What's Next in My Ongoing Studies

 In the summer of 2020, I decided, for various reasons, to abandon my efforts to earn a second M.A. degree. I had been engaged in the M.A. in Biblical Studies program at Trinity Western University starting in September 2018. While there were many things I enjoyed about my studies in the Religious Studies Department at TWU, the main draw was building new relationships with some truly exceptional people--faculty, staff, fellow grad students and undergrads. Truly, TWU, was the single most friendly place I've ever had the privilege to study and work. Then came the pandemic and my studies and my teaching--Introduction to the New Testament--had to go online. That, combined with the fact that my supervisor moved from Langley to Calgary to pursue other academic pursuits, meant there was nothing to hold me at TWU. 

However, whether formal or informal, my studies continue. I am in the process of getting a website up and running by mid to late January 2021, titled, "The Musings of a Skeptical Believer." Sound familiar? The website will be found @ www.skepticsbelieve.com. There will be short posts/articles to read on a variety of "all things biblical" topics and texts. There will be book reviews and recommendations for other deeper study resources, such as podcasts, online courses, etc. There will be classes offered, hopefully both as audio (with pdfs) and as videos recordings (narrated slide decks). The first one that I'm working on is a weekly series on "The Fourth Gospel." I don't want to simply regurgitate what I have already studied and learned, so I am continuing to study "all things biblical" informally, but with much self-imposed structure that is requiring significant self-discipline. 

With my soon-to-be website, I am trying to reach and support as specific niche audience: those who have a faith--or are open to having a faith--but who are experiencing significant cognitive dissonance due to unresolved doubts, concerns, questions about matters related to the nature and will of God, the biblical claims regarding the divine nature of Jesus, the discrepancies found within the biblical texts, inconsistencies with extra-biblical scientific and/or historical information, troubling interpretations expressed by various forms of Christianity, etc. 

For those who hold to the Bible as the inerrant word of God and confident about what they have chosen to believe, my website will not be helpful. As is also true for those who have chosen to not believe and are not interested in exploring faith possibilities.  I respect that such individuals have chosen their convictions and are comfortable with their faith, or lack thereof. My goal is not to challenge or attack them, but to support and encourage those who have (or desire to have) a faith but are struggling to see how they can believe and yet doubt, have convictions and yet uncertainties. 

As I continue to educate myself, here is a list of books I am reading (or completed reading in 2020) and courses of study to which I am listening. My goal is not to impress anyone. Rather, my hope is that this gives those who might be interested in my website a picture of the kinds of topics that I will be addressing in its early days and/or plan to deal with if reader response justifies.  The main conviction behind all that I am doing is simply this: "Any faith that is not questioned is a faith that is not worth having." 

Books which I am currently reading or have recently read:

1. Religious Refugees by Mark Karris
2. The Apocryphal Gospels: A Very Short Introduction by Paul Foster
3. The Gospel of John by F. F. Bruce
4. How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now by James L. Kugel
5. Mind the Gap by Matthias Henze
6. Love Matters More by Jared Byas
7. The Bible With and Without Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler
8. Genesis 1–11 by Edwin M. Good
9. Genesis for Normal People by Peter Enns & Jared Byas
10. Origins by Douglas Jacoby & Paul Copan
11. Republican Jesus by Tony Keddie
12. The Meaning of the Bible by Douglas Knight & Amy-Jill Levine
13. The Hebrew Bible: a Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter
14. The Canonical Gospels attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke & John
15. Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine
16. How the Bible Actually Works by Peter Enns
17. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Lin
18. The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord
19. God Can’t by Thomas Jay Oord
20. When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation by Paula Fredriksen
21. When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible by Timothy Michael Law
22. The Bible Now by Richard Elliott Friedman & Shawna Dolansky
23. Ecclesiastes by Peter Enns
24. Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives by Phyllis Trible
25. Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female and Intersex in the Image of God by Megan K DeFranza
26. A High View of Scripture by Craig Allert
27. Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel by R. Alan Culpepper
28. Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliott Friedman
29. Wrestling with God & Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition by Rabbi Steven Greenberg
30. Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective to the Evangelical Gender Debate by Michelle Lee Barnewall

Great Courses (via Audible.ca) with which I am currently engaged:

1. Ancient Mesopotamia: Like in the Cradle of Civilization––Professor Amanda H. Podany
2. The Old Testament––Professor Amy-Jill Levine
3. The New Testament––Professor Bart D.Ehrman

My Problems with Joshua and Judges, Resolved.

In another group that I meet with weekly (via Zoom), we are reading James L. Kugel’s How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now. Kugel is an Orthodox Jew who taught for years a Harvard University and then Bar Ilan University in Israel. As one reviewer of Kugel’s book noted: “Kugel's How to Read the Bible, [is] an awesome, thrilling and deeply strange book. Kugel, an emeritus professor of Hebrew literature at Harvard and, mark this, an Orthodox Jew, aims to prove that you can read the Bible rationally without losing God.” 

He begins with Genesis and works his way through the entire Hebrew Bible comparing and contrasting the interpretations of Second Temple Jews and the early Christians with the interpretations of modern biblical scholars (over the last 200 years). As the final chapter of his book demonstrates, it is quite the ride; one that each member of our group is challenged by and yet enjoying immensely.

In the last couple of weeks, we have read chapter 22, “Joshua and the Conquest of Canaan” and chapter 23, “Judges and Chiefs.” I have been a Jesus follower for more than 43 years and these two biblical texts, Joshua and Judges, have proven to be the most difficult for me to accept as “God-breathed.” This has been demonstrated by the fact that in my 35 plus years of preaching and teaching I have hardly mentioned, let alone taught, from these books. The number one reason for my reticence in endorsing these texts is the way they consistently portray the God of Israel (i.e., Yahweh) as an angry, vengeful, vindictive, warrior god who calls for and/or condones the slaughter of thousands upon thousands people (men, woman and children). The second reason, not separate from the first, is the choice of many of the so-called “judges” of Israel–some of whom are mentioned in Hebrews 11 as examples of faithful lives–specifically, Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah. First, there is Gideon, the idolator (Judges 8:22–28). Then there is Barak, the coward (Judges 4:1–10). Worse yet is Samson, the arrogant, immoral womanizer (all of Judges 14–16). And probably worst of all is Jephthah who made an impulsive vow to Yahweh and thus had to sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering (Judges 11:30–40)! 

How is any of this consistent with the teachings of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels and specifically in the so-called “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5–7). Read, again, what Jesus taught here and tell me how the books of Joshua and Judges reconcile with Jesus’ teachings:

• “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (5:9). 
• “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40 and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42 Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you” (5:38–42)
• “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:43–48)
• “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (6:12, 14)
• “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbour, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye” (7:1–5).
• “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets” (7:12).

Jesus' life and teachings are the reasons I became a Christian 43 years ago. I’m glad that at that time I didn’t know anything about the books of Joshua and Judges and/or that I wasn’t challenged to believe that all the biblical texts are word-for-word from the mouth of God or that the Bible as a whole is inerrant–i.e.,without historical, scientific or theological error, inaccuracy or contradiction. Had that been a criteria for me being baptized into Christ, and had I known about the books of Joshua and Judges, I may not have become a Christian! 

If Jesus is the Word become flesh––i.e., that Jesus is the image of the invisible God and the exact representation of his being (and I have chosen to believe that)––then I cannot accept that the god who is revealed in the books of Joshua and Judges, is the true God. Rather, the god of Joshua and Judges, and many other portions of the Hebrew Bible, has more in common with the Canaanite storm god Baal than he does with Jesus. I cannot believe in a god who commands and/or condones violence as a means to accomplish his goals in this world. I cannot believe in a god who is vengeful, petulant, wrath filled, and who commands humans to slaughter or capture and enslave other humans. I cannot believe in a god who is so dramatically inconsistent in character and action with Jesus’ life and teachings. If God in the flesh calls his followers to be peacemakers, to turn the other cheek, to forgive those who sin against us, to not judge others and to do to others what we would have them to us–and he does–then the invisible God must do the same! This is not the god who is on display in the books of Joshua and Judges. Instead, the God whom the Word became flesh has made known to us through Jesus’ life and teachings, is the God I choose to believe in and will strive to imitate and obey. 

Kugel's book, as well as many others like his, have helped me identify the cognitive dissonance I began to experience part way through my life as a Christian but denied and/or buried for many years. Finally, I allowed my confusion and disagreement to rise to the surface so I could resolve it, either by giving up my faith in Jesus entirely or by giving up my faith in an inerrant, word-for-word God-breathed Bible. I chose the latter and not the former. As Kugel, and others, have helped me see, one can read the Bible rationally without losing God!