the moment I put on my new lenses. The difference is astounding.

This is a perfect analogy for those moments in our lives when we come to some realizations, insights, perspectives that help us make much more sense of our experiences in this world. People often refer to these as “Aha” or even “Eureka” moments: moments of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition or comprehension.  

In a recent blog post, Peter Enns notes how some evangelical biblical scholars had their “Aha” moments that convinced them that they needed to find different ways of dealing with the biblical texts than how they had been taught. That led me to think about cataloguing, then describing, my own biblical “Aha” moments. Most of these happened in the last 15 years, with some being more significant than others in terms of their impact on the trajectory of my faith journey. In the series of blogs that follow, I will go into some detail about when these moments happened and how they changed my thinking and approach to “all things biblical.” In the first of this series, I will detail the “Aha” moments I had while taking an undergraduate course, RELG 306––Archaeology and the Bible, with the renowned Egyptologist, Dr. Thomas Schneider in 2008.

Disclaimer: If you’re content and confident with where you are at spiritually, especially in terms of your conviction that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, then you won’t be helped or encouraged by some, or any of the, things I will share. Again, for those who equate faith with certainty, I don’t want to introduce doubt or to oppose and/or irritate you. Rather, I’m sharing in an effort to offer support and encouragement to those whose doubts, questions and/or concerns are leading to a “faith crisis

Imagining the Ripple Effect of Love

The subject of love, especially in these pandemic times, is the single, most important, topic for us, as human beings, and especially as Christians, to talk about, study, discuss and most critically, put into practice in our lives. I find that many of my Christian friends want to ignore or minimize the impact of the pandemic, at least until they personally experience its effect. After all, God is in control, right? And God works together all things for the good of those who love him, right? So, God must be using this virus to teach humanity a lesson and help them see their need for salvation, right? Yet, it my experience and observation that everyone is being impacted, including your spouse, children, parents and closest friends.

I don’t care what your theology tells you about how to spiritually interpret the pandemic. The reality is that all people, including the people you know best, are being intensely challenged, and many are suffering, physically, emotionally, financially, and/or spiritually. What we need in the world right now is a whole lotta love for our fellow humans. This love can begin with those we care about the most and it will ripple out to everyone with whom we have the opportunity to interact and thus impact with acts of unconditional love, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians. 

But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

[1 Corinthians 12:31–13:8a]

So, did you actually read the above passage? If not, I urge you to go back and read it slowly and emphatically. 

There are lots of things that we can’t do to counter the impact of the pandemic, but there is one thing we can all do, even if we’re not scientists, front line workers, or health care professionals. We can love the people with whom we interact on a consistent basis. Imagine what it would be like to have people in each of our lives who act toward us consistently with patience, kindness, generosity, humility, encouragement, calmness and true forgiveness. This kind of love demonstrated in word and deed, help us all to bear, believe, hope and endure all things. This kind of love simply does not fail.   

No one of us can love to the whole world. We can SAY that we love the world and mean it, but in reality, we can’t demonstrate love to the 7.8 billion people. But what we can do is to show love to those people who are in our worlds. In fact, that is exactly how we show that we love humanity; by loving the humans that are in our immediate sphere of influence, right now. 

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 

[1 John 3:16–18] 

What is it that keeps us from loving those closest to us, in this way? Pride, self-righteousness, unforgiven wrongs, unresolved hurts, fear, selfishness, etc. Honestly, it is often easier to show more patience, kindness, generosity, humility, etc., to those with whom we have minimal contact. We know our family and friends better, which means we know their flaws, faults, and foibles, and they know us. So, in our pride and hurt, we can even feel justified in holding back from unconditionally and consistently loving. 

It is my conviction that love must begin at home! In passages such as Ephesians 5 & 6 and Colossians 3 & 4, the early Christians were given specific direction on how to love those who are in their lives on a day-to-day basis. I think it is hypocritical of us to be more patient, more kind, more forgiving, more trusting of people we barely know or don’t know than we are towards our spouses, children, other family and close friends.

Consistently and unconditionally loving those with whom we are closest is, at times, really hard and calls for a level of selflessness that can be really difficult to practice. But that’s why it is so powerful, so impacting, and so inspiring. It is what the world needs to see. It is what Jesus said would identify to all people those who are his disciples.  

In 1971, John Lennon recorded a song, “Imagine,” which the magazine “Rolling Stone” rated as the #3 greatest song of all time. In it Lennon imagines a world where there is global peace, equality and brotherhood. He ends the song with these words, “You might say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.” 

I want to invite you to imagine a slightly different world. It is one in which every person who follows Jesus as Lord make loving others the number one priority of daily life. Now imagine, not just one drop causing localized ripples but millions of drops causing tens of millions of ripples of love, 24/7/365 all over the world. Imagine what the cumulative and ongoing impact would be on the world! Like a Rainstorm on a pond.

And it starts as each one of us grows in expressing love to those with whom we have the closest relationships.

I read an inspiring and practical article this week titled, People Grow into the Finest Version of Themselves When They are Loved without an Agenda. So, let’s help those with whom we are closest to grow into the finest version of themselves; let us love them consistently and unconditionally in deed and in truth and let us imagine what God can do in us and through us.

Here is a prayer that I think is worth praying consistently… 

Dear God, who is Love, I commit today that I will not major in the minors of Christian faith, but I will listen to, and keep in step with the Holy Spirit so that the Spirit might inspire, motivate, challenge, call, and empower me to life a life of love, just as Christ loved me and gave himself up for me. And may that love ripple out from my closest relationships to touch all those with whom I interact today. Amen

Love is "Uncontrolling."

One of the key ways that an open and relational perspective on God has challenged, inspired and equipped me has to do with learning that the love of God is "uncontrolling." In other words, while God always wants what is best for his creation and is saddened when we make selfish decisions that lead to loss, hurt, violence, etc., God does not coerce, manipulate, or in any way force us to change. I'm confident that while God uses every method possible to encourage, inspire, motive and enable us to make decisions that result in the betterment of ourselves and others, God does not step in and control us.

I thought of God's "uncontrolling" love again just this morning when I came across an article with this rather long, but clear, title: People Grow into the Finest Version of Themselves When They are Loved Without an Agenda. God wants us to grow into the finest versions of ourselves and so, to that end, God does not coerce, bribe, manipulate, trick or any any way force us to become what God knows we can become. 

I have made a lot of bad decisions in my life. If you can't relate, and you are young, then come back and talk to me when you're about to turn 65––that is, if I'm still around to talk to. These bad decisions not only hurt others including, and especially, those closest to me, but they hurt me and held me back from becoming my best self. Because God does not coerce, control or manipulate, the only person I could hold responsible for these bad decisions was me. But also because God loves me without control, then I was free to learn from my mistakes and become a better version of myself. 

There are those who would disagree with me––that is, that I have become a better version of myself––but so be it. Today, at almost 65 years of age, I am experiencing a responsibility and a desire to grow that is far greater and more authentic than at any time in the past when I felt pressured and manipulated and even held hostage by others to become what they thought I should become. 

Additionally, knowing that God's love is uncontrolling, I am striving to imitate that love in all of my relationships. I want others to become the finest versions of themselves, but for them to do that, I must discard my agenda and learn to love them unconditionally no matter what they choose to do or be. 

Here are some key quotes from the above linked article:

• [Having] an agenda [for others] creates distance between people since it is not vested in love or cooperation.
• If you want to help people grow into the finest version of themselves, nurture a spirit of compassion and empathy with them.
• Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others, but by simply accepting them as they are. True acceptance is always without demands and expectations.
• We should greet others where they stand rather than expect them to align with us.
• We narrow the divide that separates us [when we] reach out to them in a shared space of humility, support and understanding.

I think you get the picture. My fellow human beings are capable of making decisions for their own lives. Even as a leader––and especially as a faith leader––the more I believe this and express that belief in the way I relate to those with whom I have influence, the greater will be the transformation that will occur as each person accepts and takes responsibility for their own life. 

I truly wish I had learned of God's uncontrolling love much earlier in my life, not only for my growth's sake, but for the sake of those whom I was entrusted to lead. But now that I have accepted God's non-manipulative love, I am able to imitate God and I can observe, with joy, as those whom I love are being transformed into the finest versions of themselves, because they are free to do so. 

[Note: I am so grateful for Thomas Jay Oord, that through his writings, teaching, example and friendship, I have had my understanding of the nature of God's αγαπη (agape) so radically transformed.]

An ORT God & the Pandemic

On April 2, 2020 in A Letter from Catherine Keller, the theologian shared her answers to four questions with regard to what God is doing in this Pandemic:

1. Is God punishing humanity?
2. Is God testing humanity?
3. Is God teaching humanity a lesson?
4. Is God fixing the world?

Keller wrote, 

For many folks who find solace and guidance from their biblical faith, those questions must somehow be answered ‘yes.’ And this sense of divine intervention may lead them to do good, moral things...I respect anyone’s sincere faith. But faith can get trapped in misguided interpretations.

It is important to note that on the date that she wrote her letter, globally, just over 1 million people had tested positive resulting in 50,000 deaths. In the U.S.A., 240,000 had tested positive and 5,000 had died. At the writing of this post: globally, 106 million have been infected and more than 2.3 million people have died. In the U.S.A. more than 27 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and 473,000 have died! Thus, the questions raised by Keller are even more pertinent for, and are in urgent need of answers from, people of faith. 

To say one believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent AND all-loving God while tens of millions of people have been infected and millions have died, as well as hundreds of millions suffering mentally, physically, emotionally and economically as a direct result of this pandemic, must be enough to make one question such a perception of God. 

Conservative evangelical theology had stopped working for me well before the pandemic, specifically due to a whole series of personal experiences from 2016 to 2018. My choices boiled down to three: (1) God either doesn't exist or isn't engaged in the universe; (2) God is cruel and sadistic; or (3) God is not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent AND all-loving. The standard answers from proponents of conservative theology no longer made any sense – that is, (1) God moves in mysterious ways, (2) God works for the good of those who love him, and/or (3) God is in control. So, yes, I was longing and hoping to be able to see God from a different perspective as the cognitive dissonance became unbearable. Then, in steps ORT, and specifically and initially, Thomas Jay Oord. 

The question is: Could not an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent AND all-loving God find another way to bring about justice, test and teach us, and/or fix the world? Could God not have found a way that didn't involve the very real, intense and ongoing suffering of hundreds of millions and the deaths of tens of millions, most of whom are among the poorest, most disadvantaged, vulnerable, marginalized, and abused? But what if there is a God who, at the very core of God's nature, is love and thus who can't control those creatures whom God created with free will? What if God is at work in the universe for the good of creation but requires the cooperation of creation to bring about the most good? In other words, what if Oord (and others) are on to something theologically and that in reality God Can't?

I really appreciate that Catherine Keller answered each of the above questions with a resounding, "No!" So what is happening and why? Keller concludes,  

God did not create the pandemic in order to test any of us; God didn’t create the pandemic! But perhaps we are being tested. Not by the torments of a bully God, but by invitation to rise to the occasion. To find the courage and the care that will sustain us...But isn't the ultimate biblical test always and only love? If we rise to the occasion, it is because we grow in that dauntless love that casts out fear..

How do we think about such a God? How do we relate to such a God? How do we pray? I so appreciate this prayer, posted by Mark G. Karris (author of Divine Echoes and Religious Refugees). This is the God whom I seek to know better. This is the God with whom I long to cooperate, to be God's fellow worker, as I learn to love as God loves.