Michael S. Heiser's Blog, page 61

Naked Bible in the Top Ten

Nothing to do with David Letterman here.

The Biblioblog Top 50 List came out recently. This blog is in the top ten. I can’t say it’s deserved, since I’ve been so distracted lately. The good news is that I finished my novel sequel draft today. My goal is to turn it in the publisher on November 1. I’ll try and be more active in terms of blogging now that the draft is done.

Technorati Tags: biblioblog, Heiser, naked bible, ranking

Review of Candida Moss’s Book, The Myth of Persecution

A book of this nature is a bit tangential to what I normally do on this blog, but this book has gotten a lot of recent attention. In fact, it’s own history is a good object lesson.

When Moss’s book was published months ago, the popular media picked up on it right away since it enraged a lot of Christians. No surprise there. Consequently, its arguments, mediated uncritically via uninformed journalism, have now been absorbed by multitudes who will never bother to read academic discussions of the work, discussions that have been quite critical. That’s one of the costs of living in an information age where anyone who can type and whose website doesn’t feature a black background with green lettering can look like a legitimate authority.

I highly recommend this recent review of Moss’s book: The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom. The review does an excellent job of showing how Moss’s work is agenda-driven and plays a sleight-of-hand game with relevant data. That’s unfortunate. Here’s part of the reviewer’s general conclusion:

“Despite the author’s considerable erudition, this is a deeply flawed book, a work of revisionist history. One might judge that conservative Christians in the West have sometimes overplayed the persecution card, but they have not created instances of cultural hostility out of whole cloth, and they certainly did not create the “Age of the Martyrs” out of thin air. More important, Moss largely overlooks modern Christianity in the two-thirds world, especially in the Middle East and in Communist states. Here we find not just cultural insensitivity but old-fashioned persecution: arrests, beatings, and

decapitations. . . . While conservative Christian rhetoric is sometimes guilty of excesses, this book swings hard in the opposite direction, revising history and denying much of the evidence for early Christian persecution. Modern ideology drives Moss’s thesis more than ancient testimony, and the result is a distortion of history more severe than the caricature she wants to expose.”

Technorati Tags: Candida, Christianity, martyr, martyrdom, Moss, myth, persecution, review

Biblical Theology, Poverty, and Social Justice: Part 12

In this last post on the issue of the Bible, poverty, and social justice, I want to remind readers of several of the basic conclusions we reached in this series. The following conclusions were readily discernible in the biblical text after looking at the OT and NT material on poverty, the poor, and just treatment of the poor.

1. The poor are mostly said to be poor without a description as to how they became poor. There were some exceptions (war, laziness), but by and large, explanations were absent.

2. God was not pleased when the poor were exploited and mistreated. Some passages do describe both private wealthy individuals and wealthy state officials exploiting the poor, but there is no scriptural warrant for concluding that wealth is some sort of inherent corrupter of persons that invariably prompts them to oppress the poor, or that always peripherally leads to the oppression of the poor.

3. A biblical theology of poverty is focused on the individual being compassionate to the poor. There is no sense of handing this responsibility off to an impersonal state. A welfare state should consequently be viewed as a sign of the failure of the Church, not as a clever and useful creation of the human state so the Church can move on to more “spiritual” pursuits.

4. If the question is what is a biblical theology of the care for poor, the answer is the individual, or individuals operating as a like-minded group, under the guidance of biblical revelation from a God who hates poverty and injustice. The answer is not the empowerment of a corruptible state. That is the secular God-less answer.

5. Neither the OT, NT, or 1st Century Judaism viewed wealth as inherently evil.

6. Personal wealth creates more opportunity to abuse the poor, but there is no axiomatic cause and effect relationship between wealth and exploitation.

7. God’s “special interest” in the poor” isn’t an idea that exists in a theological vaccuum. When Jesus blesses the poor who are seeking the kingdom it is not because their poverty made them godly. Being poor is no more a mark of God’s favor than being rich.

8. The NT does not teach that giving to the poor washes one’s sins away. That isn’t what John 3:16 (and many other passages) says.

9. Acts 2:42-47 is not consistent with the political-economic theory of communism or socialism. Early Christians were not required to sell all their property nor have a negative view of private property. The passage says nothing about empowering the state to redistribute wealth, or empowering the state in any way. it is entirely consistent with the voluntary care for the poor spelled out in the OT. There is no NT mandate for the erection of a theocracy (read: state).

10. The parable of the talents shows a positive view of private property, lending, and investing capital. The parable is also a cautionary tale for handling resources, lending, borrowing, and risk. It is not specific as to the matter of charging interest of fellow believers, though the OT prohibition of that practice would not be overturned by what we see in the parables.

The focus of this last post is Paul’s comment in 2 Thess 3:6-12

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

To say the least, this passage would be quite odd and out of step with Acts 2:42-47 if indeed that latter passage prescribed some sort of Christian communism or welfare state. Why would Paul chide a believer for being idle — not working to support their basic needs when they are capable of working? Why not tell the person in question to go to the church for support, the “new theocracy” designed (in the mind of some) to mime the OT’s (alleged) state system of support for the poor?

It is transparent from the passage that, like the other OT and NT material, the focus of Jesus, the apostles, and the NT Church was not to build a state system as some sort of theocratic substitute.  Many social justice advocates presume this from the outset and bring it to the text as a hermeneutical grid or guide. But consider the absurdity of the general proposition: if that was the case, the Church should have the power to tax, conscript for military service, have a standing army, negotiate treaties, demand and carry out public works projects, enforce law, etc. — all things we see the state of ancient Israel doing in the OT. Why isolate this presumed “biblical state” to social and economic welfare? The idea simply implodes with very little probing.

On the other hand, Paul is not advocating for total self-sufficiency, as though fellow believers should not help other believers (and, by extension of the second greatest commandment, their fellow human beings). The message here is not that refusing to help others is some sort of divinely sanctioned “it’s for their own good” litmus test, or that help should only be rendered for equal service value. In other words, while Paul wasn’t Marx or Lenin, he wasn’t Ayn Rand, either.

Most of what Paul is advocating here is clear to readers.

1. People who can work and provide for themselves should, so they are not a burden to the church and its efforts to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves (e.g.: widows, orphans, invalids, handicapped). People can work and do not would have been a drain on resources that ought to go to others. In other words, for those capable of working for their daily needs, working is how they can love their neighbor.

2. Paul wanted to set an example of the above. While he could have insisted on support, especially on the analogy of priesthood (see 1 Cor 9), he didn’t — and his refusal to do so is a telling rejection of the idea that the NT church was supposed to be the new state.

Less obvious is that this passage has antecedents in his earlier letter to the Thessalonians, as well as the broader NT teaching about church discipline — expulsion from the church community (to deliver the offender “to Satan” – i.e., to the realm outside the holy “geography” of the church, the believing community, to that realm under the powers of darkness — the world and its members who follow other gods).1 The key term that links this passage to 1 Thessalonians is “idleness” (Greek: ἀτάκτως /ataktōs).2  The adjectival form of that word occurs in 1 Thess 5:14 (“admonish the idle”; ESV). Paul’s warning here in 2 Thess 3:6 is therefore actually Paul’s second warning. This is in concert with other church discipline passages (e.g., Titus 3:10) seeking to apply the process of rebuking and reconciling a fellow believer in sin (Matt 18:15-17).

I’m not going to elaborate on a biblical theology of church discipline or “separation”. Rather, I want to make a third observation from the passage:

(3) The issue of not working when one could was serious enough that, for Paul, a failure to do what’s right in this instance could have rightly led to expulsion from the believing community.

Again, this is hard to reconcile with the notion that the early church was formed as a utopian commune or Marxist community.

 

See 1 Cor 5:1-13, especially verse 5. ↩
“Idleness” is the rendering of the ESV; other translations have “disorderly” or “unruly”. ↩

Technorati Tags: 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, disorderly, eat, idleness, justice, poverty, social, welfare, work

Logos is Hiring (Still)

I just wanted to alert readers that Logos is still hiring. Seems like it’s never stopped. When I started there in 2004 there were 85 employees. Now we are over 300. There are thirty or so openings company-wide, but I thought I’d post on a couple since they are on my floor. (Not reporting to me, so you can keep reading!)

There are three open positions in Content Innovation. That department aims to build interactive digital media that will redefine the way people study the world of the Bible.

a Bible Map Designer experienced in geographic information systems
an Interactive Media Designer who can design and specify digital media
an Interactive Media Developer who can convert design ideas into working code

Technorati Tags: Bible Software, content, digital, hiring, innovation, jobs, Logos, maps, media

Why Study Ancient Texts Outside the Bible?

It may seem amiss for this blog to recommend the reading and study of books external to the Bible – anything “non-canonical” or “uninspired.” Actually, it isn’t.

This blog is called the Naked Bible because I want to present the Bible unfiltered through creeds and traditions that are imposed on it or presumably distilled from it and then turned back on it like some sort of inspired commentary. That sort of material is not the same kind of material as texts that are contemporary with the Bible. The latter texts help us recover and discern the context of the Bible itself – the intellectual, historical, religious contexts of the biblical writers. When we are able to think like the biblical writers, we situate the Bible in its own world — not a world subsequent to it that looks back on the Bible. Any context other than the one that produced a given biblical book is by definition a foreign context to the biblical material.

One of the best ways to think like a biblical writer is to read the intellectual output of the cultures contemporary to the biblical writer. This helps us process the biblical material  in light of the worldview of the people who produced the Bible. It enables us to understand the biblical content the way someone living at the time would have understood it. It helps us discern intellectual overlaps and divergences for proper interpretation.

This recent essay by Prof. Lawrence Schiffman is recommended as a general nudge for readers to read this sort of material. It’s a nice overview of things like the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.

Technorati Tags: apocrypha, Josephus, non-canonical, Philo, pseudepigrapha

New Grammar for Biblical Hebrew

Mail was good to me today.  just got my copy of the new biblical Hebrew grammar by my former grad school classmates, Rob Holmstedt and John Cook: Beginning Biblical Hebrew: A Grammar and Illustrated Reader. Rob and John started this pedagogical journey while they were still at the UW-Madison. Congratulations to both of them.

The grammar looks great. I’ll of course be reading through it for useful contributions to my online MEMRA Hebrew course. It has lots of biblical readings with cartoons (any biblical Hebrew grammar with cartoons is certainly worth reading). I hope many of you will get a copy!

Technorati Tags: cook, grammar, hebrew, holmstedt

Should the Septuagint be Considered Inspired?

That’s the question proposed for consideration in a post by a friend of mine, Gabe Martini (“Is the Septuagint a Divinely Inspired Translation?“). Nothing like a provocative headline! I thought you Septuagint fans out there would like it.

Gabe is Orthodox and so he’s ready to say “yes” in answer to his own question. The article is interesting and a good read — though I want a source for the claim in the first paragraph about only five readings being from MT. That just doesn’t ring true at all.1 But I don’t think this is a question that is supposed to be answered with math. Since Gabe works at Logos and we’re supposed to have lunch next week, I’ll ask him where that figure comes from. (Gabe, if you’re reading this, we have an agenda item!) For my money, I don’t think inspiration ought to be extended to translations any more than it should be extended to quotations of other material used by the NT authors.

Enjoy the post!

I’ve read in Silva and Jobes, for instance, that 20-25% of the NT quotations favor MT. See here and here for lots of statistics on LXX quotations. Both sites are by the same person, but you’ll find two different percentages for NT agreement with the LXX: 68% and 64%. However, I can’t claim to be completely sure I’m reading the statistics correctly. ↩

Technorati Tags: inspiration, LXX, Masoretic text, MT, septuagint, translation

Genesis 1:1-3 – Does Hebrew Grammar Matter for Understanding the Hebrew Scriptures?

Stupid question? To anyone thinking clearly it is. There are, naturally, exceptions. It’s just unfortunate that you can find them in Christian ministries.

Readers may recall that I have posted several items about the grammar and syntax of Genesis 1:1-3. One such post discussed the problem of the clauses in those first three verses – how the grammar and syntax really don’t allow for a linear, chronological reading and why that’s important for translation and interpretation. That post introduced my readers to the work of Rob Holmstedt, an established Hebrew grammarian who happens to be a friend, as we went to graduate school together at the UW-Madison. Alas, Answers in Genesis doesn’t like our take on Genesis 1:1-3 (they discovered it through Ben Stanhope’s post). It seems all that Hebrew talk about the Hebrew Scriptures muddles the clarity of their view of those verses – the one that keeps their ministry ship afloat. Bummer.

Rob Holmstedt (together with another friend and grad school colleague, John Cook) blogs online about – you guessed it – Hebrew grammar. Rob recently had this to say about the Answers in Genesis invective against him. While I get shot at in their post as well, it’s mostly directed at Rob. He’s an easy target. As a professor at the University of Toronto, they can readily portray to their loyalists as a secularist Hebrew professor who writes un-Christian stuff about Genesis. Rob’s a Christian (Wheaton grad before our days at the UW-Madison).

Frankly, what Rob’s faith happens to be is a non-issue here. You either take the text for what it says within the constructs of the rules of language or you don’t. Hebrew grammar really does matter for understanding the Hebrew Bible. Kind of like English grammar matters for understanding stuff written in English. You’d think that would be self-evident. Answers in Genesis shows us that, sadly, it isn’t.

Technorati Tags: creation, Genesis, Genesis 1:1-3, grammar, hebrew, Heiser, holmstedt, Stanhope, syntax

For Your Inner Greek Geek: Important New Testament Discourse Paper

My colleague at Logos, Dr. Steve Runge, told me today that his article critiquing certain points of Stanley Porter’s work in Greek grammar (having to do with tense forms) has been accepted for publication by a scholarly journal that will appear in 2014. Steve has obtained permission to post his article (or some pre-edited version of it – I’m not completely sure) on his website, NT Discourse.org. Please don’t just jump to the article before reading the post that helps frame the article. (The article is linked-to within the post.)

Technorati Tags: contrastive, grammar, greek, historical, Porter, present, Runge, substitution, wallace

New Website Dedicated to NT Scholar Father Raymond Brown

Mark Goodacre passed along this note about a new website dedicated to Father Brown. Check it out. I also recommend going to that part of the site that includes several PDFs of Brown’s work. He was a major force in NT scholarship and Jesus studies.

Technorati Tags: Brown, Jesus, New Testament, Raymond, Virgin Birth