Jonah #4: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel & Us (Sinners in the Hands of a Gracious King)

Sinners in the Hands of a Gracious God

"Salvation comes from Yahweh" (Jonah 2.9, Jerusalem Bible)

Greetings from the land of Saguaros and Scorpions. I have continued to read, meditate and even pray (source of lectio divina the last few days) through the Book of Jonah. I have found the book so incredibly powerful, incredibly paradigm challenging, and incredibly unnerving.

I have come to realize, as I have reflected on some of the readings of Jonah that I have been accustomed to, that they often are pious defangings of the book and more often than not actually read stuff into the book (i.e import). Some of those pious understandings/interpretations actually subvert what the author is actually up too. Here are some thoughts on the message of the book as a whole ... Sinners in the Hands of a Gracious King (I encourage you to ruminate upon Jesus' teaching in Mt 18.21-35 and Mt 20.1-16 ... listen and hear the message of the author of Jonah in the Life of Jesus).

The theology of the book of Jonah and the outlook of the prophet are not one and the same. The author wants us to embrace a reality quite different than what the anti-hero prophet has.

The author reveals to us the stark ugliness of the one who "knows the Bible" and is “sound” in theology but whose heart has no grasp of the suffering love of God for his world. Here is a question: Is the "sign" of Jonah merely (only) that he was in the fish for three days? More on this later ...

Since the beginning of the story it seems as if Jonah has been "avoiding" Yahweh. When the Lord hurls a storm at him the pagans pray to their gods (1.5). The pagan captain implores Jonah to pray (i.e. cry) to his god but he refuses. The scene on the boat ends with the pagans, not Jonah, actually calling on the name of Yahweh (1.14). What irony! The idol worshipers pray to the Lord and the "Christian" keeps a stiff upper lip (I know I'm being anachronistic here but only to make a point).

Jonah tries to commit suicide but God uses a fish to bring salvation to him. We learn from 2.1 (1.17 in English) that Jonah would rather stew before he opens his mouth. Jonah is thankful, or so it seems on the surface, for "grace." The word "I" occurs in this psalm at least 10x. and as has been pointed out before (I will give a list later) nearly every word is paralleled in the Psalter. Jonah sounds incredibly pious but his heart is incredibly hard. Chapter 2.8 reveals the depth of the irony in this psalm ...

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace (hesed) that COULD be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you."

So far in the Story we actually encountered who had worshiped idols: the pagan sailors. So far in the story the only ones who sought out Yahweh were the pagan idol worshipers. Ironically the sailors have indeed found hesed ... they found grace. They sought Yahweh through remorseful prayer while Jonah would rather die. Irony!! The author loves it.

In this psalm, in Jonah's prayer, we search in vain for a single word of repentance or remorse. It is not present. We sometimes read it into his prayer but it is not there. The prayer shows Jonah to be a master of Israel's liturgical tradition (he has memorized the hymns!). But the contrast with David could not be more stark:

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love ... blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned ... Create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit with in me ... (Ps 51)

Jonah is in fact "thankful" but he is not repentant. He is relieved that God by his own choice saved him but not heartbroken over his arrogance and sin.

This contrast between Jonah and the sailors is intentional. This is confirmed by the even greater contrast between Jonah and the citizens of Nineveh. When they hear the word of Jonah (there is no messenger speech here so we are left hanging as to whether or not it is actually the message OF THE LORD) they, like the sailors, are terrified. Like the sailors they call upon Deity (they do NOT know his name btw because as far as the story goes Jonah did not reveal it to them). Nineveh, from the king to the cows, does what Jonah has not done ... they repent ... they turn from their evil." Again the irony of 2.8 is present ... those who clung to worthless idols were quicker to seek even an unnamed god than the one who supposedly knew the One True God, his Scripture and held to sound doctrine! The pagans repent and find grace. Jonah refuses to repent ... even as Yahweh has been incredibly long suffering in his hesed toward him (Israel/Us).

Indeed while the pagans of Nineveh turn from their "evil" Jonah in fact embraces what they reject in 4.1. And it is only in chapter 4 that we find Jonah finally opening up and crying to Yahweh ... and he is not happy. The depth of the real ugliness of the people of God is seen for the first time!

And as far as the story goes we never learn if God in fact reached Jonah. He reached the pagans on the boat. He reached the pagans in Nineveh. But he did not reach his own prophet. The last words from Jonah in the book are bitter indeed "I am angry enough to die." Jonah is in the same place in chapter 4 as he was at the end of chapter 1 ... God's People that would rather die than have grace extended to those who have (in his theology) forfeited that grace by serving idols. But Yahweh is sovereign and he can extend grace to the sailors, the Ninevehites ... just like he can seemingly create a fish for the sole purpose of the salvation of Jonah. God does not want to destroy Jonah ... he wants to love him. Jonah "knows" this truth and states it in 2.9 ... salvation belongs to Yahweh. But Jonah wanted to be in control of dispensing it.

Let me make one last observation before bringing these ramblings to a close. Isn’t the contrast between Jonah looking at Nineveh and Abraham making a fool out of himself before Yahweh over Sodom not glaring? The language of Gen 19 of Sodom is clearly echoed in the description of Nineveh's evil ...

Perhaps when Jesus declared that tax collectors, sinners and all manner of riff raff are closer to the kingdom than church going experts -- the sign of Jonah is lurking in the background. This little book is profound and profoundly challenging. I encourage us all to let it rattle our cage.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Jonah #3: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel & Us - Late Night Memories

Late Night Memories of Jonah

"Salvation belongs to and comes from Yahweh" (Jonah 2.9, BV version)

I have attended "church" all my life. I have wracked my brain but I do not remember a time when I did not "know" the story of Jonah. I had VBS's and Sunday school lessons on Jonah as a child. I can not recall, however, even one adult class or sermon on the book of Jonah.

I do recall encountering material on Jonah that was apologetic in nature but this material rarely gets to positive exposition of the biblical text (though it has other merits). This changed when I decided to do a sermon series on Jonah in 2003/4 on the book of Jonah at Southside in Milwaukee. Was I in for a surprise!!! I guess it was about a year after that time I was most fortunate to sit at the feet of Dr. John Fortner lecture on Jonah at the Midwest Preachers Retreat @ Black River Falls, WI (he both confirmed many of my earlier exegetical conclusions, turned others over revealing my ignorance, and generally blew me away again ...) This is NOT some mere child's flannel board story. Then in 2007 I returned once again to Jonah, this time at Palo Verde. Now I am thinking of Jonah once again. Who knew 48 verses could contain practically the whole bible's substance!?

I fell in love with the book of Jonah because of its beauty, its amazing "engineering" (i.e. deliberate structuring), and its profoundly deep theology. I also fell in love with it because I became convinced (and still am) the book is not simply about the man named Jonah ... but about US! It is the story of God with his rebellious people. It is the story of Father with the Two Sons long before Jesus ever told it in Luke 15 (listen to the Story with ears to hear).

One of the methods I use for getting into the Story of the Bible is reading it in as many different translations as I can get my hands on. For Jonah I made my own translation in 2003/4 and did the same once again in 2007, what a good exercise. I have read the book of Jonah in every major English translation known to me and many that some probably never heard of (i.e. Goodspeed's, The Bible: An American Translation). It is fascinating, when we read with "eyes to see and ears to hear," the connections we begin to see in the Story and what we miss in some translations but are brilliantly displayed in others.

Jonah was translated from Hebrew into Greek of the Septuagint long before Jesus was born ... which also explains some unique features in the Gospels that I hope to call attention to. The book is represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It also featured in a translation controversy in the 5th century A.D.

When Jerome produced the equivalent of the NIV (the Vulgate) in the ancient church traditionalists were scandalized. Augustine, the great theologian from Hippo in Africa, wrote to Jerome of his dismay that his fresh rendering was causing an uproar ... in the little book of Jonah. Here is an excerpt written in 403 AD.

"A certain bishop, one of our brethren, having introduced in the church over which he presides the reading of your version, came upon a word in the book of the prophet Jonah, of which you have given a very different rendering from that which had been of old familiar to the senses and memory of all the worshippers [sic], and had been chanted for so many generations in the church. Thereupon arose such a tumult in the congregation ... correcting what had been read and denouncing the translation as false ..." (Letters of Augustine, No. 71 in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church).

We chuckle at this happening because we all have probably witnessed something similar to what Augustine laments. Going down the centuries, as near as I can tell, the first time Jonah appeared in something called English was the 14th century AD in the version associated with John Wycliff. Wycliff, like Augustine before him, knew neither Hebrew or Greek, but only Latin and gave the English people their first literary introduction to this Story.

The man who sort of set the bar for English readers of Jonah was William Tyndale. Most know that Tyndale practically gave us the NT but fewer realize that he, before being executed as a heretic, translated much of the "Old Testament" (Gen-Chronicles and The Prophet Jonas). Tyndale's version is straight from the Hebrew and he plows fresh ground because no one had ever done it before. He wrote a lengthy "Prologue to the Prophet Jonas" as well (about 13 pages while the text of Jonah takes two and a half!). Using the opportunity to promote the Protestant Reformation and those who are confused in Roman Catholic churches he states eloquently

"The scripture hath a body without, and within a soul, spirit and life. It hath without a bark, a shell and as it were an hard bone for the fleshy minded to graw upon. And within it hath pith, kernel, marrow, and all sweetness for God's elect which he hath chosen to give them his spirit, and to write his law and the faith of his Son in their hearts" (Tyndale's Old Testament, ed. by David Daniell, p. 628)

There is plenty of body, soul, spirit and life in the story of Jonah! Some of his renderings breathtakingly vivid: "But the Lord hurled a great wind into the sea, so that there was a mighty tempest in the sea: insomuch that the ship was like to go in pieces." Or in one of the truly and amazingly ironic statements from the mouth of the story's Anti-Hero: "They that observe vain vanities, have forsaken him that was merciful to them" (2.8, there is no versification in Tyndale. That was introduced after his death. The NIV renders "worthless idols"). Another energetic rendering comes from chapter 3, "And they put on sackloth both man and beast, and cried unto God mightily, and turned every man his wicked way, and from doing wrong in which they were accustomed." Finally we hear the shocking outburst of the story's Anti-Hero "I am angry a-good, even unto death." (All quotations taken from Daniell's edition of Tyndale's Old Testament).

One of the better non-traditional renderings of Jonah is in Eugene Peterson's The Message. Like Tyndale centuries before him, Peterson provides a shorter (much!!) intro to Jonah. Peterson brings a sense of the "playful" narrative art of the story. "But the playfulness is not frivolous. This is deadly serious." The author, who I do not believe to be the Anti-Hero, is a consummate artist! Some great lines in Peterson's version are: "The sailors impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of God. They worshiped GOD, offered a sacrifice, and made a vow." "In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to GOD." "Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at GOD, 'GOD! I knew it -- when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen!" "So GOD, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead!"

Even J. R. R. Tolkien lent his hand to rendering the story of Jonah. He contributed the book of Jonah to the Jerusalem Bible. Tolkien's rendering is scheduled to be re-released independently later this year as The Book of Jonah. I was unaware of Tolkien's work until today and it sent me searching for my old used book store edition of The Jerusalem Bible to read Jonah.

Jonah is just an example of the treasures that await those who will prayerfully plumb the depths of God's word. The riches are inexhaustible. The surprises ever new. The message more challenging with each visit. Jonah is a fantastic text to enter into a period of lectio divina ... you just might find the Spirit of the Lord "hovering over the deep" of your own mind and soul to shed light on the scripture's body, soul, spirit, and life.

Its time to go watch that classic interpretation of Jonah ... Veggie Tales!! LOL ...

Shalom.

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Jonah #2: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel and Us, Pt 2

"Salvation is at the LORD'S discretion ..." (Jonah 2.9)

What Did Jonah Buy? A Brief Study

When the Lord God called Jonah to cry out to Nineveh he was so upset he lost his mind for all intents and purposes. The writer informs us that Jonah wished to flee from the presence of the Lord and this is dramatized by his flight to Tarshish. According to Isaiah 66.19 Tarshish was a place that knew neither the fame nor glory of the Lord. Jonah thinks this is the one place he can fly to to avoid the Lord.

In his desperation to escape a God that forgives too easily, indeed one who “delight(s) to show mercy” (cf. Micah 7.18), Jonah flees to a port named Joppa. Jonah’s madness begins to be evident to the ancient Hebrew for they were not a seafaring people. Jonah however simply will use any means necessary to get to Tarshish … a place that knows not the glory of the Lord. The narrator tells us that Jonah “found a ship heading for Tarshish, paid for his trip” (v.4), some versions render the text as “paid the fare” (NIV).

The question is: what did the desperate Jonah purchase? The text in question reads as follows, “wayyaqom yona libroah tarsisa millipne YHWH wayyered yapo wayyimsa ‘oniya ba’a tarsis wayyitten sekarah wayyered bah labo’ immahem tarsisa millipne YHWH.” The words to consider are bold. The narrator does not say that Jonah “paid his fare,” rather we are told the Dove “paid its hire.” This particular wording lead the ancient rabbis to believe that Jonah was a wealthy man. For example Rabbi Romanus said the hire of the ship took four thousand gold denarii! Rabbi Yohanan comments that Jonah hired out the entire ship.

The text does not commit us to deciding on the wealth of Jonah rather narrator focuses our attention on the extreme that Jonah is willing to go. The Dove is desperate! That Jonah hired out the ship rather than simply bought a ticket is confirmed by the surrounding narrative itself. First, the story speaks only of Jonah and the crew. There are no other passengers on the ship. Second the term sakar refers to the “wages” of the crew thus by hiring the ship Jonah is really hiring the crew. Jack Sasson searched through ancient material and comments that the idea of paying a fare as a modern passenger would did not develop until Roman times (Anchor Bible: Jonah, p. 84). Sasson goes on to comment that a person who “hired a ship and its captain had the right to change its destination and, in some cases, its specific function” (ibid). These insights from Sasson seem to reflect the narrative accurately.

The scene painted for us by our narrator then is this. Jonah, the Dove, flies with incredible haste in the direction of one place he believes he can be safe from the “presence of the Lord.” When he, the land lover, sees a ship he does not waste time negotiating ... he simply hires the whole vessel and cannot draw anchor quickly enough!!

Jonah forgot one important thing though, “where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139.7). But Jonah was out of his mind. That is the “absurdity” of the prophet in this book.

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Jonah #1: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel and Us #1

"Salvation is at the LORD'S discretion" (Jonah 2.9)

Jonah is one of the best known and least understood stories in the Bible. It is also one of the most profound works within the Hebrew canon. It also happens to be one of my favorite books. I hope to do a series of blogs on the book of Jonah and unworthy as I am to lay hands on this deep work I shall attempt to take Jonah seriously and rescue this work from the flannel board. What follow are some orienting and introductory perspectives for plumbing the depths of this book.

Jonah is only 48 verses long but it carries a "whale of a load." Here are just a few observations that we can, perhaps integrate into our reading and thus hearing of the book:

First, Polyvalence probably best describes much of Jonah's vocabulary. That is a term or a word that may have two or more possible meanings and likely we are meant to think of all them. The Gospel of John also loves this kind of stuff.

Second. There are four miracles not one: the storm sent by Yahweh (1.4) as is the Calm (1.15); the Fish (1.17) and the Gourd (4.6)

Third. Jonah is saturated with language from previous biblical stories and psalms. These echoes of the story of Israel lend support to the notion that this story is about more than just a single man. It is my conviction that Jonah is one of the last works of the Hebrew bible to be written and these echoes of the rest of the canon are deliberate and intentional on the part of the author.

Fourth. Repetition is frequent. For example Jonah is called by Yahweh to "cry" against Nineveh. That is the voice of God. The same term occurs in the form of a command again through the voice of the captain who commands Jonah to "cry" to his god. Ironically neither Yahweh nor the captain can get the runaway to cry. Ironically it is the pagans that "cry" out to the Lord (1.14).

Fifth. Did you notice the "decent" of the Dove? There is this "down, down, down" movement of Jonah the Dove. He went "down" to Joppa. Then he went "down" into the heart of the ship. And finally he goes "down" into the heart of "hell" ... he is "fleeing" but even in hell he finds there is no escape (echoes of Psalm 139)

Sixth. In Hebrew the sailors simply "fear" in 1.5. Then when they learn that Jonah is a Fugitive of a deity (they are pagans remember) they have a "great fear" (1.10). Then when they witness the miraculous calm (almost instantaneous is the impression we get from the Hebrew) the sailors "fear a great fear" of Yahweh (1.16).

v.5 “they feared”
v.10 “they feared a great fear”
v. 16 “they feared a great fear to the LORD”

Seventh. Here is a little interesting tidbit too. The nameless king calls on the people to turn away from their "evil" (3.8). When Yahweh sees their turn from their "evil" ways (3.10) he likewise turns from the "evil" he threatened them. But then 4.1 opens with a "great evil" coming upon him (most English translations are lame here). What Nineveh left behind finds root in God's own prophet.

Eighth. Jonah knows his Bible and is completely "orthodox" in his "theology." His theology is stated rather clinically in 1.9. His prayer in ch 2 is paralleled in almost every line and thought from the Hebrew Psalter ... just like folks who go to church all their lives know the hymnbook nearly by heart ... so does Jonah. Jonah quotes Exodus 34.6-7 verbatim in 4.2-3. This is THE Hebrew creed ... Jonah is sound in his theology but there is darkness in his heart.

Ninth. When we read and meditate upon Jonah's prayer in chapter 2 do you notice something missing? Read it slowly and carefully. Stick with the story. What have we seen the sailors do and after wards the pagan city dwellers likewise do that is glaringly absent from the lips of Jonah? There is not one hint of repentance! It is not there. There is religious language in abundance for sure. But the contrast with Psalm 51 could not be more stark ... I think the author intends for this starkness too.

Tenth. Jonah the Fugitive would rather be dead than serve Yahweh the King who is so easy. He attempts suicide in chapter 1 but God graciously saves him. In chapter 4 he states it would be better for him to be dead (4.3, 8). Yahweh reaches the Pagan sailors, he reaches Pagan Nineveh ... but we are left biting our nails as to whether or not God ever reaches Jonah ...

Prayerful reading of Jonah can open us up to the heart of God as well as the truth of regarding his people.

Shalom,
Bobby V

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What Happened to the Land? An Exercise in Biblical Probing

"I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess" (Gen. 15.7, NRSV)

"And I will give to you and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding, and I will be there God" (Gen 17.8, NRSV).

God's promise to Abraham is a controlling axis in the story of Scripture. Christians know that through that promise Yahweh chose the line of Abraham to ultimately bring the Messiah to redeem his creation. We know that God gave Abraham a great name, many descendants, and he has blessed all the nations through him. But what ever happened to the land? The story recorded in the Pentateuch drives inexorably from paradise lost in Eden to paradise regained in the Promised Land. We as Christians also know that the promise to Abraham meant far more than the number of Jewish people in the world today. We know that the blessing to the nations was far more than Abraham could dream or imagine. So what about the Land? This is a question many thoughtful believers have posed.

In the Story that is revealed in Scripture, when God established his covenant of grace with Abram we understand that the universal scope of Genesis 1-11 is suddenly restricted (or narrowed) to Abraham and his seed. But this narrowing served the purpose of universalizing the promise to all nations. Within the NT the covenant is not restricted to ethnic Israel but includes myself and all believing Gentiles.

Did that narrowing for the sake of widening apply to only part of God's gracious promise to Abraham? God chose one man, one family, one nation for the sake of the entire human race. Or does that narrowing for the sake of widening apply to all of the promise? Does it include the land? Does God choose one spot, one land, one area for the sake of the entire creation??

Let me probe in the Story of God a little deeper. Just as Yahweh narrowed his covenant people to mostly Israel but in the NT gathered all humanity, does the inheritance of the land that was limited to Canaan likewise now encompass all of creation? I think it does.

Note in Genesis 17.8 that it reads "and I will give to YOU, and to your descendants." God promised to give the land not simply to the then unborn children of Abraham but to Abraham himself. Now as the Story presses towards its goal we learn that Abraham never owned a foot of the land except for a burial cave (Acts 7.5; Gen 23). Yet according to the Story what did Abraham think about this situation? The Eloquent Preacher to the Hebrews elaborates on Abraham's point of view ...

"By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (11.9-10, NRSV. See 11.13-16)

It is also interesting that this same Preacher to the Hebrews understands that Canaan was a type for the eternal rest of God's people (Hebrews 4). To probe even further we learn from Galatians 3.29 that all those who have faith and are baptized into Messiah are "Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." Are we heirs to only part of God's promise to Abraham?? or are we heirs to all of God's promise of grace to Abraham?

The movement of the Story seems to be a universalizing of the land promise to include not only all believers redeemed but all creation redeemed. Already before Paul's time Jewish thinking had been providentially led to understand the land promise to be way beyond simply the borders of Canaan. Though many examples can be adduced Jesus, the Son of Sirach will suffice.

"Therefore the Lord assured him with an oath that the nations would be blessed through his offspring; that he would make him as numerous as the dust of the earth, and exalt his offspring like the stars, and give them an inheritance from sea to sea and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth" (Sirach 44.21, NRSV)

The careful reader of the Story will note that Paul makes use of all the promise to Abraham and applies it to all his "descendants." "For the PROMISE that he would inherit the WORLD did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith ..." (Romans 4.13, NRSV).

Note that Paul does not say land of Canaan but the world (as Sirach had understood too). There is no text in the canonical Hebrew Bible that says this. But as pointed Jewish thought already embraced the universal import of the promise of grace. So indeed just as God chose a man for the sake of all people, he chose a "spot" for the sake of the world. Abraham's descendant are more than Jews and the promise land is more than a patch of ground.

But we must probe Paul in light of the Story a little deeper. What does Paul mean? He means what the Hebrew Preacher means ... I will show this through Moses E. Lard's insightful Commentary on Romans (something of a classic among Churches of Christ):

"THE WORLD, The word "world", kosmos, I construe as denoting simply the material earth, or globe; nor do I see how it can be made to bear any other meaning. But the word can not here signify the world in its present form; for Abraham and his spiritual offspring have never inherited it in this form, neither will they. It must, then, refer to the world in its future, renovated or glorified form--in its final form, when it becomes a 'new earth.' In that form, indisputably, Abraham and his spiritual seed will inherit the world, but never in any other. The reference, therefore, I conclude is the future earth" (Commentary on Romans, p. 142).

The land promise is ultimately fulfilled in the New Heavens and the New Earth. As Abraham sojourned in Canaan he looked forward, in faith like his offspring still do, to "inherit the world" (in Paul's words). Abraham looked, in faith, to that City. According to the Story recorded in Scripture we learn finally where that City will be.

"And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21.2)

"in the Spirit he carried me to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN from God" (Rev 21.10)

"the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that COMES DOWN FROM GOD out of heaven" (Rev 3.12).

God did not renege on Abraham. When humanity brought sin into this good creation of God there was vandalism of shalom towards God, towards one another, towards creation. God's promise to Abraham was aimed at healing all those war torn areas. The land promise did not disappear rather in the Story as a cast off piece of non-Spirituality. Rather it finds its goal in the genuine Spiritual blessing of the redeemed earth which the children of Abraham ... the meek ... will inherit. Our sabbath rest awaits us! Come Lord Jesus! Amen.

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Things I Do NOT Believe

Some times people will attempt to write a short summary of what they believe and hold dear. This summary is often called a creed. Because I am feeling cranky right now :-)Not really!! I have composed a short Anti-Creed. That is a statement of things I do not believe. In so doing perhaps it will highlight what I really do believe.

1. I do not believe in a distant God. Rather God is deeply involved in the world working to redeem his good creation.

2. I do not believe that God's Spirit works only through the written word, the Bible. Rather I believe that the Spirit indwells the Christian for the purpose of fellowship and spiritual guidance.

3. I do not believe that salvation is a co-operative effort where God does 50% and humans do 50%. That is I do not believe that salvation is through both God's grace and human works. Rather I believe salvation is by God's grace and is received through faith apart from works of righteousness unto good works.

4. I do not believe that Jesus and the early church can be understood apart from Judaism and the long history of redemption revealed in the Hebrew Bible. Rather I believe that the Hebrew Bible and "Second Temple" Judaism is essential for hearing the New Testament.

5. I do not believe that salvation is individualistic; that I can be a Christian/disciple all alone. Rather salvation is wholistic for mind, body and soul. Salvation is for all things that have been devastated by the fall of humanity. Salvation is communal and I must be in the community of God.

6. I do not believe that ministry to the poor (benevolence work some call it) is a "non-spiritual" activity. Rather care for the poor and taking care of needs is, in light of Jesus' ministry, a profoundly Godly, spiritual activity. It is part of the work of salvation.

7. I do not believe that the church and the kingdom of God are one and the same thing. Rather I believe the kingdom is where ever the Reign of God is manifest. The church is the beach head of the kingdom in the present age ... it is the future on display in the present.

8. I do not believe that God made a mistake when he created the world or when he gave humanity a body. Rather I believe that life as the Bible defines it cannot be simply "spirit" but body and spirit joined together.

9. I do not believe that Yahweh is a technical God and thus reject salvation by "precision" obedience.

10. I do not believe that any one nation is especially God's favorite nation in the world. Rather I believe that all nation states fundamentally are self-serving rather than God-serving.

11. I do not believe that scholarship threatens or endangers faith. Rather I believe that our faith is deepened and enriched through study.

12. I do not believe everyone has to agree with me. Rather I believe all should study and ask for the Spirit's guidance and come to a firm faith they believe.

Finally, I believe the church is a witness to the fallen age of what God intends creation to look like. Church is the place where God's will is done "on earth as it is in heaven." Here we serve and obey. Here we love and sacrifice for one another. Here we honor our promises and keep our word. Here there are no outcasts but all are welcome. I guess the church is heaven on earth ... or that is what God intends ... and through his indwelling Spirit we are becoming more of that each and every day. That is the goal.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Africa, Scripture ... and Christian History

"As a historian of the ancient world, I find that many New Testament scholars are confined by tunnel vision to the immediate text, with little awareness of its broader background" (Edwin Yamauchi, Africa and the Bible, p. 161)

Over the last month I have been reading and studying three books that converge on Scripture, Christian history, and Africa. A couple of reasons moved me in this direction for reading: 1) I have had a long interest in the historical setting of Scripture and early Christianity, and 2) because I have been so woefully ignorant of the matter. I have drawn attention to Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Moses' wife, etc in years past but my recent reading has shown me how much I do not know. But the shadow of Africa looms large and Thomas Oden's How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind; Keith Augustus Burton's The Blessing of Africa; and Edwin Yamauchi's Africa and the Bible have enriched and corrected my vision.

A number of points that these authors make we all already know but they are sort of hidden in plain view. Africa has played a pivotal role not only in biblical history but in the history of Christianity. Scenes from Scripture: the children of Abraham in Africa; Joseph in Africa; Moses in Africa; and Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Africa. According to tradition Mark in Africa, Perpetua in Africa, Tertullian in Africa, Clement in Africa, Athanasius in Africa, and Augustine in Africa.



Perhaps Oden's work, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity, arrested me the most. Oden, a repentant Bultmanian, has been editing the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture for many years. He writes that his views have changed not from some European historical genius (which he calls "European chauvinism" p.23, see pp. 140f) but by wading through the writings of the Church Fathers. His thesis is that Africa defined the Christian mind in the first 500 years or so. As he says, repeatedly, that the flow of thought went from South to North. From Africa to Europe and not the reverse. Just where do we see the legacy of Africa:

+ That the western university was formed in Africa (and Christian scholarship)

+ Christian exegesis was first nurtured in Africa

+ Africa was the setting for the shaping of early Christian dogma

+ that ecumenical decisions of the later church were first shaped in Africa

+ most of the Spiritual disciplines were first practiced in Africa especially through the rise of monasticism

+ neoplatonic philosophy moved from Africa to Europe

+ literary and rhetoric were refined in Africa

African Christians in Byzacena, Carthage, Numidia and Mauretania had been reaching agreement on on many important matters a century prior to the Council of Nicaea. One of these for all intents and purposes gave us our "canon" of the New Testament. Oden's book deserves to be read and digested. Oden believes that contemporary North American and European views on Africa are radically different than those of Ancient Christians. He finds the root of the change in the scholarship of Adolf von Harnack and Walter Bauer. Oden ends his book with a challenge to younger scholars (including African ones) to test his thesis. To learn the languages of Ancient Africa because so much is neglected and untranslated into modern tongues. It is important both to Europeans and Africans that Christianity is not "white" but is in fact a "traditional African religion" with a 2000 year history.



Keith Augustus Burton's The Blessing of Africa: The Bible and African Christianity is broad in scope which is both its strength and weakness. Burton surveys how the "sons of Ham" are seen in Scripture (and he argues that son of Ham is not synonymous with "black"). He then surveys the growth Christianity in the "lands of Ham" which is much broader than simply modern Africa. One particularly rich section in this work is the Islam and Christianity wrestling in Africa.



Finally Edwin Yamauchi's Africa and the Bible is justly deserving its 2005 Christianity Today Book Award. Yamauchi, a Japanese-American, is an amazing scholar and has earned a reputation since the 1960s as being a person who knows the ancient world better than most of us know our own neighborhood. The bibliography of this book is 45 pages long!! This is THE book on Africa and the Bible. Yamauchi writes as a historian and not simply a biblical scholar (though he is that). He lavishly integrates archeology, ancient sources of all kinds, biblical exegesis and contemporary scholarship. The book is richly illustrated too (a bonus for those that like pictures!). He examines the "Curse of Ham" in its ancient setting and how it became the seedbed of racism. Most interesting to me, because I knew nothing of it, is the chapter on "Rome and Meroe." This is of course important for understanding Acts 8. This valuable work ends with a survey and critique of "Afrocentric Biblical Interpretation" to which Yamauchi sees vital contributions as well as serious flaws.

I am a better Bible student with a deeper awareness of "our" African roots for reading these books. But I think if I were going to spend money on these books again to give away I would begin with Oden and Yamauchi. In fact I believe that works like these can help us see vast new vistas ... even where (and when!) we may disagree. Africa has indeed played a larger role in our heritage than I was ever aware of. Its like getting a new pair of glasses.

Tolle lege,
Bobby V

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