Year: 2010

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Bible

Do You Wear Glasses When You Read the Bible?

When you read the Bible, do you wear glasses? I mean metaphorically. Seriously, do you?

Communication experts tell us that we take in and process information through filters — or lenses. Often this selective process is helpful, removing the minutia of life so that important and relevant information can be observed, remembered, and contemplated.

Sometimes, however, this filtering process blocks us from seeing — and knowing — what is really significant and meaningful. Such is often the case as we read and study the Bible.

As we contemplate what the Bible says, our filters cause us to see and understand it through the perspective of our childhood upbringing, our education, and our formed beliefs. If we are socialists, we see socialism in the Bible; if we are capitalists, we see capitalism in the Bible. 

Similarly, we see democracy or theocracy or even monarchy as possessing Biblical support. Be we Democrats or Republicans, our political views are also mandated by the Bible, with the opposing party’s views squarely nullified. 

Never mind that both sides are able to do so with equal vigor and aplomb.

This all happens because we tend to filter out those things that mess with our preconceived ideas and the status quo of our lives,

To garner a fuller, more holistic understanding of the Bible, we need to endeavor to remove our “reading” glasses, considering the full text and embracing the complete narrative—not to support our point-of-view, but to confront it and challenge it.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Responding to Temptation

The Bible says that when we are tempted to do wrong, God will provide a way out so that we can avoid it.  That is an encouraging promise, but does that really mean that every time — or just some of the time?

I think it is every time — really, I do.

The challenge is to be able to recognize the alternative and then to go down that path as soon as we see it.  So, in anticipation of this, I ask God to give me the eyes to see the way out that he will provide — and then to have the will to take it.

In that way, with his help, we can stand up under the temptation — just as the Bible promises.

[See 1 Corinthians 12:13.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  Today is the time when we remember — and celebrate — Jesus overcoming death and rising from the dead.

Each account of Jesus in the Bible records this:

Matthew

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him” (Matthew 28:5-7.)

Mark

“Don’t be alarmed,” [the angel] said.  “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  He has risen!  He is not here. See the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:6.)

Luke

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!  Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again” (Luke 24:5-6).

John

simply confirms that the tomb where Jesus’ body lay was found to be empty; recording that he then appeared to Mary Magdalene, ten of the disciples, and lastly to Thomas (John 20.)

Have a Happy Easter!

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Spirit, Soul, and Body

The Bible says that our being — our entity — is comprised of spirit, soul, and body.  That is something to contemplate.

At first glance, I’d be inclined to reverse the order, from the most tangible (body) to the least (spirit).

However, considering that God — who is spirit — made us in his image, it is appropriate to list spirit first, thereby making it foremost.  Seemingly, it is our spirit — not our body — where our primary essence exists.

My friend Nate explains it this way: We are a spirit, we have a soul (comprising of mind, will, and emotion), and we live in a body.

Our body, where our spirit and soul currently resides, is both temporal and temporary; it is finite and will one day end.

Our spirit, however, is not likewise restricted.  That is another thing to contemplate.

Could there be a spiritual realm that is more real than the physical realm in which we live?  I hope so; I think so.

[See 1 Thessalonians 5:23.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Creation or Evolution?

If we were created, as the Bible says, how did it really happen?

I have heard different views on the subject:

  • Creation occurred in seven literal 24-hour days.
  • Creation occurred in seven increments of time, paralleling the evolutionary time-line.
  • Creation occurred when God made all of the requisite ingredients, setting the stage for evolution to transpire. He then sat back and joyfully watched things happen.

One of these is probably true — or perhaps there is a completely different understanding. It is easy to fixate on the details and lose site of the critical unifying element: that God was instrumental in creation; the rest doesn’t matter — not really.

[See my prior posts on this subject: In the Beginning and The Time-Space Continuum.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The Time-Space Continuum

My prior post, “In the Beginning…”, may lead some to quip, “Well, where did God come from?”

If there is the assumption that God’s existence is like that of our own, then a creation view has the same limitation as an evolution view: something had to come from nothing.

However, in considering the creation account in the book of Genesis, we see that God made the heavens (space), lights — the sun, moon, and stars (space), and the sky (space).  Clearly, God made space.

Physicists tell us that space and time exist on a continuum.  That is, space and time are co-existent.  Ergo, if God created space, then he also created time.

If God created time and space, then he has to exist outside of the space-time continuum; he is timeless and therefore eternal, with no origin and no beginning.

To accept creation, one must have faith that God always existed, whereas to accept evolution, one must accept that something came from nothing.

For me, the former perspective is less of a stretch.

[See Genesis 1:1, 3, 9, and 16.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

In the Beginning…

How did it all begin?  That is, where did we come from?

While I don’t intend to end the debate over this topic or change anyone’s mind, I do want to offer something to think about.

As you know, there are two schools of thought on our origin: we evolved or we were created.

Either point of view requires a degree of faith to accept — and for me, evolution actually requires more.  Here’s why:

Follow the theory of evolution backwards, starting with people.  Follow them to land animals, to water animals, to plants, to single cell organisms, to amino acids, to a mixture of gases, and so forth. 

No matter how far back you go, the nagging question is always there: Where did that come from?  At some point, there is the inescapable conclusion that something had to come from nothing.

For me, that takes a great deal of faith to accept — seemingly more faith than to simply say that an ever-existing God, living outside of time-space, just made it all.

If the use of the word faith is a bit off-putting, then consider Occam’s Razor, the principle that says the simplest solution is usually the correct one.  To me, being created is simpler than having evolved, so I’ll go with that.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

I Am

In the Bible, Jesus makes several declarations of who he is and his character.  He said:

  • “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
  • “I am the light of the world.”
  • “I am the gate for the sheep.”
  • “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
  • “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
  • “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”
  • “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

He also provided insight into his relationship with his Father and his followers:

  • “I am in my Father.”
  • “I am in you.”
  • “I am not alone, for my Father is with me.”

Is this how you see Jesus?

[See John 6:35, John 9:5, John 10:7, John 10:11, John 11:25, John 14:6, John 15:1, John 14:20, John 17:21, and John 16:32.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The Implications of Omnipresence

The entry “Omni God” mentioned that, among other things, God is “omnipresent.”  This means that God is present everywhere or that he exists in all places, at all times.

This is a grand and awesome concept, to realize that God simultaneously exists everywhere.  It is huge, immense, and at times a bit overwhelming.  Sometimes this reality makes me feel small and insignificant.

However, if God is everywhere, then he is also here, right now.  His omnipresent reality allows him to be here with me and to be with you — wherever you may be and wherever you may be there.

Yes, God’s omnipresence is big and grand and all-encompassing; it also means that he is intimate and personal, and readily accessible.

God may be big, but he’s also here, right now, for each of us.

[Also see “The Implications of Omniscience” and “The Implications of Omnipotence.”]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Categories
Bible

Esther Was Not Like Cinderella

I’ve always liked the story of Esther.  She was a peasant girl who won a national beauty pageant and became queen.  In my imagination, I’ve given this tale a Cinderella-like grandness, with Esther and the king, falling in love and living happily ever after.

Alas, the story does not mention love and fails to include any thoughts of happiness.  Let’s review the facts:

  • Esther and her people had been taken captive and forcibly relocated to a foreign land; she was a spoil of war.
  • Esther did not opt to take part in the beauty contest; all attractive virgins were compelled to participate.
  • Esther’s heritage prohibited her from marrying outside her faith; to do so would be a shameful and disobedient act.

Add to this these reasonable conclusions about Esther’s “relationship” with the king:

  • Even after she was made queen, he seemingly continued to enjoy the company of other women in his harem.
  • She was estranged from him; she had not been “summoned” by him for thirty days.
  • She feared him; she could be summarily executed by merely approaching him without permission.

In the New Jerusalem Bible, we are treated to the prayer that she offered in the midst of this.  She says, in part:

  • “I loathe the bed of the uncircumcised” (that would be the king)
  • “I am under constraint” to wear the crown, that is, to be queen
  • “Nor has your servant found pleasure from the day of her promotion until now”
  • “Free me from my fear”

Sadly, there is no love, happiness, joy, or satisfaction in her role as queen.  Even so she did use her unwanted position to save her people, the Jews, from a certain annihilation. 

So this account of Esther isn’t a love story, at least not in the traditional sense.  It is, however, a tale of valor and bravery — and a reminder that one person can make a difference.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.