The Consequences of Biblical Scholarship
A very helpful comment by Jarrod challenges me to consider the unintended consequences of biblical scholarship. He writes, "Are scholars, such as yourself, who are critically re-evaluating our traditional approach to interpreting Revelation (historicism), and are finding significant deficiencies, . . . doing due diligence and preparing the church at large for the can of worms that will be opened?" He goes on to note that my work, for him, has revealed flaws in his former thinking and, so to speak, "tossed the chips of his faith into the air" and he has no idea where they will fall.
His response cost me a little sleep (but it was a fruitful "tossing and turning)" as I think he raises a valid point that needs to be addressed and I will try to begin that process here and now. But before I do, let me briefly address the issue of "historicism" for those unfamiliar with the term. Historicism is an approach to Revelation that sees the whole book as offering a prediction of the 2000-year history of the Christian church. I will be posting articles which address issues related to this. For now, let me just say that historicism as an approach, rightly handled, has great strengths that make it the preferred approach, in my opinion. But the approach has, in the past, led to such chaos of interpretation that mainstream biblical scholars have come to reject it wholesale (see the four-volume Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers by LeRoy Froom for multiple examples of this "chaos"). It has been one of my missions in life to help restore the strength of the historicist approach to the interpretation of Revelation without returning to the excesses of the past. Stay tuned to this site for more.
Why is biblical and exegetical scholarship troubling at times? Because the exegetical scholar has two contrasting roles within the church. The process of exegesis (seeking to determine what the original author was trying to say– see my book The Deep Things of God, chapter three, for details) does not necessarily clear up all issues or bring scholars into agreement. Rather, it helps scholars see what is clear in the Bible and what is unclear. There are some things in the Bible that are clear on the surface and all honest readers will agree on them. But there are other things, many other things actually, that are not clear, even after due diligence has been done in attempting to understand.
Here are the two contrasting roles of biblical scholars. Their first role is to clear up issues in the Bible that were unclear before. By studying the original languages and understanding the original context, many troubling issues can be cleared up and the Bible can speak more powerfully and more authoritatively to today’s world. This role of scholarship is a popular one. People praise biblical scholars for helping them gain clarity in their understanding of the Word of God. People praise scholars for exposing powerful evidence that their previous opinions about the Bible were correct.
But the second role is not so popular. There are times when biblical scholars confront things that everyone (in a particular group at least) thought were clear in the Bible but are really not. When you take the "clear" teachings of the Bible and demonstrate that they are not so clear, you become a lightning rod for criticism and disapproval. The dustbin of history is filled with the remains of scholars who "spoke too soon" or troubled the saints regarding pop interpretations. No one likes to find out that they were mistaken, or even deluded. Many of the martyrs of the Inquisition died for this very reason. So honest, evidence-based biblical scholarship has consequences, many of them unintended, as Jarrod points out.
As a result, biblical scholars in service of the faith must walk a fine line, maintaining integrity before God and before the evidence, on the one hand, while respecting that "tossing the chips in the air" can cost some people their faith. Biblical scholars must be accountable for the consequences, intended or unintended, of their work. At the same time, the wider church must not become so arrogant that it is incapable of correction.
Yes, scholarship does open up "cans of worms" that can trouble the saints. And it is a grave responsibility to do so. On this site I will try to raise issues responsibly and explore the possible consequences of following the evidence. When reader responses make it clear that I have missed the mark or unintentionally damaged people’s faith, I will do my best to correct misunderstanding and admit error. No faith that is based on error or fanciful speculation will bring glory to God. On the other hand, genuine faith is worth holding onto, even if based in part on erroneous opinions. I will try on this site to be gentle with "the Lambs" in the faith while pointing toward an evidence-based faith that can stand the test of time. I believe the Bible is a safe guide. I will be learning as I go. I invite Jarrod and others to walk with me on this journey.
Way to go Jon!!! Who says we can't be historicist and expository!!!
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ON THE 3 ABN PROGRAM- ON THE 1/2 HOUR OF SILENCE;COULD YOU CONSIDER OR HAVE YOU , USE THE PROPHETIC TIME AND TAKE THE 1/2 HOUR AND TAKE IT FROM A YEAR FOR A DAY = 2.4 weeks? (Was that your cat on american funniest videos? It was drinking out of the toilet and fell in) !! Thanks, Billie)- (girl)
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Hi Billie,
1/2 hour prophetic time would equal about 1 week if my math is correct, and one hour would be about 2 weeks, if you are looking at a 24 hour day.
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JC is correct in terms of a correspondence between day time and year time. Half hour = about a week. That may have been the author's intention, but I suspect better candidates for such treatment are truly wierd numbers like 1260 days or time, times and half a time.
Jon
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I may suggest that the time period "about a week" (1/2 hour) actually refers to the same period of time Ellen White describes as the time it takes to joyrney from the earth to the heaven, when Jesus comes back.
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My wife's sister, DeAnna, has had her cats on Funniest Home Videos. But mine have never been!
Jon
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there are going to be "consequences" for everything we do and an outcome,it might be positive or negative,there has always been wars and unfortunately scoffers! keep up the good work for Jesus Jon!!
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Brother Jon:
I am sorry I didn't get to see your presentation on 3ABN tonight. Other things crowded in, but I want to voice by pure delight at the launching of this much needed website. I trust God will use it to His glory and the strengthen of His Church through solid biblical research. I pray that all will remain opened minded and open hearted as diligent study will often times challenge our more cherished ideas and opinions. May we be open to light and expansion of truth as we study together.
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Bro. Jon,
I saw your presentation on 3ABN this afternoon twice. I praised God for it and earnestly hope there will be many more such presentations.
Please keep up your study of present truth. It may shake us (and I fear it would be impossible to share withsome of my friends. Hanging would be too good for me. But I will pray for you and for them.We need light, we need to understand "the deep things of God." Above all we need to know Him intimately.
Plus is not truth progressive? The nearer we get to the homeland, the more we need knowledge to increase.We march at our peril if we tread in all the tracks of our spiritual ancestors.
God bless you and give you light and truth to share with our beloved church as you walk closely with Him.
By the way, I like and understand well, the cat family even " -up close and personal" disturbing my peaceful sleep. Unintended consequences for sure.
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Dear Prof.Jon
Thankyou very much & Praise God: at last you are fulfilling the need of the studying members of the Church:I hope this will promote more study.requests for prophecy studies were stifled and I am so grateful to God for your time and continued study. I am so happy. May I have a copy of the Greek (Revelation) which you have written & translated please? I have a Hebrew/Greek Bible and have studied this by looking up the numbers one by one and writing out the meanings. I appreciate very much your work. God Bless again & again. Thanks be to God! Sincerely, Gwen.
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Gwen,
We hope to post a translation of Rev on this web site before the end of 2007.
Jon
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I do so love the Bible. Apart from the salvation thing, it's been a wonderful source of entertainment since I recently discovered Jesus and His Word.
Right now I'm wrestling with Chuck Missler's Rapturist theories as we work thru the book of Revelation (not Revelations as I & my heathen friends always thought - tks Chuck) with the help of his Blue Letter Bible audio commentary.
My new SDA friends spue (sic) when I relate these things on Saturday morning but I enjoy & respect Chuck's insights and he seems convinced (I'm talking about the Rapture - the Left Behind scenario), and being but an infant in this whole new world I mainly just keep quiet and take notes. I've heard Doug Batchelor (another of my beloved gurus) debunking the theory and find his evidence persuasive also, but I do like Chuck's work a lot (he recently lead me thru all 66 chapters of Isaiah).
So Jon can you please shed some light on this. Can you tell me how Chuck is Missled? Is he espousing heresy? Will the Church be here on Earth during the great tribulation and if so how is it possible there is such disagreement amongst scholars about this? (I should add that the Blue Letter Bible commentary tapes were made in the 90's; it's possible Chuck's views have softened since then.)
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Anthony,
Let me say first that anyone who has put serious time into the Bible can teach me SOMETHING. So don't be surprised that you are blessed by seemingly contradictory information. Truth is often a balance between things that seem opposite (see my book What the Bible Says About the End-Time for more on this).
Let me do a blog on the rapture theory a little later, rather than writing an enormous repsonse here!
Thanks for brightening the site with your presence.
Jon
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One of my first experiences with reading articles that tested my faith was very rough. For a time my faith was troubled as some of my preconceived notions seemingly did not hold up to the evidence. However, with time Jesus has taken me through His word in a wonderful way. I have seen it in ways I never did before and my faith is stronger for the effort. I may run into road blocks in the future, but if I keep my eyes on Jesus and spend most of my study time in devotions with Christ I will be fine.
Dr. Paulien's work has been a wonderful find for me. His Revelation series "Keys to the Code" have been a great help to me and my understanding of prophecy. I have recently introduced His teachings to my church. I think we are getting excited about prophecy once again. Thank you Dr. Paulien.
P.S. Anyone interested in understanding how Scripture is inspired and how to view it in a balanced fashion, without getting stuck in extreme view points, should look into Dr. Alden Thompson's writings. He has brought to light some issues I totally agree with.
Blessings,
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I truly enjoyed you on 3ABN. You spoke about some of Revelations to be taken literally and some not. At the opening of the sixth seal, with the earthquake and lightening, is this to be taken literally? Also, do you believe this is the same occurance that's described in Matthew 24:29-31 or are these two different happenings?
I am new to Christ and was pulled away from reading the New Testament after Acts to Revelation and haven't been able to leave it but for small amounts of time since. I'm saving my pennies for your series, can't wait!
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Deb,
I do think Rev 6:12-14 and Matt 24:29-31 are related. There is no question that spectacular heavenly signs will accompany Jesus' return.
150-200 years ago many scholars applied these texts to events in their day that triggered interest in these prophecies. Whatever one thinks of that interpretation, God is capable of using Scripture to serve His ends!
Jon
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I really understand Jarrods concern. However the faith of many other people in the Adventist Church is being challenged by the sometimes not so sound exegetical approach to Revelation, that has dominated popular adventist proclamation.
Jon, our church needs you to take this journey. Let us all help communicating it to the broarder membership.
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I really appreciate your careful, yet scholarly, approach to biblical studies. I also struggle with the issue of unintended consequences in scholarship. I also see the opposite side of the coin. From my perspective, there were some questions in my mind before I took your class and seeing you honestly engage such questions was very beneficial. Furthermore, the fact that you engaged such questions created the possibility that you may have developed some feasible answers or hypotheses which would not have been developed had you not entertained such questions. On the other hand, I share the fear the "Lambs," as you call them, taking snippets of scholarship and running with them, even when such snippets may not yet be developed or well-founded but rather preliminary hypotheses. I appreciate your leading by example in exercising care and responsiblity in dealing with such issues. Though you deal primarily with Revelation I believe all of our scholars should take such an approach to heart.
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As a new Adventist, my concern is for our witness to folks trying to understand the basics and truth before clouding the issues with "scholarly" gymnastics. Loma Linda U Church has enough gymnastics going on to confuse the best of basics and the best of seekers. For example, are the Adventist views on Christianity so turbulant and underrated by us from scholarly gymnastics that the pastor have to reach for another denomination's explanation of Christianity in the classes for the "unchurched" starting this March? The program, Christianity Explored, is being used which is produced by John Stott's Church of England, guru of Sunday folks (evidenced by Christianity Today magazine). Can we focus on some scholarly gymnastics of other denomination's literature that we are using to give these lessons an equal share of our focused and sharp scholarly gymnastics? I would like to notice equal treatment given to others' views/doctrines. In that way, new Adventists, such as myself, can see that the scholarly gymnastics are equally dispersed instead of laserbeam focused on tearing ourselves apart in front of seekers. My heart breaks for those trying to learn the basic truth in this scholarly area.
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Frankly, John Stott is such and outstanding scholar, theologian, and pastor, that we should all study his material. As a denomination, we do not want to become "spiritual inbreeds". Remember, our pioneers, especially Ellen White herself, were not only well-versed in the Bible, but also the written works of other men of God. You can see that in much of Ellen White's own written material.
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Jon, Thanks so much for having a blog site to enhance us with your ranting. We all live by feedback and it is a joy to read the feedback on this site.
What is the consequence of our 'cookie cutter' college programs? Have we produced pastors and teachers that get the spiritual hiccups when asked questions they can't answer? What if the truthful answers come from 'lay persons'? After all, didn't Jesus choose the 'blue-collar' men to present His testimony to the world?
Why don't we all use the same rules for interpretation of prophecy? What is your opinion to these rules:
1. All prophecy has a beginning and ending point in time. Elements within a prophecy are consecutive and occur in chronological order.
2. In order for a prophetic fulfillment to occur, ALL elements of the prophecy must occur as stated within the prophecy. (This precludes partial or multiple fulfillments, or types of fulfillments.)
3. The interpretation for a symbol will be given within the prophecy. If no interpretation is given, then the symbol is to be taken literally.
4. Timing within the restoration calendar (Jubilee) is given in days/years. One day equals one year. Timing after the expiration of the "restoration calendar" is literal.
5. Time Elements - A year is one rotation of the earth around the sun, calculated as beginning at the Spring Equinox. The half-year occurs on the Fall Equinox. Months are calculated from the lunar cycle and begin on the New Moon and end the day before the next new moon. Weeks begin on the first day of the week (Sunday) and end on the seventh day of the week (Sabbath). A Day is the rotation of the earth around its axis in 24 hours.
6. Time Specific Prophecy - Certain prophecies or elements of prophecy have a specific time for their understanding. These prophecies can be read anytime, but the understanding of the interpretation of these prophecies is sealed up until a specific time has been reached. Before these prophecies are unsealed (understood at the specific time) it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to be understood and/or accurately interpreted. A Time Specific Prophecy will become void once the time for that prophecy expires and/or the conditions for the prophecy fail to transpire.
7. Only the Wise will understand - both the time when the prophecy is unsealed and the accurate interpretation of the prophecy when it is unsealed. (See Dan. 12: 9-10)
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