We’ve seen that Paul is quite capable of misusing and abusing Scripture to support a doctrine that has no support. Before moving on to expose Paul for the false apostle he is, it would be good to interject at this point what the criterion should be for determining which portions of the Bible are the infallible word of God, and which ones are not.
All or nothing?
Much of Christianity works from the premise that the Bible as a whole is the infallible word of God. Protestant Evangelical Christianity certainly does. But no sooner does someone begin to question some part of it than a Bible-believing Christian steps up and states that to reject any one part of the Bible is to render the entire book irrelevant. This flow of logic supposes that if one part can be rejected, then it’s open season to reject any part of it if one doesn’t like what it says. Therefore the Bible as a whole is viewed as God’s flawless revelation to man. While on the surface this logic sounds reasonable, that is not necessarily the case. Moreover, how is calling for the reckless abandon of intellect through blind faith in a book, any different from what Muslims do with the Koran? In demanding this kind of standard for the Bible, Christianity has effectively tied its own hands in the debate with other religions that do the same with their books.
Also, realize that there are atheists who would like to discredit the entire Bible, and there are many Jews who would like to discredit the New Testament. If Christianity demands an all-or-nothing standard and anyone opposed to the Bible can demonstrate even one little error in the Bible, they win! Atheists are constantly chipping away at Christianity this way. Christian teachers need to come to grips with the fact that there are numerous and significant errors in the Bible that cannot continue to be merely swept under the carpet. To not deal with them proves in the minds of thinking people that Christianity is a baseless blind faith. Visit any atheistic or Jewish anti-missionary website and brace yourself. By demonstrating any error in the Bible, those opposed to God and Christianity have proven that the entire New Testament is no longer the infallible word of God. These groups now have legitimate grounds on which to continue rejecting the truth that the Bible does contain. Christianity has largely handed its opponents this win on a silver platter.
Speaking for myself, I no longer begin with the premise that the Bible is the infallible word of God cover to cover. Blind faith in any book is dangerous. What I believe to be the truth is far more objective than being a simple matter of picking and choosing what suits any particular fancy. We can arrive at the truth logically and objectively. The following are the truths that I have come to embrace through reason on which I hope to find common ground with the reader. It is beyond the scope of this book to argue or establish these points. Instead, I hope to build on the following four foundational premises with those who share them.
The first and most important is that YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel is the one true Most High God. Second, that His word is truth. Third, Moses, the prophets, and Yeshua all spoke God’s words on His behalf. And Fourth, what each of these men said on God’s behalf never conflicts with what the others said.
More errors in the New Testament
When it comes to the words of other writers in the Bible, there is still much truth that can be extracted from them, but they are subject to possible error and must be held accountable to the truth established in Moses, the Prophets, and Yeshua. This includes the narrative parts of the Gospels as well. Those are the parts that would be printed in black in a red-letter edition of the Bible where Yeshua’s words are printed in red. The authors of the gospels regularly interjected their own commentaries and recollections that have, on occasion, proven to be in error. For example, the author of the book of Matthew regularly made an attempt to connect events in Yeshua’s life with prophecies from the Tanakh. Though the author of Matthew made a number of accurate connections, he also made a number of blunders. The first three times he attempted to make a connection he erred and used a text that had nothing to do with Yeshua. His first mistake was in quoting an Isaiah prophecy that supposedly concerned Yeshua’s virgin birth. There are a number of good reasons to continue to believe Yeshua was born of a virgin, but Isaiah 7:14 is not one of them. This passage has absolutely nothing to do with a virgin or Yeshua! Jews know that the Hebrew word translated “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 in Christian Bibles carries no connotation of virginity, but is often used in reference to a young married woman. In its full context, this passage is clearly speaking of Isaiah’s wife. See Isaiah 7:10 – 8:10. This is only one of several blunders made by the author of Matthew. Jewish anti-missionaries have capitalized on these mistakes and used them as proof that the gospels are not the infallible word of God. If Christianity hadn’t held out for all-or-nothing, it maybe wouldn’t have ended up with nothing in the eyes of many Jews.
The narrative parts of the gospels concerning events surrounding Yeshua’s actual words might still be considered at least as reliable as reading a newspaper today. One can obtain many facts and much true information from the newspaper without it being considered the infallible word of God. But there are the occasional misunderstandings as well as editorials and commentary that depart significantly from the truth. Nevertheless, we still read it for the truth that we can recieve from it.
Can’t God protect His word?
Another common argument suggests that since God is all-powerful, He has protected His word and kept it pure and unadulterated. I wish I had a nickel for every time a version of this logic has come my way. This argument stems directly from the presupposition that every event that transpires on earth is part of the sovereign will of God. And how did we arrive at this conclusion? Paul teaches it in the Bible! Isn’t it convenient how this self-supporting logic works? It’s about as air-tight as circular reasoning gets! Blind faith is so much easier on the brain. You don’t have to think as much, which makes it easy to market to others who’d rather not have to expend the energy involved in using their heads.
Along these lines comes another rationale that people commonly use to excuse themselves from using their heads. You’ll hear them say something like: “If there were anything new to be discovered, smart people would have discovered it long ago.” Smart people, on the other hand, see this kind of logic for the cop-out from taking responsibility for what they believe that it is. The truth is, this is an intimidation tactic, camouflaged in false humility that is really saying, “You’re not smarter than all the Christian scholars who’ve come before you!” There’s not a single religion on earth that doesn’t constantly use this type of humiliation-tactic to keep its restless thinkers in line. Muslims tell their would-be breakaways: “You think you’re smarter than all the imams that have come before you?” Jews tell their restless thinkers: “You think you’re smarter than all the sages that have come before you?” Christians who’ve tried using this tactic clearly see it for what it is when it’s used to keep Jews and Muslims in line. They wouldn’t buy that argument from a Jew or Muslim for a second! Protestant Christians even see this tactic for what it is when a Catholic tells someone who’s questioning Catholic doctrine: “You’re not smarter than all the Popes and Bishops who have come before you.” If a Catholic ever tried that argument on a Protestant, the Protestant would laugh in his face! As a Protestant, he is by definition one who “protests” the supposed authority of the Catholic church! The Protestant person would see it for what it was and wouldn’t buy it for a second, yet some of these same Protestants try to sell it to thinkers who question their beliefs! The fact that this tactic in its various forms is constantly being used by all sects of religions to keep their restless thinkers in line perfectly explains why every one of them is stuck in a rut, and why virtually none of them have discovered anything new since their inceptions!
People today generally prefer to out-source many of the most important things in their lives. Many hire investment firms to manage their money instead of using their own intelligence to build things with their money. Even more, would rather put their trust in the medical system to fix them when things go wrong than take responsibility for their own health through exercise and eating right. There are many other things that people out-source in their lives as well. This isn’t all bad, because one person can’t do everything. Sometimes it’s quite prudent to have someone else who specializes in something take care of a certain part of one’s life. But we have become so compartmentalized in our society that most people can do only one or two things well. The really sad fallout from this is that the most important aspect of life seems to be the one that people want the least to have to deal with. It’s the one they take the least amount of responsibility for …their spiritual well-being. Of those who take at least some responsibility for their spiritual well-being and attend a church at least once and a while, most of them couldn’t give a convincing explanation of what they believe. They only go to church to pay their dues and do the few things that are expected of them while they expect the preacher or priest to take care of the rest and make sure they get to heaven in the end. It’s not only sad but shocking that so few take the most important part of their life so casually and irresponsibly. This is one reason why Christian leaders have had so much success in passing off false doctrines and nonsensical circular reasoning on the masses. Nobody really cares to rock the boat and challenge them because other things are more important to them.
A few mistakes in the Tanach!
The Hebrew Bible (Or “Old Testament”) is not without its own trouble spots. There are a couple of Psalms that contain words that are blatantly in error and actually blaspheme God. Psalm 44 is one example. It is a Psalm of the sons of Korah who were contemporaries of David. I believe that verses 1-8 comprise the entire original beautiful Psalm. Verses 9-26 however, were undoubtedly added as second and third verses to an old popular tune when Israel went into Babylonian captivity. Read the entire Psalm and notice how the subject matter takes a complete flip at verse 9 with the word “but”. It describes conditions that were not in existence at the time of the sons of Korah. It goes on to seriously accuse God of unrighteousness in His dealings with Israel. Verses 17-22 are particularly repulsive in the way they accuse God of unrighteousness. Not surprisingly, Paul quotes these downright blasphemous words in Romans 8:36.
One other example is Psalm 89. It is very similar in structure to Psalm 44 in that it starts out as a beautiful Psalm at first. The original great Psalm ended at verse 37. 38 starts with the word “but” again, and goes on to whine and complain about how God is treating Israel unjustly. Verses 38 and on were obviously added later when Israel was in Babylon.
The point of these examples is to demonstrate that blind faith in a book is nothing more than superstition, and dangerous to anyone who is serious about finding the truth. Solomon was absolutely correct when he said the truth had to be searched for like hidden treasure. It takes a significant amount of intellectual energy to find it. It’s not free, and it’s not easy. Most people would rather not expend the energy it takes. They would rather have their “wisdom” spoon-fed to them by the religious institution of their choice, having foolishly out-sourced the responsibility for their spiritual and eternal well-being to them. These institutions will not be there to defend them on judgment day because every individual will be forced to stand on his own two feet that day. It would be much wiser for a person to get his balance on his own two feet established before then.
Conclusion /Summary
The Bible only contains the words of God, and it contains the truth. This fact continues to make the Bible by far the best book on earth, but the truth it contains must be sought after and dug out by those who really want it.
When any religion elevates a piece of literature to the status of “infallible” is when trouble begins. That is when faith turns to superstition, and a piece of literature becomes an idol in itself. In this superstitious mode, man is not required to use his head. All he has to do is own a copy of the book, and fall in line with the institution of his choice.
Since Paul was so severely wrong in his view of the attributes of God, we now need to look closer at Paul’s supposed credentials to teach them. He claimed to be Yeshua’s apostle. But was he?
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