My opening presentation in my course on biblical interpretation always includes examples of interpretations which we would all agree (or I hope we would all agree), were/are wrong—seriously, tragically, horrifically, wrong.
Why do I do this? For a number of reasons: including the old cliché, “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
NB: this post continues to look at the Bible and evangelicalism. Though I personally maintain a very high regard for the Bible, my objective in these posts is to warn about the dangers of biblicism. In much of evangelicalism the Bible, instead of being the source of life and hope, has become a weapon. In this post, I continue by noting that the Bible is not always easily understood.
The Bible and the end-times
How many failed predictions of the Second Coming have you run across in the last 25 years? This is not to mention the countless examples of the end-of-the-world scenarios that have plagued the church’s history.
We might chuckle at the preposterousness of these end-times fanatics. We might even try to dismiss them as fringe individuals who clearly do not represent the established church.
To which I would reply that those making these predictions were not always considered “fringe.” Certainly, not at the time of their prognostications.
In fact, persons like John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards remain prominent voices within Protestant Christianity.
Furthermore, the influence of Chuck Smith, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, and Pat Robertson—all of whom have made false predictions related to the end times—remains substantial.
The Bible and Science
When it comes to science, many in the Church argued that Genesis 1 proves the centrality of humanity within God’s creation. As a result, it stands to reason that the Earth must be the center of the universe. Copernicus must be wrong.
Others noted the Earth was flat: after all, the Bible mentions the “four corners of the Earth” (Isa 11:12).
We might laugh at the ignorance of those who set forth such nonsense. But, what does this mean for our contemporary debates over science and the Bible?
The Bible and Injustice
Far more tragic, of course, have been those who have read the Bible as a basis for justifying horrendous evils—which they, of course, saw as good.
Many of the early colonialists believed they were ordained by God to conquer North America and establish it as the new promised land.
Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah note that the puritan pastor John Winthrop conflated the “Old Testament Israel with US history.” Charles and Rah note that Winthrop read Deuteronomy’s claim: “in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you” (Deut 20:16-17)” and applied it to the US. They then note,
according to this passage, promised land for one people is God-ordained genocide for another. Winthrop’s assertion of a special status for the Puritans in the New World justified the resulting genocide of the existing population in the American continent.[1]
We should also note that southern pastors and churches not only used the Bible to justify slavery but the brutal treatment of slaves. The Sociologists Smith and Emerson note that the famed Puritan pastor Cotton Mather’s response to the hanging of a Black man:
When a black freeman was to be hanged in 1721 for murdering his wife, Cotton Mather first gave a sermon. Turning to the slaves, he said: “There is a fondness for Freedom in many of you, who live Comfortably in a very easy Servitude.” Because God had divinely ordained their places, he said, they must not try to alter it. They must view their position with humbleness, patience, and sweet contentment, for in return for serving their masters, all their needs were cared for. Pride is the enemy that led this black freeman down the wrong path, and it is pride that tempts slaves to desire the freedom God did not ordain for them.[2]
We don’t have to look back that far to see the Bible used to justify racial hatred. It was only 50-75 years ago that Christians, led by White evangelicals, were convinced that Acts 17:26 (“and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation”) meant that segregation was ordained by God and that we should resist the government’s efforts to desegregate.
This one verse became central to a theological conviction that had serious ramifications. Their convictions led them to not only resist the government’s efforts to desegregate, but they also went so far as to start new schools of their own: “White academies.”[3]—private schools that were for white children only so that when the blacks arrived in the local public schools there would be no whites in them.
Context preceded Interpretation
It is important to recognize that people didn’t start with the Scriptures and conclude, “hmm, seems to me that the Bible teaches that people of color are inferior. Let’s make some decisions to enslave them and profit from the free labor.” Nor did they conclude, “hmm, the Bible says that the races should remain distinct. We should probably keep Blacks out of the schools that our White children attend.”
The convictions that the Bible supported slavery and segregation came only after the institutions were already in place and people were profiting from them. Many who held slaves realized that they could not function without the free labor. So, they looked to the Bible to justify the actions they were already carrying out.
If southern slave owners were to agree with the abolitionists, it would have had serious effects on their continued economic viability.
Thus, they were predisposed to believe that the Bible taught the superiority of their race and the inferiority of others.
We could add countless other examples in which the Bible was read and understood in ways that justified all sorts of horrors—including the holocaust. It was easy to believe that the Jewish people deserved the Nazis’ treatment. After all, they brought this on themselves when they had Jesus crucified.
Absurd conclusions such as this led to the deaths of millions, the sterilization of others, and the trauma for those who survived.
So, why do I begin my course with these reminders?
In addition to the danger of repeating history, I want my students to understand the impact their teaching may have on others. Our handling of the Bible may give life to those who find Christ in its pages. But it may literally bring death.
Furthermore, I believe that the evangelical church must repent.[4] We must acknowledge our corporate responsibility for the sins against the indigenous peoples of this land and the horrors of slavery and its racist underbelly and repent.
Finally, I want the students to recognize that we need to proceed with caution.
As I noted in my last post, biblical interpretation must begin by relying on the Holy Spirit and proceed with a heart of humility.
[1] Charles, Mark; Rah, Soong-Chan. Unsettling Truths (p. 72). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition
[2] Smith and Emerson, Divided by Faith (p. 24). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
[3] They were able to circumvent the legal requirement of desegregation in these schools in a number of ways. One was simply to charge tuition at rates that Blacks could not afford.
[4] As an evangelical, I am speaking only about my own tribe. Do other Christians need to repent also? I suspect they do.
NB: our goal is to keep these posts free of charge. I do not intend to ever hide them behind a paywall. I can only do this if those of you who have been blessed by them and can afford to give ($5, $10, $25, or more/month) do so. You can give a tax-deductible contribution by following this link.
Please share this post and let others know about determinetruth.
If you wish to view this blog on your smartphone through the Determinetruth app simply download the “tithe.ly church” app on your smartphone and insert “determinetruth” as the church name you wish to follow. Once it is loaded, simply click on the “blog” icon and it will automatically load.
If you would like to have Rob speak at your church or organization in person or via zoom, please let us know by filling out the contact info on the Contact me tab on this site.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In