Post by Kerrick on Jan 19, 2017 18:56:59 GMT -6
Sparked by a comment Thomas made in the Random Thoughts thread, I thought I’d start a new thread on the importance (or lacktherof) of the Old Testament.
Don't get me wrong, I love God's word and there's some very important information on how to do the right thing and live, and I'm very serious about following and studying that.
...but there's also a bunch of "just literature" in it too.
Not to sound calloused, but some of the stuff its like "What does this have to do with my spirituality? Actually, what does this have to do about ANYTHING!? This is pointless and uninteresting!". My mother (and her mom that passed) act like the Bible is some invaluable relic where EVERY word is super important. No offense to anyone else in that camp, but that's definitely not me...
What are y’all’s thoughts on this? So much of the Old Testament (and some of the NT) is just groups of people killing each other, lists of names, bizarre stories, etc. Does that play into our daily lives… at all??? Is there pointless stuff in The Bible?
Well. Not that any of you asked for it, but I’m going to give you MY opinions hahahaha!
First off, is the purpose of God’s written Word to be applied to our lives OR for us to apply our lives to? I think there’s a subtle yet important distinction to be made here. One is a receiving mindset, and another is a giving one. It seems to me that much of our modern church/Christian culture is very consumer-minded and we judge churches, each other, The Bible, and such primarily based solely on what we receive. Some of that needs to exist of course, though I do think it’s a bit skewed nowadays. That’s a whole other can of worms though. But it does beg the question, why are we here? If not to glorify God, then what? So then what is our motivation or purpose in “pursuing” knowing God and obeying His commands? I digress... Second, I think it’s important to define “pointless” and “necessity” with regards to the contents of The Bible. In terms of what we need for salvation, you could cut out the majority of The Bible. We don’t need to know Christ’s genealogy to accept Him and be saved. So in that regard, everything else is pointless. And in terms of the Bible being a how-to guide to life, we could cut out everything other than the many do’s and don’t’s. But is that what The Bible is? Simply a guide to salvation and/or a guide to living properly here on Earth? Maybe, though I don’t believe so. We know that Scripture is God’s written communication to us as humans and all of it is from Him (“God-breathed,” “inspired,” etc.). Therefore, I don’t think we should be quick to dismiss ANY of it EVER - since it was very intentionally provided to us by Him. Also, just what is The Bible anyways? Is it a compilation of disconnected – or only slightly connected – stories? Again, I don’t think so. I do think though that The Bible is one continuous narrative of who God is, who we are in relation to Him, why we desperately need a Savior because we as humans are completely incapable of saving ourselves, and how God has planned that redemption from before time and space even existed. SO… if that all is the case, then I believe it imperative to seek to understand the entirety of Scripture because it all applies.
On a side-note, our church hosts a weekly small group that is going through the whole Bible book-by-book through the lens of “where is Jesus” and it is awesome. Christ is present through all of it – be that prophecies, Christ-types (people with Christ-like qualities though still incomplete), parallel story-arcs, etc. Also, in the NT there are two different genealogies of Christ (one for his mother’s side and one for his “father’s” side) and in the past I would just skip over those because, well, they’re boring BUT I recently learned how these a) show how the prophecies have been fulfilled, and also b) how crucial that is to His earthly existence. By that I mean that because sin is transferred through the father (Romans 5:12), it was imperative that Christ not have an earthly father. But yet God kept His word that Christ would come through David’s line. Super cool!
Anyways, I’m getting off topic. If The Bible is more than a how-to guide to salvation and living – but instead God’s primary means of communication with His people so that we could get to know Him, [try to] understand Him, and therefore bring glory to Him… then I think studying how He has chosen to redeem us should be paramount.
I’ll stop ranting now.
I read through the Bible once - probably won't ever do it again.
Don't get me wrong, I love God's word and there's some very important information on how to do the right thing and live, and I'm very serious about following and studying that.
...but there's also a bunch of "just literature" in it too.
Not to sound calloused, but some of the stuff its like "What does this have to do with my spirituality? Actually, what does this have to do about ANYTHING!? This is pointless and uninteresting!". My mother (and her mom that passed) act like the Bible is some invaluable relic where EVERY word is super important. No offense to anyone else in that camp, but that's definitely not me...
What are y’all’s thoughts on this? So much of the Old Testament (and some of the NT) is just groups of people killing each other, lists of names, bizarre stories, etc. Does that play into our daily lives… at all??? Is there pointless stuff in The Bible?
Well. Not that any of you asked for it, but I’m going to give you MY opinions hahahaha!
First off, is the purpose of God’s written Word to be applied to our lives OR for us to apply our lives to? I think there’s a subtle yet important distinction to be made here. One is a receiving mindset, and another is a giving one. It seems to me that much of our modern church/Christian culture is very consumer-minded and we judge churches, each other, The Bible, and such primarily based solely on what we receive. Some of that needs to exist of course, though I do think it’s a bit skewed nowadays. That’s a whole other can of worms though. But it does beg the question, why are we here? If not to glorify God, then what? So then what is our motivation or purpose in “pursuing” knowing God and obeying His commands? I digress... Second, I think it’s important to define “pointless” and “necessity” with regards to the contents of The Bible. In terms of what we need for salvation, you could cut out the majority of The Bible. We don’t need to know Christ’s genealogy to accept Him and be saved. So in that regard, everything else is pointless. And in terms of the Bible being a how-to guide to life, we could cut out everything other than the many do’s and don’t’s. But is that what The Bible is? Simply a guide to salvation and/or a guide to living properly here on Earth? Maybe, though I don’t believe so. We know that Scripture is God’s written communication to us as humans and all of it is from Him (“God-breathed,” “inspired,” etc.). Therefore, I don’t think we should be quick to dismiss ANY of it EVER - since it was very intentionally provided to us by Him. Also, just what is The Bible anyways? Is it a compilation of disconnected – or only slightly connected – stories? Again, I don’t think so. I do think though that The Bible is one continuous narrative of who God is, who we are in relation to Him, why we desperately need a Savior because we as humans are completely incapable of saving ourselves, and how God has planned that redemption from before time and space even existed. SO… if that all is the case, then I believe it imperative to seek to understand the entirety of Scripture because it all applies.
On a side-note, our church hosts a weekly small group that is going through the whole Bible book-by-book through the lens of “where is Jesus” and it is awesome. Christ is present through all of it – be that prophecies, Christ-types (people with Christ-like qualities though still incomplete), parallel story-arcs, etc. Also, in the NT there are two different genealogies of Christ (one for his mother’s side and one for his “father’s” side) and in the past I would just skip over those because, well, they’re boring BUT I recently learned how these a) show how the prophecies have been fulfilled, and also b) how crucial that is to His earthly existence. By that I mean that because sin is transferred through the father (Romans 5:12), it was imperative that Christ not have an earthly father. But yet God kept His word that Christ would come through David’s line. Super cool!
Anyways, I’m getting off topic. If The Bible is more than a how-to guide to salvation and living – but instead God’s primary means of communication with His people so that we could get to know Him, [try to] understand Him, and therefore bring glory to Him… then I think studying how He has chosen to redeem us should be paramount.
I’ll stop ranting now.