Bible Study Archives

Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to be running into more and more ignorant Christians who seem to think that the best way to learn theology is to not study it. When challenged on any of their theological beliefs, their only real defense is, “God revealed it to me.”

Here is how these discussions often go:

Ignorant Christian: I disagree with what you taught from the Bible today. You are wrong about _____.

Me: Well, I make no claim to infallibility. It is possible I am wrong. Why do you think so?

Ingorant Christian: Because you obviously haven’t read the Bible. If you had, you would know about Passage X, Y, and Z, which say this: (They then proceed to quote several verses to me from the Bible. I call this Shotgun hermeneutics.)

Me: I am actually quite familiar with those texts, and have studied them extensively. I just simply understand them in a different way than you do.

Ignorant Christian: Well, your way is wrong.

Me: Again, that is possible. Besides, I forgot that you are smarter than I am, and have more education than I do.

Ignorant Christian: Oh, you’re mocking me now? I may not have gone to Bible college or Seminary, but I know the Bible just as good as you do. In fact, it is at Bible college and Seminary that you learned all your heresies.

Me: Undoubtedly so. But tell me, where did you get your learning from? What books have you read? What teachers do you listen to? How did you gain the Bible knoweldge you have?

Ignorant Christian: I learned it all on my own. I don’t read any books except the Bible and don’t listen to any teachers except the Holy Spirit. Jesus has taught me everything I know about the Bible.

Me: Wow, I wish I was that spiritual… So have you ever been wrong in anything you believed?

Ignorant Christian: No, God wouldn’t teach me lies. Everything I learn from God is 100% accurate.

Me: …So you’ve never been wrong about anything?

Ignorant Christian: Of course I have! Just nothing God taught me. If I am wrong about something, I trust that God will teach me the truth as I study Scripture, pray, and listen to the instruction of the Holy Spirit. I don’t need human teachers or human books to teach me the truth.

Me: I see… So why are you correcting me again?

Ignorant Christian: Because you’re wrong.

Me: But you’re human, right?

Ignorant Christian: Of course. What are you saying?

Me: Well, you just said that everything you believe you learned from God through the study of Scripture and the instruction of the Holy Spirit, and that you don’t listen to human teachers or read human books, and yet here you are, a human, trying to instruct and correct me… It seems that if you really believed what you say, you would trust God to teach and correct me the way He teaches and corrects you.

Ignorant Christian: But you don’t believe God does that.

Me: I didn’t say that… I guess I’m just confused. You don’t want human teachers to teach and correct you, but you, as a human, want to teach and correct others?

Ignorant Christian: Because God has taught the truth to me, He has called me to teach that truth to others. And as you were teaching, He revealed to me that I was supposed to correct you.

Me: Well, thank you for being God’s mouthpiece. Please, next time you talk to God, tell Him that I am open to His instruction and correction, and that anytime He wants to correct my theology, He can come speak to me the same way He speaks to you.

Ignorant Christian: You can’t order God around like that! GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED! DON’T YOU KNOW THAT THE UNRIGHTEOUS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD?!

Me: Ok, this conversation is over. Thank you for voicing your concerns with my ideas. Good bye.

Ignorant Christian: I WILL PRAY FOR YOUR ETERNAL SOUL!

Not all conversations go exactly like that, but that tends to be the genearal direction. My favorite part of these conversations is always that “I only the need the Bible, but you need to listen to me” argument. It is shocking to me how many people I encounter who have that sort of mindset.

Any of you have similar conversations? Maybe you have interactions online with people like this? Share below!

The Bible Jesus (Didn’t) Read

By Jeremy Myers

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Kregel sent me a copy of What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About: A Survey of Jesus’ Bible, edited by Jason DeRouchie.

By the title, I expected a Christologically-centered survey of the Old Testament, which, frankly, would be a welcome addition to the typical Old Testament survey fare.

Most Old Testament surveys operate under the assumption that what follows later in the Bible (i.e., the New Testament), should not be read back into the Old Testament. So when scholars write about the Old Testament, they primarily seek to understand only what the original human authors and original human audience understood when the text was written.

I do not deny that such studies should be of primary importance for understanding the biblical text. But what such approaches fail to recognize, is that the human authors and audience were not the primary author or audience. Since the Bible is an inspired book, God is the primary author of Scripture, and since He has a view toward the redemption of all humanity from the predicament we find ourselves in, God’s primary intended audience is all people throughout time.

So anyway, I was hopeful that What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About would fill the void that is missing in Old Testament studies, and show us what God meant when He inspired the authors to write the various books of the Old Testament, and how these books point to and were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Ultimately, I was hoping that this book would show us how Jesus Himself read and understood the only Bible He had, namely, the Jewish Scriptures.

The book started off great. The opening chapter by Jason DeRouchie showed how the organization of our modern English Bibles is not the same organization that Jesus would have known, and this opening chapter also showed that the constant and recurring themes of the Old Testament authors are also the constant and recurring themes in the life and ministry of Jesus. Themes such as exile and redemption, the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, and how Christ is the climax of the various covenants were all discussed in this opening chapter. So far, so good.

But then something happened. I am not sure what. The rest of the volume contained summaries of each book of the Bible by various scholars and professors. They presented the main idea of each book, gave a synopsis of the outline and thoughtflow in the book, and discussed some of the major themes. But one thing that seemed missing from nearly every chapter was the one thing that I thought I was reading: the chapters were missing explanations of how these Old Testament books pointed to Jesus or were understood by Him.

For the most part, the rest of the book seemed like every other Old Testament Survey I have ever read.

Maybe DeRouchie as the editor for the book did not adequately explain to the contributing authors what exactly the purpose of this book was. Maybe he figured that having read the opening chapter, we the readers could fill in the blanks for the rest of the book. Maybe the failure was completely on my part to connect the dots between the opening chapter and the chapters that followed. I don’t really know.

So I suppose that when it comes to Old Testament surveys, this one is just as good as any other. It just doesn’t seem to fit the bill of what the cover and the first chapter led me to believe I was reading.

Having said that, however, there is one main reason I cannot recommend this particular Old Testament survey. My complaint will actually be a reason which many people will find this to be one of the best surveys available. My complaint is this: Most of the chapters (including the first one) seemed to focus not so much on pushing the reader toward Jesus Christ, but toward John Calvin.

Sure, Calvin was never mentioned by name (that I recall), but Calvinistic themes were evident throughout the book. Themes such as God’s supremacy and sovereignty, the depravity of man, God’s wrath toward sinners, the redemption of the elect through God’s irresistible grace, and the idea that God’s holiness required a judicial, substitutionary atonement in the form of retributive judgment.

I, for one, am not convinced that this is indeed the way Jesus understood His Bible. I don’t think Jesus was a Calvinist (or at least, held the theology that Calvin and his followers later taught).

If you’re a Calvinist, of course, then you will think this Old Testament survey is great (which helps explain all the Calvinistic endorsement in the front). But if you’re not a Calvinist, then you will frustrated by this survey, as it seems that according to the authors, no matter what happens in the Old Testament, it is done “for the praise of God’s glory.”

In the end, it appears that “What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About” is Calvinsim. Since I am not a Calvinist (nor an Arminian!), I will stick with some of the other Old Testament surveys on my shelf.

Did Jesus Learn?

By Jeremy Myers

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I taught recently on Luke 2:40-52 and indicated in my message that Jesus learned the Scriptures and learned wisdom just like any human. Just as He grew physically, He also had to grow in knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual strength.

That Jesus learned seems pretty clear from verses like Luke 2:40 and 52 where it says that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. You can see an old version of a sermon I taught on Luke 2:40-52 here.

I also pointed out in that message that when Jesus went to Jerusalem at the age of 12 with his parents, He went to the Temple and listened to what was being taught and asked questions (Luke 2:46). Finally, I mentioned Hebrews 5:8 which indicated that Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered.

After the study concluded, I had several people challenge me on the idea that Jesus had to learn anything. They argued that since Jesus was God, He knew everything, even from birth, and so didn’t have to learn from His parents, from reading Scripture, or from anybody at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Such an idea shocked me. I have never heard such a thing before. Have you?

Did Jesus Learn?

I asked if Jesus knew how to speak all languages when He was an infant, and was told that yes, He did. He didn’t have to learn how to talk, but that He “hid” His ability until it was normal and natural for a child to speak. They said that His parents didn’t teach Him anything about the Scriptures and that He never had to attend school or a Jewish synagogue to learn how to read or to learn what the Scriptures said. Because He was God in the flesh, He just knew it.

When I pointed out that Luke 2:40 and 52 says that Jesus grew in wisdom, they said that this just meant that Jesus became known for His wisdom, as is indicated in Luke 2:47.

I told them that to me, this sounds a lot like the ancient Gnostic and Docetic heresies which taught that Jesus wasn’t fully human. After all, isn’t learning, growing, and developing in knowledge and wisdom a central element to being human?

If Jesus didn’t have to learn, then isn’t He just like some sort of divine Buddha child that falls out of heaven, who has all wisdom and knowledge from birth? If Jesus didn’t have to learn, then why did Jesus have to wait until He was 30 to begin His ministry? If Jesus didn’t have to learn, then how can He truly understand what it is like to be human?

At one point in our discussion, I said, “Well, it seems logical that if Jesus was fully human, then He had to learn.” Their response was, “I don’t use logic. I just use Scripture.” I just about broke out laughing. It seemed pretty obvious to me that logic was not being used. Ha! One guy also kept saying, “I don’t speculate about Scripture. I just believe what it says.” This is the old “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it” cliche which I wrote about a while back. People like to believe that they are just believing the Bible, but they don’t. I don’t either. We believe what we think the Bible teaches. Some of what we believe is truly what the Bible says, ans some of what we believe is a misunderstanding of what the Bible says. The trick is knowing which is which…

This group also strongly objected to the idea that Jesus might have attended a Jewish synagogue as He was growing up, and also later in life. I pointed out that Luke 4:16 pretty clearly indicates that Jesus had a tradition of attending the synagogue, which probably went back even into His childhood. They said, “Well, even if He did go, He didn’t go to learn anything. Even if you are right that Jesus had to learn, there was nothing He could learn from them.”

“From who?” I asked. “The Jews?”

“Right. Jesus wouldn’t learn anything from Jews.”

“…You do know Jesus was Jewish, right?” I asked.

They responded that they did know this, and we moved on to other topics, but it seemed to me that this was another one of those old mistakes (championed by Marcion who ended up discarding most of the Hebrew Scriptures) where some Christians try to separate Jesus and the apostles from anything Jewish. I believe that such a move causes us to misunderstand most of what Jesus, Paul, and Peter teach. But I digress….

I think Jesus did learn. I think learning is a major element of being human. I think that Scripture pretty clearly indicates that Jesus grew physically, mentally, and spiritually (Luke 2:40, 52). Note that something nearly identical is said of John the Baptist in Luke 1:80. So however a person understand Jesus’ learning (or lack of learning) in Luke 2:40, 52, this same idea must be applied to John in Luke 1:80.

But what do you think? Did Jesus learn? However you answer, what Scriptures and logical arguments would you use to defend your position?

On a related note, here is a much harder question: If you think Jesus did have to learn, when do you think Jesus knew He was God incarnate? When do you think He realized He was the promised Messiah?

Below is a video where NT Wright addresses this question a bit, and for you scholarly types, here is an article he wrote on the topic: Did Jesus Know He was God? And for you super scholarly types, I recommend Wright’s book, Jesus and Victory of God.

Biblical Illiteracy is Not a Problem

By Jeremy Myers

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OK, OK, despite the title of this post, I fully admit that the vast majority of modern day Christian are biblically illiterate.

Most cannot name the books of the Bible or find Scripture verses when asked. Shockingly few know how many apostles there were, or how many plagues, and what the difference is between Noah and Moses, or John the Baptist and John the Apostle. Aside from some of these historical facts of Scripture, the vast majority have no clue about the major teachings of Scripture regarding the Gospel, the atonement, the church, the Trinity, or most of the other central doctrines of the Bible.

But guess what?

Biblical illiteracy is not a problem

I believe that Biblical illiteracy is not a problem. Widespread biblical illiteracy is not that big of a deal to me.

Biblical illiteracy is not a problem. The real problem is that Christians don’t even put into practice the little tiny bit of Scripture knowledge we do have!

As I wrote previously, the entire Bible can be summed up in 24 words:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your strength, and your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The problem is not that people don’t know the Bible. The problem is that we don’t even follow or practice the little bits we do know.

Jesus said that the entire law and prophets were summed up with those words above (cf. Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27-28).

If we do not even attempt to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, or make any attempt to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we do not need more Bible knowledge crammed into our heads.

We don’t need more Bible facts; we just need to get out and put our love of God into practice by showing love to others.

Loving Others

For most of us, this begins at home with showing sacrificial love to our spouse and children. It means giving up our desires and needs to help achieve the hopes and dreams of those in our family.

Somewhere along the way, showing love to others requires that we also show love to our neighbors. It is a tragic reality of most Christians that while we spend hours at church hearing and studying about loving and serving the community, very few followers of Jesus know the names of the people who live in the homes on either side of them, let alone the needs, worries, and concerns that they have about their health, they job, their marriage, their children, or their finances. So along with loving our families, we can also making loving our neighbors a high priority.

I believe that while we are loving others, it is then that God helps bring greater insight and understanding to the Scriptures. It is while we are loving our neighbors that the stories and doctrines and facts about Scripture come to life. It is while we are loving others that the Holy Spirit illuminates our mind with the meaning, intent, and proper application of the Bible.

If the church wants to combat the increasing biblical illiteracy of our modern age, the solution is not more teaching, but more loving.

Getting Blotted Out of the Book of Life?

By Jeremy Myers

37 Comments

Ever wonder what Revelation 3:5 means about getting blotted out of the Book of Life?

While I kind of don’t think there are actual “books” in which God writes people’s names, I do think the symbolism of the Book of Life is important to consider and understand.

The Book of Life vs. the Book of the Living

First, it is important to distinguish between the Book of Life and the Book of the Living. While the two books are similar in name, I think they are separate books… that is separate “symbols” in Scripture.

By looking at the ways the two symbols are used in Scripture, it seems that “The Book of the Living” is a way of referring to all people who are alive. So when a person is born, they are in the Book of the Living, and when they die, their name is removed or blotted out from this book (cf. Ps 69:28).

The Book of Life, on the other hand, seems to refer to those who have eternal life, that is, those how have life in Christ. Some evidence for this is seen in the fact that the Book of Life is sometimes referred to as the Lamb’s Book of Life (e.g., Rev 21:27).

Also, it appears that the names of unbelievers were never written in the Book of Life (Rev 13:8; 17:8), and never will be if they die in unbelief.

So while the Book of the Living seems to refer to everyone who is alive at the time, the Book of Life refers to everyone who has eternal life (Dan 12:1; Php 4:3; Rev 21:27).

So Can My Name Be Blotted Out of the Book of Life?

But if the Book of Life contains the names of people who have eternal life, then when Revelation 3:5 talks about blotting someone’s name out of the book of life, does this mean it is possible to lose eternal life?

No. I don’t think so.

The reason is that in Revelation 3:5, Jesus is using a figure of speech called litotes. Litotes is a form of understatement, or saying something positive in a negative way.

Explanation of Litotes

We use litotes all the time. Let’s say your favorite NFL team this year is the Kansas City Chiefs, who are undefeated. And let’s say they were scheduled to play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who haven’t won a game yet. As the date for that game neared, you might say, “If Kansas City plays like they have been playing, they will certainly not lose this game.”

This is an example of litotes. You have stated something positive — that Kansas City will sin — in a negative way: they will certainly not lose. The reason we use litotes is because it helps emphasize the positive thing we are trying to say. In the Kansas City – Jacksonville example, the use of litotes tells us that not only will Kansas City win, but the game will probably be a blowout.

But notice something else about litotes. While litotes states something positive in a negative way, this does not necessarily mean that the opposite statement is necessarily true.

In the example with Kansas City and Jacksonville, we said, “IF Kansas City plays like they have been playing, they will certainly not lose this game.” But what if Kansas City does not play like they usually do? What if they make mistakes, have turnovers, and throw a few interceptions? Does this mean that they will lose the game? Probably not. Even if Kansas City did not play the way they usually did, this does not mean they will lose. Kansas City is good enough and Jacksonville is bad enough that it is extremely unlikely that Jacksonville will win, no matter how Kansas City plays. (Sorry Jacksonville fans!)

Maybe another example that is not sports related will help.

What you think if you overheard me say, “If my wife makes me an apple pie, I will not stop loving her”? Would you assume from that statement that if she did not make me an apple pie that I would stop loving her? No, you would not. You would understand that my statement means that I do love her, and that if she makes me an apple pie, I would love it.

(And yes, my wife made me an apple pie this week! Thanks, Wendy! I LOVE You!”

This is also how we can understand Revelation 3:5

Litotes and Revelation 3:5

In John 3:5, when Jesus that those who overcome will not be blotted out of the book of life, He is using litotes. If you read through Revelation 2-3, Jesus is pronouncing warnings and blessings to the various churches of Asia Minor, and all the blessings are for those people who overcome.

So in Revelation 3, one of the blessings pronounced on overcomers is that they will not be blotted out of the Book of Life? How is this a blessing? It is a blessing because of litotes; a positive announcement is being stated in a negative way for emphasis.

To turn it around state it positively, Jesus is saying that those who overcome will not only keep their name in the Book of Life because they are believers, but will receive greater blessings from God and greater experience of life with God. That is what Revelation 3:5 means. In fact, even in the verse itself, two of the other blessings that are promised to overcomers is that they will receive white robes and will receive special recognition before God and the host of angels. Again, we don’t know much about these blessings, but they sound spectacular.

Notice, of course, that just as with the NFL and apple pie examples above, the opposite of this litotes is not true either. Many pastors and teachers say that if someone does not overcome, then their name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. But Revelation 3:5 doesn’t say that! It is a logical fallacy from this verse. Revelation 3:5 does NOT say that those who fail to overcome will be blotted out of the Book of Life.

A statement which is true one way is not necessarily true when reversed. We saw this above. Even if the Kansas City Chiefs do not play up to their ability, this does not necessarily mean they will lose to Jacksonville. Even if my wife does not make me an apple pie, this does not mean that I will stop loving her.

So also, even if someone whose name is written in the Book of Life fails to overcome, this does not mean that their name will get blotted out of the Book of Life. When it comes to the Book of Life, there are no erasers. The names found in the Lamb’s Book of Life are written in the permanent ink of His blood.

Does this help your understanding of Revelation 3:5?

Theological Debates with Ignorant Christians

The Bible Jesus (Didn’t) Read

Did Jesus Learn?

Did Jesus Learn?

Biblical Illiteracy is Not a Problem

Biblical illiteracy is not a problem

Loving Others

Getting Blotted Out of the Book of Life?

The Book of Life vs. the Book of the Living

So Can My Name Be Blotted Out of the Book of Life?

Explanation of Litotes

Litotes and Revelation 3:5

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