The Scribe just started re-reading his “Centennial edition” of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

Steinbeck started the book by describing the Salinas Valley in California where he grew up, and especially the Salinas River.  He wrote that the Salinas River in the summer was all dried out, and so “was not a fine river at all, but it was the only one we had and so we boasted about it.”  He added, “You can boast about anything if that’s all you have.”

Finally he said, “Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast about it.”

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Maybe the reverse is true.  Maybe the more you have, the less you should feel the need to boast.

And you would think that would be especially true of Christians, but apparently “boasting” by some was a problem even in St. Paul’s time.  See for example First Corinthians 4:7 (NJB):

Who made you so important?  What have you got that was not given to you?  And if it was given to you, why are you boasting as though it were your own?

Of course some Conservative Christians even today might respond, “I earned everything I have, with hard work and the sweat of my brow.”   But that raises a question: “Who gave you the brow? And who gave you the sweat?”  See also 1^st John 1:9-10 (ESV):

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves…  If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.”

In other words, what does a hard-core Christian have that wasn’t ultimately “given?”  It could be said that he or she has done nothing but accept a free gift available to all.  (Not to mention any “talents” he or she may have developed, talents that were also ultimately a gift from God.)

So maybe now is a good time for a bit less of the “us against them” rhetoric that seems to be the focus of so many Christians these days (at least judging by “that darned liberal media”), and more about the ministry of reconciliation Paul mentioned in 2d Corinthians 5:18.

Another example:  Type the words “Christian hypocrite” into your computer search engine and you’ll get “About 3,340,000 results.”   That’s over three million, three hundred thousand results, so something is definitely “wrong with this picture.”  But Paul may have foreseen that as well, when he wrote in Romans 2:24, in the New International Verson, “As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

So maybe this is a good time for a little less bragging and a little more showing. . .

The “East of Eden” book-cover image is courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/EastOfEden.jpg.   The quoted passages are from the John Steinbeck Centennial Edition of East of Eden, Penguin Books, at page 4.

As for the “Christian hypocrite” search-engine type-in, see for example, Why Are Christians So Hypocritical? – Explore God:  “Christians are notorious for being hypocritical…   A recent study found that among the various perceptions of Christians, the third most common is that they’re hypocritical.  Eighty-five percent of respondents between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine voiced this reaction to Christians.”  And notwithstanding the website’s thoughtful analysis, this public perception does present a problem that The Scribe and his Blog are trying to alleviate.

The lower image is courtesy of http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/wig/images/wrong_picture.jpg.  As to “what’s wrong with the picture,” the site explained, “for one thing, the members of this track team all have the same face.  Unless we are paying close attention to facial features, hair plays a big part in forming an image of individuals.”

There’s probably some kind of lesson there too…

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In 1952 the Louvin Brothers – seen above – recorded a song, “That word broad-minded is spelled s-i-n.”  The song in part: “I read in my Bible, they shall not enter in.  For Jesus will answer, Depart, I never knew you.”  (But see John 6:37:  “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”)

That’s followed by the refrain, “That word broadminded is spelled s-i-n.”

Which brings up two ways to interpret the Bible.  One is the hellfire-and-brimstone approach of the song and/or album above.  That approach sees the faith of the Bible as both exclusive and excluding.  The other approach focuses on a loving God, as seen in the promise Jesus made in John 10:10, that He came so His followers could live life “in all its abundance.”  Which raises the question: Can you live a life of abundance while being narrow-minded?

One word for “strictly” interpreting the Bible is the fundamentalism of the Louvin Brothers song.   But maybe its all a matter of context…

The strange thing about Ira Louvin – at right in the picture at left – is that he “was notorious for his drinking, womanizing, and short temper.” (Or maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.)  Ira ended up getting married four times, and his third wife Faye ended up shooting him six times.  (Four times in the chest.)  That was after one of the times he allegedly beat her up.

But we digress…

Wikipedia defined Fundamentalism as a strict adherence to specific theological doctrines, and said the term “usually has a religious connotation indicating unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs.” The article added that the term was coined from the Five Fundamentals, set down between 1910 and 1920.

Those Five Fundamentals were: 1) That the written Bible was inspired by God “and the inerrancy of Scripture as a result of this;” 2) That Christ was “virgin born;”  3) That Christ’s death was the atonement for sin;  4) That Christ had a “bodily resurrection;”  and 5) That Christ’s miracles were a “historical reality.”

One sticking point for many people is the idea of Biblical inerrancy.  That’s the “doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error…  Conservative Christians generally believe that God inspired the authors and redactors of the Bible. Hence, they wrote material that was error-free.” (See the Wikipedia article.)

But there is another way to read and interpret the Bible.

And to many people it offers a better path to the type of abundance Jesus promised in John 10:10.  That Bible path is exemplified by John R. W. Stott – at right – in his book Understanding the Bible.

Stott was an Anglican cleric whom Time magazine ranked among the 100 most influential people in the world.  And he made three keys points about reading and studying the Bible.

One key point disputed the idea that “every word of the Bible is literally true.”  Stott said the Bible is without error “in all that it affirms.”  He added that the words of the Bible were true “only in context.”  He cited the Book of Job, noting that the first 37 chapters consisted of dialogue between Job and his ostensible comforters.

On the other hand, the truth of the book comes only in the last five chapters.  “The book as a whole is God’s word, but the first thirty-seven chapters can be understood only in the light of the last five.” (E.A.)  Consider – for example – Job 3 :1-22, summarized as follows:

Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth…  “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb…  For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest… Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day…  Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?”

(Emphasis added.)  So – if you wanted to justify suicide, for example – Job 3 might be just the ticket.  But that would be true only if you took that chapter – standing alone and out of context – as the “inerrant word of God.”  That is, only if you believe that every word in the Bible must be taken as literally true, regardless of context.

Put another way, Job expressed those sentiments in Chapter 3, at one of the low points in his life.  (And don’t we all have those.)  But Chapter 3 could definitely be “taken out of context.”

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“Job Hearing of His Ruin…” 

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The album image is courtesy of Wikipedia.  For the lyrics, see Louvin Brothers – Broadminded Tabs, Chords – Cowboy Song Lyrics.  To see an older Charlie Louvin singing the song, see also, That word,” Broadminded” is spelled S-I-N. – YouTube.

For more, see: The Louvin Brothers – Wikipedia.  Note that the “s-i-n” song was not included in the “Charted Singles” section, which began with 1955’s “When I stop dreaming.”  Note also:  “In 1963, fed up with Ira’s drinking and abusive behavior, Charlie started a solo career, and Ira also went on his own…  Ira died on June 20, 1965, at the age of 41. He and his fourth wife, Anne Young, were on the way home from a performance in Kansas City…   A drunken driver struck their car head-on, and both Ira and Anne were killed instantaneously. At the time, a warrant for Ira’s arrest had been issued on a DUI charge.”   (You might say, on the difference between Ira’s public and private persona, it “could be spelled ‘h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e,'” but that would be a bit too snippy for this Blog.  Suffice it to say, Ira was merely human, like the rest of us.)

See also John Stott – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The “Job” image is courtesy of BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF GUSTOV DORE: JOB HEARING OF HIS RUIN.

As for Jesus saying, “Depart, I never knew you,” that was a reference to Matthew 7:21-23:

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’  (Emphasis added.)  

As is usually the case, it helps to have the full reading, to ensure things aren’t “taken out of context…”

And another, Matthew 7:1 warns, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Which is why I always try to give other people a break, so God might “judge me” the same way…  

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