Engaging God's Problem -- Three Objections Part 3 -- No Answer Will Do

This is my final post on this subject and Bart Ehrman's book: God's Problem. The final issue is one of heart and not head. This is mainly because in this book I see a lot of heart and not head when it comes to addressing the problem of evil from Bart Ehrman himself. I simply believe that based on his arguments in this book no response will do or be accepted because Bart is no longer able to accept them because of his prejudice against the Bible as God's Word. He does not accept this and this is a conviction of his heart not his head.

I Have Heard This All Before
One of the great disappointments I had with this book is that there was nothing really new here. I have heard all these arguments before and all Bart really did was repackage them for the masses and thus much of his argument has an emotional, not intellectual, appeal. This is water cooler stuff given an intellectual spin but the arguments are not laid out with any new thing being forefront. This is old stuff redone. At least with his other book Misquoting Jesus there was a well laid out argument, fallacious, but well laid out.

Inability to See Other Possibilities
Bart is entrenched in his viewpoint and cannot see any other one. The freewill defense is shutdown and he never really engages it. He engages theodicy briefly but says it is basically correct but never engages objections. He sticks to his 'the Bible is not the Bible, the Reformed Baptist view of God is correct' point of view throughout.

Fallacious Argument
Bart's whole book hinges on his belief that the answers the Bible presents to the issue contradictory views on how evil is dealt with. He never really proves this and I find the reasoning he does give fallacious. Is God not big enough to have several response to the problem of suffering and evil? Can't God have a multifaceted approach to dealing with the problem?

1. Punish evil because it is a wilful act and causes suffering
2. Warn people that Sin has its Consequences
3. Wage a continuing war against evil without violating mankind's freewill including send your own Son to destroy the work of the devil -- sin
4. Oppose the forces of evil -- the devil and his minions.
5. In the End -- destroy all the supporters and practitioners of evil and sin so that the new world can be free of them -- destroying all the instigators forever in hell. Give the new mankind that survives a fresh start with a place of life where suffering ends.

I fail to see inconsistency here but a multifaceted approach to the problem of evil and suffering by God depending on the nature of the evil and suffering involved. Bart thinks not.

Avoidance of Personal Culpability
I think Bart's reasoning is personal in the sense that he is seeking divorce from his own personal responsibility for suffering. He wants man off the hook so he can be off the hook. I find this strange for a guy who is bothered by the problem of suffering but then washes his hands of it using Ecclesiastes -there is nothing man can do including me Bart Ehrman. Seems like the finger pointing of who is responsible did not stop with Adam and Eve, only Bart has the guts to point his finger at God and say 'foul'. He better hope he is right.

A Final Personal Note
All criticism aside, I feel Bart's pain. If I was going to be anything else besides a Christian, I would also embrace hedonistic agnosticism. I find atheism intellectually vacant -- you can't know their isn't a God either. You are to limited in what you know to make a judgment on that. All other religions saving Judaism seem very man reasoning to the divine to me and I thus reject them. Of course if I reject the Hebrew Scripture then Judaism is out as well. If we are to know what the divine truly is it must reveal itself to us. That gives only two possibilities for me -- Christianity with its Bible as revelation of God as he really is or a rejection of that revelation (the Bible) to agnosticism and living for myself trying to find God's revelation in the world around me. Everything points only to believe in Christ and his resurrection or 'let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die". If I wasn't a Christian I would be joining Bart for those cigars and sherry with a circle of friends to enjoy it with. As it is however, I see that suffering is our fault -- all of it and God has made an answer to it; we just continue to reject it.

Finis

Engaging God's Problem -- Three Objections Part 2 -- Bart's Bible is Not Mine

The Full Title of the book by Bart Ehrman's is God's Problem: Why the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question -- Why We Suffer. The problem is that the Bible Bart is using is not mine or for that matter the Bible most Christians use. It is Bible that is edited to fit what the liberal scholars have decided it is.

Every Theory Believed but not the Text Itself
Bart's Bible is one in which the Bible is not what it says it is:
1. JEPD Theory is considered fact -- Moses did not write the Pentateuch
2. Two people Wrote Job
3. Two or Three People wrote Isaiah
4. The apostles did not write the documents of the New testament
5. Etc., etc., etc.

In short, the "Bible" is not as the Bible presents itself but a concoction of theories and speculation that is not supported by textual fact. This makes it difficult to say 'the Bible does not answer the question of evil'. This is not accurate in this book by Bart -- He is not using the Bible but a theoretical Bible. I find Bart's position, and those who believe like him, ironic; they reject the Bible on the one hand because of textual error (most of which are not significant), but will present as facts theories that have not textual facts or evidence whatsoever.

A Bible Removed of History
Because of this the Bible's history including Gods acts in history are non-issues for Bart except when they make his case for him. Bart has an interesting argument here -- he rejects any Biblical argument that contradicts what he says because we cant trust the Bible in being historically accurate but then he will turn around and take as fact any event that fits his belief that God is responsible for evil.

Because of these two factors I would say the full title of Bart's book is not true -- it is not how the Bible fails to answer the problem of suffering, but it is rather how the liberal edited Bible fails to answer the problem of suffering and to that I would agree. An edited Bible does not answer the problem of suffering but the real deal does.

Next -- Objection 3 -- No Answer Will Do

Engaging God's Problem -- Three Objections Part 1 -- Over Reliance on Classical Theology

Well it is time to put Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem to bed in a threefold posting. The original three objections to the book i had when i started this things still stand:
1. Ehrman's has an over reliance of classical theology models
2. Ehrman's objects to a God that is not really a God of the Bible
3. No answer will ultimately satisfy Ehrman's

Now I have made it no secret that I don't think much of classical theological models. my chief objection to them is that in theology there is a coupling of western philosophical thought on God with the Bible. Western philosophical thought is dominated by pagan philosophers who for the most part created a God that was unfeeling being that was not touched ultimately by our existence as human beings. Like it or not some of this has spilled over into classic theology and I feel it has tainted it. Bart comes at the problem from a classic understanding of God probably based on his Reformed and Baptist background. This has a couple problematic effects when dealing with the problem of evil.

Classic Theodicy
Bart's first problem is that he relies on a classic theodicy model:
1. God is all powerful
2. God is love
3. There is suffering.

This is a problem for me because his definition of what it means for God to be all powerful is one of -- "God controls everything" -- does he? The Bible indicates to me that God leaves a great deal to our responsibility and it is because of this failed responsibility that evil exists.

Secondly, classic theodicy is, IMHO, incomplete. I would add a lot more attributes of both God and man to the discussion. How about: God is holy, God is good, Man is a morally free agent, etc. I have always found this argument to be overly simplistic when discussing the problem of evil.

Single Minded Atonement Theory
Bart, in engaging Christ's suffering and it's affect on the problem of evil, never departs from the Penal Atonement theory. Not once does he even consider the many other atonement theories and what affect they might have the problem of evil. There are at least 7 other theories that could have been considered but Bart once again proceeds based on the idea that his education is correct in how atonement works.

Nothing New Here
I put this in too, If your looking a new arguments about the problem of evil from Bart, sorry there is nothing new to see here. I have heard all these arguments around the halls of the various academic institutions I have been a part of and every book I have read on the issue. Bart does not give anything new, he just repackages it well.

Next: Part 2 -- Bart's Bible not the Bible.

Who is Responsible for Evil?

I am getting ready to finish up my Series on Engaging God's Problem with three posts that will be my final review of Bart Ehrman's argument in his book. But as I head into it, it remains as a question in my brain that mankind is responsible for evil and is capable of stopping it. At the same time I am struck by Solomon's argument in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 where he states their is no end to evil in this world and that the real objective of life cannot be this.

Mankind disobeyed and the door opened up to evil and each decision we have made as individuals and as a race has caused more and more evil -- including natural disaster if you take Genesis 6 literally and what must have been the after affects of a worldwide flood.

If we are responsible it is because it was all avoidable. This was not only avoidable but now that we are in it we continue to make the same bad choices that cause the problem.

What bothers me the most is the continued finger pointing at God -- why do we do this? Why is it that people cannot face their own responsibility for their actions and then deal with the consequences? The same answer --sin. Not only do we want to do what we want, we want no consequences to the decisions we make.

I wonder if the human race would have less evil to worry about if they actually listen to God's solution -- accept Christ as Lord, believe in the power of his resurrection and live in obedience to his commandments?

I really think this is all God has been trying to teach us and the only reason evil continues to abound is that we continue to reject the answer.

The Bible and Tattoos

OK, this post is the result of about two hundred people (well maybe only five) that have asked me about this subject and well I suppose i should give a response

The problem is -- the Bible does actually say some thing about this directly.

Leviticus 19:28: You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.

The issue in context (Leviticus 19) is that God did not want his people to be acting in any way like the pagans around him. It is a good principle and maybe we should take it to heart but then again I have been a Christian Headbanger for years and I remember that in the 70's and 80's Christian Rock as a major dividing line in the church. Tattoos and Cutting were part of pagan rites in the time of Moses and God didn't want any element of it in his people's worship of Him.

The problem is that things changed in Acts 15 because of the Gentiles -- As a Gentile Christian believer I have not entered into the Jewish covenant but the New Covenant with Christ -- Paul recognized this and thus Acts 15 -- The rules that come out are designed to keep Gentiles out of pagan worship but also faithful to Christ.

How does this relate to Tattoos -- well I love the Word and the Word includes Leviticus 19:28. I have made a choice to honor it because it was God's desire for his people not to do this -- there is something to this. Maybe however you are freer in Christ than me and I will allow that it is possible that this is a matter of conscience for Gentiles. Here are some things to consider.

1. Tattoos are permanent, well you can get them removed but it is a long painful process. Putting 'Bob loves Sally' on your arm may seem great until Sally decides she doesn't want to be with Bob anymore and until marriage there is really no way to get such a thing and know for sure your committed -- do not fool yourself. If your going to put anything on your body you better be sure that it is something you you can live with the rest of your life -- think hard on this. The fact is for myself is that the only tattoos I have ever considered getting were ones involving my faith, my earthly father or my wife.

2. Bodies change and yours will too. If you get a strawberry by your naval as a young female remember that when you get married and start popping out kids that strawberry is going to turn into an entire field of them. If it is something that will change its look as that part of your body changes -- be ready to live with it.

3. Tattoos fade and don't look as good as you get older. In fact, as a personal opinion, tattoos look ugly on old people -- If you are cool with it go ahead.

4. Note that in many Christian circles you will not be accepted and you will be attacked in many ways. If that kind of grief is something you do not want -- Don't get a tattoo. Don't get one out of rebellion either.

5. Here is something personal with me and God -- I like the way God created me and I don't see any need to improve the look of my skin in the sense of drawing on it in permanent ink. I think God made all of us the right color, gender and shape. I exercise to stay fit and look better but I don't feel this need to follow culture in looking like them.

When considering a tattoo as a Christian think hard about it.

At the Computer, All Alone in the Middle of the Night

A week ago I switched from first shift to third shift at my retail job (OK, the Big Secret is I work for Wal-Mart -- long live capitalism -- part of my livelihood depends on it). For ministry this has a couple of advantages:

1. No more missing days of ministry work for retail work. Funerals, weddings, meetings, services, small groups of all kinds, etc. I can be awake when I need to and sleep the other times although I try to sleep from 8am to 2 pm most days because it gives me a good pattern. But if needed I can break pattern and attend something as a good pastor and I want to be a good pastor.

2. The other is that I have been longing for a quiet time to write more -- guess what? It is really quiet at night on my 'days' off when I still stay awake to keep a good sleep pattern. My computer is the living room and most days the TV is on from 8am till 11pm because of a retired mother and all the other people in the house in the evening -- not conducive to good writing. Right now at 3:40 am -- the sound of the keys tapping is my only company along with the breathing of my sleeping dog.

Symbolically this post is in celebration of being at the computer, all alone in the middle of the night.

Blessings

Christians and Sexuality: Self-Righteousness and Nudity

When I started this blog I did a series on Nudity, Modesty and Culture (a good read if you haven't read it) but this post is about Christians and the attitude they should have in dealing with well...pagans who don't share our ethics and/or morals. Particularly when it comes to sex and nudity issues.

The incident that got me thinking on this is something that happened yesterday. I was stopped at the local convenience store and in our town it is located near a recreational trail. Some girls were coming off the trail and had been running as evidence by the level of sweat coming off them. The stopped by their packs and one of them proceeded to change her shirt. She stripped off her sweaty shirt and put on a clean one. My wife's reaction was classic Christian -- "Hello, what does she think she is doing?" Now, she had a sports bra on and the fact is she did not show anything. It was my wife's reaction that got me thinking. Note: I love my wife and what she did is not only typical of her but of many Christians so I am not picking on her. Are these kinds of reactions to such thing smelling of a little self righteousness? When a Christian sees something like this and makes a comment about it what exactly are we saying?

1. Are we saying that we have become the official judges of morality in our culture that we have the right to tell these people what is right and wrong? I hope not -- we earn the privilege to be heard, we do not have an inherent right to it.

2. Does this make us feel better about our own morality? Are we saying in our hearts: Man I am sure glad I am not like other people -- I keep my clothes on. I often wonder about this when women do this to other women -- is this a hen pecking order thing? I am a better women because I live virtuously and this other woman does not.

3. Do we really have a Biblical view on nudity, modesty and culture when we do this? I doubt it. Most Christians have never bothered to study the subject Biblically -- what they judge on is what they have been taught by their church culture.

I am not sure but I think we violate some Scripture when we do this -- Luke 19:9-14 comes to mind:

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves
that
they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went
up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
"The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I
get.' "But the tax collector,standing some distance away, was even
unwilling to lift up his eyes to
heaven, but was beating his breast, saying,
'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' "I tell you, this man went to his
house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will
be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

As much as I have thought Matthew 7:1-5 is misused it may be in this case it may not be. If we do not have Biblical understand of what constitutes nudity -- that is what is Biblical and what is church culture -- are we not judging people on a man made standard rather than letting the Word do it itself? Think so.

Perhaps if we spent as much time praying for people as we do judging slights of morals and ethics maybe we would be more effective in persuading people that Christianity is the real deal.

IMHO

Foreseeing the Future -- A Post.

Looking at the future of my blog I wanted to let everyone know where I am heading next.

1. I am going to finish the Series on Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem -- I have three final posts for next week.

2. I have a series on Church Antagonism to finish.

3. I am about to start a Series on Eschatology in particular My views on Revelation which I think are different than most.

4. Plus of course the continuing posts of the controversial, sex and other issues that strike me.

Blessings.

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Nine

This is the final disagreement post with Bart Ehrman's God's Problem, although I have a few more to close the discussion out about this book. Disagreements with chapter nine are many so hang on.

1. More politics --the book is obviously written before the surge which worked and ended the main problems in Iraq.

2. Bart restates his idea that God's discipline of the Israelites was too harsh but the question remains: how do you discipline a nation without doing something that effects the nation as a whole?

3. God held responsible, mankind let off the hook again.

4. Bart decries this world as a good world God has created. My point is this -- this is not the world as God created it --it is a world that stands as it is because we have ruined it. I don't believe God made the best possible world he could make but one in which free creatures could grow and develop in their relationship with him. We destroyed that with sin.

5. Bart continues to rely on a Reformed/Baptist/Classic view of God's nature in his criticism and states that the God of the Bible is incompatible with the world as it is -- but not all view of God do this but Bart never explores them. When talking about God being all powerful he uses classic definitions but not Biblical ones.

6. God does suffer in a sense because of sin -- he grieves over it, gets angry over it, and gets disappointed with sin and human beings. To say God does not suffer in some sense is not Biblically true. This doesn't make God any less God as Bart would assert but it odes make him a person. Bart makes a leap of logic here on p. 274 that he cannot back up -- that the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament cannot be the same because the way of dealing with the problem of evil is different. The problem is he never really proves that the Bible's answers to the problem of evil contradict each other as he claims.

7. Bart does not think that some suffering is redemptive but the problem is that he dos not have God's perspective on the event. How does he know for certain that there is no redemption in events for sure -- is he God?

8. Suffering is only a test of faith if it is faith that causes the suffering-- this is a point Bart seems to miss.

9. Bart talks about the gift of life we have -- but who or what is it a gift from? Ironic that when you get rid of God you don't really have anyone to say life is a gift from anymore.

10. Bart ultimately shows a lot of pride -- he does not want to admit that in the grand scheme of things - -he might just be a peon after all. After a final reading i can also say there is a lot of self righteousness to someone who wants to call God to account but sees no problem with himself or his own contributes to the problem of evil.

Next: Wrap Up #1 -- Over Reliance on Classic Theology

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Nine

On to the last chapter of Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem. This chapter is a wrap up chapter entitled Suffering: The Conclusion. In this chapter, Bart is trying to get make his final arguments and wrap things up. I do have some agreements with him but they are very few because I believe that both his premises and conclusions for his argument are very flawed:

1. Suffering is everywhere, but once again does this disprove the God of the Bible existence? I don't think so, just prove suffering exists. The 'why' in relationship to God is still a question.

2. I too think the Greater Good defense for evil is a bunch of garbage.

3. One of the Biblical Views of suffering is that 'it is' so deal with it.

That's all -- told you it was short. Trust me the next post will be longer.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Nine

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Eight

Bart Ehrman. God's Problem. Chapter Eight. There are so many things to disagree with about this chapter but here is the short list.

1. Bart Ehrman really does not give the freewill argument its full weight. Freewill is central to the Bible and this is evident very early on. There is little point in giving people a commandment if there is no choice about it. This is one point that is obvious but even many Christians do not understand the implications of commandment and how it proves freewill exists but the simple fact is to give a command implies that there is a possibility of obedience or disobedience thus -- freewill about the choice. This becomes central to God's dealings with mankind from the first commandment onward.

2. A little politics slips through in Bart as he bashes the government's inability to get response to Katrina, etc. My point is two fold: 1) The response to Katrina was both swift -- faster than any other response to a hurricane in US history and it was comprehensive (more aid than any other hurricane in US history). I refuse to diminish the work of many professionals who saved lives and did what they could (0ne attends my church) by sitting there and complaining about how fast the government responds. This is just Bush bashing. 2) Why is it that we expect the government to always be the bailout for us. It causes me to worry who and what we place our trust in. The fact is now New Orleans is not being rebuilt by people who didn't whine and expect someone else to help them. The whiners live somewhere else.

3. He relies too much on penal atonement theory -- here it is again. He also assumes the Paul's views of atonement are penal as well.

4. 'Soon' -- based on who's context top we say Jesus is coming soon -Ours or God's.

5. Just because the ancients have a different cosmology of the universe does not make the concept of 'God will deal with evil and make everything right in the end' void. The fact is the cosmology of the Bible (how the universe is laid out) is generic and open in understanding. The thought that the Bible's cosmology is based on 'mythological' ideas is false, you may say incomplete ideas but not mythological.

6. I am not sure even when all is said and done God is trying to bring humans to utopia. The fact is that even Revelation has some things to say about the new heaven and earth -- including that there may be people who rule it -- there seems to still be need to grow and develop as a race even at the end.

7. On thing that comes through in all this is that Bart assumes his own goodness and the goodness of the human race. He talks about his own social complicity as if it is justified but then his view is to 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die'.

Next: Agreements with Chapter Nine (The Last Chapter)

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Eight

God's Problem by Bart Ehrman continues on the apocalyptic path with the chapter 8: More Apocalyptic Views. My agreement with Bart actually increase here:

1. No one is safe from natural disaster -- duh.

2. The significance of the resurrection hangs on an apocalyptic view of the future -- there is no need for a resurrection if everything is going to be alright anyway -- the resurrection is part of the end time events.

3. Paul did use his suffering as a mark of his apostleship and this is significant in the discussion of suffering.

4. We forget as Christians that the book of Revelation was written for its own time -- a factor that is very rarely considered in modern interpretation.

5. His view of Revelation is as good as anyone else's although it is probably just as wrong as everyone else's.

6. The Apocalyptic view of resolving the problem of evil takes the problem of evil seriously.

7. End Times theories have been proven wrong time after time and no one has been right yet -- the list is long here and we Christian do not learn from this fact.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Eight.

Just a Little Notice of Changes

This entry is one of those housekeeping notices to let you know what is going on. I am moving to third shift in my retail Job so you may notice changes of when I make my daily post so be advised that it may not be the same time each day.

My purpose in this move was so that i would have to take so many days off for ministry purposes. These last six months I have had to take days off for ministerial meetings and weddings and funerals and the list goes on. It gets a little hard to make ends meet when you are always missing days of work. On my nights off I hope to get some more writing done in the quiet of the night. I have the outline of a book going and I hope to make some headway

Blessings

Christians and Sexuality: Oral Sex

I think oral sex became a bigger issue when Bill Clinton called it - not really sex. Mostly I write on this subject for Christian young people who may want to know where to draw the line before marriage on this subject. After marriage, to each their own and what both are comfortable with, but before marriage young couples think this is a reasonable alternative to actual intercourse. The Bible say nothing about the subject but here are few things to consider:

1. Every sexual experience you have with another person outside the person who will become your spouse you will take with you into marriage. You will be always comparing your previous experiences with what you have later so the less you have the better. It means less baggage. The question becomes what if you have oral sex with a person you do not become married to in the end. The person you do get married to is uncomfortable with it and does not do it. Do you really want to have a potential fantasy or memory with someone else besides your spouse? Oh and nothing is guaranteed in any relationship so don't go thinking -- "there is no way were not getting married" because until your married there is always a possibility of break up even at the altar. I don't care who you are this is always true.

2. STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) can be transmitted through oral sex. It still involves fluid transfer so it is not necessarily safe sex.

3. I think the sin of lust becomes a greater problem the further a couple gets involved in sexual activities and oral sex is getting dangerously close to going all the way. It wouldn't take much after that point to be tempted to do some thing that will change your relationship forever.

Given all this I would not recommend oral sex outside of marriage. In fact my advice has always been -- keep it to holding hands and a good night kiss until you do tie the knot and you will never have any regrets at all.

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Seven

Bart Ehrman's God's Problem considers the 'end of the world' answer to the problem of evil. I have a few disagreements with Bart about this although the chapter does have some problems:

1. He plugs some social issues again -- malaria and water issues around the world. Both could be dealt with by humans but were going to blame God.

2. I disagree with Bart's assessment of origin of the apocalyptic view in Scripture. The fact is that it occurs in the writings of Solomon in Ecclesiastes as well as David's psalms and the idea of judgment occurs in Job as well.

3. When people assess that the Jewish people failed to keep the covenant and thus received punishment for not keeping the covenant it is not anti-Semitic. Did not the prophets and Jesus (all Jews) say the same. If Christians simple say the sames things Jews say about themselves how are they anti-Semitic. Jesus pointed this out further in his own when he called the religious leaders self-righteous -Is Jesus anti-Semitic

4. He has some interesting theories about the date of Daniel -- that Daniel is written in Aramaic is proof of a later date for Daniel after the fact of all the predictions of course. The fact is if Daniel is educated by the Babylonians his language would a have been changed into Aramaic along with the rest of the Jews seeing Aramaic is the result of Babylonian influence.

5. Because he does all this his version of apocalyptic views is assume that God has relinquished control for now and will bring things back to right in the end -- The apocalyptic view does not have god out of control at anytime.

Next: Agreements with Chapter Eight

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Seven

God's Problem by Bart Ehrman heads into a different direction on chapter seven -- God Has the Last Word: Jewish-Christian Apocalypticism. In this chapter, Bart examines the thoughts of apocalypse theory -- that is 'God makes everything right in the end' that brings about an end to evil. I have a few agreements with Bart:

1. Most people do not have a good response to natural evil -- much of evil can be explained with freewill and at least on the surface it looks like that natural evil cannot be explained this way.

2. In Revelation, Evil is seen as caused by satanic forces -- although Bart dismisses the thought of the devil and demons as superstitious nonsense.

3. Most people interpret Revelation badly and all people so far have got predictions wrong. I think this will continue because I don't think people properly interpret Revelation at all.

That's it. Short isn't it? Wait till tomorrow -- it gets longer.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Seven.

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Six

I have a lot of disagreements with chapter 6 of Bart Ehrman's Book God's Problem. Some of them trivial but others are major. Here they are:

1. One thing in this chapter that becomes clear is that Bart wants to pin on God what we have unleashed.

2. He talks of sexually transmitted disease as if it is an act of God -- last I looked sexually transmitted diseases are transmitted by sex -- a controllable behavior.

3. He states their are two authors of Job -- one for the narrative and the other for the dialogue. Is there any textual evidence for this? No. I think the problem with Job then would be that the narrative would not make much sense - -the whole book of Job hinges on the whole thing -- Job loses everything, the debate between him and his friends, God intervenes and then Job receives everything back. Without the debate, the narrative makes no sense and the debate would not make any sense without the why of 'why are they talking" Why is it that liberal scholars are so chronologically arrogant to think a single ancient author cannot use multiple styles in a book?

4. The two author theory leads to some very poor interpretation of the Bible in Job. P. 167 is particularly idiotic. The friends of Job think they are defending God but the text of Job says -- through God's mouth no less -- that Job was right and the friends were wrong. This makes no sense in the narrative part of book unless we know what they said in the poetic part. I have never have heard a more ridiculous theory.

5. Disease has its origins in death and ultimately the reason disease exists is because of us -- we didn't listen as a race to God in the garden.

6. Bart doesn't seem to address the fact that part of the answer to the problem of evil is life after death. Job's children die but where did they go? If they go to paradise they went from one party to another. If hell they went their because of their own evil. In short, Bart rarely factors in both personal responsibility and the afterlife into his discussion. They are both part of the answer the Bible has to evil but he does not put that into his factoring of what the Bible says about evil. There is also no honest consideration of Satan's involvement in being the origin of Evil. Maybe he thinks it is superstitious, but the Bible treats Satan as real and it should be considered in the discussion of what the BIBLE says about the problem of evil.

7. Job is not saying that he in outgunned he is simply saying from the Almighty's perspective he knows he cannot argue against God's justice. When Elihu speaks he never says Job sinned in doing this as Bart claims on p. 183 but that Job is not in position to question God's justice.

8. Bart accuses God of not giving Job a chance to get a word in. That is not the way the story reads -- if anything God says -- 'you got you audience, now what?" Job's response is to repent on his own -- we do not know what time God gave Job to respond and it is pure speculation to say God did not give Job a chance. The time is not recorded between God's answer and Job's response.

9. On to Ecclesiastes, Ehrman's makes the claim that is Solomon wrote the book then he would contradict himself compared to Proverbs -- I disagree -- there is a lot of agreement in Solomon's wisdom even with this book. What Ecclesiastes does is place all the other wisdom in its proper place. It is on this basis that Bart claims the book of Ecclesiastes is written in the 3rd Century BCE. How do we know? Do we have a text from that era that says so?

10. One thing that disappoints me is that Bart treats the last three chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes as if they don't exist. The book ends with a simple conclusion but it has end of the world, final judgment connotations -- fear God, obey him because He is going to bring every act to judgment. I agree that Ecclesiastes says some suffering makes no sense, but he does not draw the same conclusion -- reject the God of the Bible but to fear Him instead. Odd Huh?

Next: Agreements with Chapter Seven

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Six

This is going to be short. Even though Bart Ehrman's God's Problem is going into an area of the Bible that is my favorite the ideas of Chapter 6 -- Does Suffering Make Sense? The Books of Job and Ecclesiastes, I have very little agreement with with Bart' conclusions or observations here.

1. I agree that even the Bible presents that sometimes suffering just is and we have to deal with it. Those of a more fatalistic/deterministic tradition might disagree, but i don't as an open theist.

2. Ecclesiastes is both Bart and my favorite book of the Bible.

3. That part of the Meaning of life is to enjoy it. Eccl. 5:18-19; 8:15 Cherish life and enjoy it.

You can tell with that the Disagreement post tomorrow is going to be long.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Six

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Five

Chapter 5 of God's Problem by Bart Ehrman's has some problems chief among them is his assumption that god does not intervene in human affairs.

1. Bart makes the statement that if God heals -- why does he not do so today -- heard that before and my response is he does -- I have grown up in Pentecostal churches -- when a person says they have cancer and that the doctors (more than one) have confirmed it and then that person is prayed for and they come back and don't have cancer -- confirmed by the same doctors you have to think something is up. It sounds like Hume when I listen to him on this. "I don't believe in miracles because I don't want to believe in miracles". In addition, he has this -- "God should heal all the time without conditions" attitude.


2. Ehrman talks about being committed to truth and integrity -- but if their is no God to be accountable to about truth then what difference does it make?


3. I think Bart over thinks Grace in pages 128-129 -- he talks about how if a person thanks God for food isn't that person condemning God for not feeding others. Here's the thing -- famine often happens because of short sighted agricultural methods or deliberate starvation of human beings by others -- either through malicious intent or apathy. He quotes the United Nations about the 850million starving stats as well. Yes, I am sure that the UN does not have ulterior motives in saying such things seeing they use such numbers to get more aid from other nations.

4. Why is it that when people want to blame God for everything, they always say that the problem in question is too big for humans to handle? Maybe their just looking for a personal excuse?

5. Says government should do more, quite frankly they cause more problems than they solve.

6. Assumes God always gets his way -- if God's will and his kingdom are a done deal and cannot be messed up than why in Jesus instructions to us in prayer does he ask us to pray that God's will be done and His kingdom come. Seems a strange thing to pray for if both just are and cannot be messed with -- another over reliance on classical theology.

7. Pharoah's hardened heart -- it is not hard to push a person a little harder when they have already demonstrated hardness in the first place. I would also point out for the record that the Egyptians were holding the Israelis as slaves. On the one hand he condemns Solomon for such a practice but here he is saying poor Egyptians forced to be victims of plagues when they are doing the same thing. The Egyptians were not nice people and the people who disobeyed the Passover had some control if they only believed enough to obey.

8. Going back to David's child -- David's own words kind of put this in perspective -- "I will see him again" The fact is what is better -- to live here suffering the stigma of sin and being a bastard child or Paradise. Here is Ehrman's saying poor child, but then turning about and say to be on this planet is suffering -- anybody else see the contradiction.

9. Bart assumes that Paul influence how the gospels are written -- he has no evidence of this other than more higher critical theories but were going to proceed as if it is fact anyway.

10. The Bible does not claim all suffering is redemptive like Ehrman attests on p. 155 (bottom). in fact I would say that sinful suffering is many times senseless and the Bible says this as well.

Next: Agreements with Chapter Six

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Five

Bart Ehrman's in his book God's Problem changes his direction in chapter five: The Mystery of the Greater Good-Redemptive Suffering. In this chapter Ehrman examines he possibility of redemption through suffering and the concept of Bring about a greater good by sin and suffering than without them. My agreements with this chapter are as follows:

1. Bart makes that statement "We cannot dispute the facts, unless it is the 'facts' that are in dispute". Agreed, but the things that he thinks make the facts in dispute don't really challenge them. Nice saying though.

2. Bart makes mention of the fact that the thought of hell sometimes still makes him wake up at night i n a cold sweat -- it should.
3. Bart bemoans the fact that he is very grateful for many things in his life but without God he has no one to express gratitude to. I wonder if he realizes that God may not give two cents for his gratitude.

4. I agree with the fact that in some cases suffering occurs so that God can be glorified -- Bible says so -- Jesus says so in John 9. It can be a hard concept but that does not make it untrue.

5. Much suffering does not have a silver lining -- even for Christians -- in fact some suffering seems to be downright senseless.

6. There is a quote I agree with at the end of the chapter that should cause all Christians to rethink how they thank God and why. "To think that other people suffer horrible diseases so that i can appreciate my good health is atrocious; to say that other people starve so that i can appreciate my good food is egocentric and cold hearted; to say that i enjoy life so much more now that I see people around me dying is the self-centered raving of an adult who hasn't matured beyond childhood." Man has a point.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Five

Christians and Sexuality: Masturbation

Hey, I bet I have everyone's attention. Want to know how I know that? Because when I was a kid statistics showed at the time that 90% of men and 50% of women masturbated on a regular basis. Want to know what it is now? -- 95% of men and, hold your breath, 70% of women now masturbate on a regular basis. (Guess sexual education does increase some numbers or at least gets more open stats on the subject). That's roughly 80 to 85% of the human population of the USA.

Now for the Christian part -- want to know how much difference being a Christian makes on the stats? -- very little. It's like a friend of mine used to say -- 'when it comes to masturbation, there are those that do and those that lie."

OK. Is it a sin? Good question. Many people have puzzled over the same thing. On one extreme, you have those who think it is the worst sin ever. On the other, it is no worse than head scratching. There are of course many views in between.

There is no direct statement in Scripture that says: 'Masturbation is a sin" so that's out. Fact is, unless there is excessive use of masturbation, nothing wrong will happen as far as consequences. Most sins have a physical or social downside. In moderation, masturbation does not have this and in fact can be healthy and normal.

There are two other Scriptures that might shed some light on the subject.

One I have heard used is Genesis 38:7-10: "Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother." Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; so He took his life also."

One preacher I heard said this was masturbation. Unfortunately there is an alternative explanation. It could be coitus interruptus; that is, Onan went into Tamar and had sex with her but took himself out before he ejaculated and spilled his seed on the ground. Kind of makes him even more despicable doesn't it? What we need to remember is these people slept on the ground in tents. Also, what displeased the Lord here exactly? It was the fact Onan didn't raise up seed to his brother, not that he spilt his seed on the ground. At best, this passage sets precedent for the Laws Moses would write about keeping inheritance in the family.

The other passage is of course Matthew 5:27-28 -- "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. "

This one actually gives a Christian more trouble because if lust is indeed involved then sin is there and masturbation often involves lust. But does it always? If lust is involved, that lust is sin but what about the act of masturbation itself. Because we have no clear text we have to conclude it is not a sin in and of itself, but it is an action that could lead to sin either through lust or addiction. Use of porn is automatically disqualified because of the lust factor and bringing in people you are not married to.

Let me present a few cases, I am not trying to be gross here, I am just trying to examine the subject objectively:

1. A married woman on a business trip is feeling lonely and missing her husband, She goes back to her room and fantasizes about her husband and masturbates -- did she sin? (By the way; this is an actual situation I got asked about in a counseling session once.)

2. A young man fantasizes about his wedding night using a completely non-existent fantasy girl (no porn use; all in his head) and masturbates -- did he sin?

3. Inside marriage a couple engages in mutual masturbation as part of foreplay -- sin? Same couple does the same thing using phone sex because they are separated by distance -- sin?

4. A single person masturbates because it is either that or fornication with their girlfriend/boyfriend. They use it to keep sexual pressure down and avoid actual sexual intercourse. Sin?

These situations make the subject of masturbation more complicated and I would have to say that it is because of these things I classify masturbation as a matter of conscience. Why? Because, in some cases masturbation might remind someone of their former lifestyle before Christ. In that case, they should try to abstain. But on the flip side, some of the above situations do not seem sinful to me. Matter of conscience? I think so. It may be a matter of weighing the situation and asking "is this lust or something else?"

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Four

At this point, Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem is dealing with the issue of suffering being the consequence of sin. It is also where I get a little disappointed. The Disagreements are as follows:

1. Bart does not seem to have proper understanding of God's discipline. In particular he seems to think God's discipline is harsh but then again from God's perspective would it be?

2. I was also disappointed to find Bart engaging in a particular brand of politics -- liberal. He bashes capitalism (although he enjoys its benefits) and takes a pot shot at Iraq -- "masses of people dying in Iraq". When did that happen?

3. He state the Bible is a fully human book -- can't agree for a number of reasons, chief among them the historical nature of the Bible as it record God interaction with man.

4. In the debate he seems to skip over both Babel and the Flood parts that indicate the evilness of humanity and their lack of obedience.

5. While I have problems with God ordering the genocide of the Canaanites, I also realize these were not nice people and that their children would have probably grew up to be like them. I think God is taking a long term view. Had the Israelites obeyed God they would have avoided all the long term wars and suffering that followed that amount to greater suffering than simple genocide. Hard but true. Obedience would have avoided this suffering.

6. When a prophecy is fulfilled it does not mean divine will absolute it means the understanding of the prophecy is fulfilled. There is an inconsistency to Bart's reasoning. on the one hand he says that God does not possess a crystal ball with the prophets and yet that is how he treats it when talking about suffering. Can't have it both ways.

7. One thing came through to me loud and clear at this time -- one tone of the book is a cultural arrogance -- that is that the ancient culture of the Bible is inferior to ours. You cannot judge a different culture by standards we have -- their different and who are we to say our culture should judge others. Bart judging slavery of the ancient world is like this -- in that time slavery is just a social status. It also certainly does not say that the forced labor of Israels enemies was like the Nazi death camps or something. He does this again when he talks about Rome. Bart Ehrman sure puts himself up as the person who has the authority to judge ancient cultures and find them wanting -- I wonder what his basis for comparison is?

8. The David thing gets me too. David does get off -- by the law he should have been killed but the price for David is high -- he looses four sons and one of his daughters is raped. In addition he spends a good amount of time running from a son who is trying to kill him and who sleeps with his ten concubines. David suffers a lot for his one sin -- did he really get off? The one thing that does bother me though is the baby's death but David indicates an afterlife so is the child really bad off. Then that reasoning opens up a whole can of worms doesn't it.

9. More higher criticism -- this time that Luke wrote after the fact about the destruction of Jerusalem - -this is pure conjecture, but then again if Jesus predicts the the fall of Jerusalem before the fact and Luke simply records it before the fact then that would be one more proof Jesus is what He said and Christianity said he was. Bart can't have that.

10. Bart gives credence to freewill defence but does not explore it fully. He always pulls up short of where I would in this chapter.

Next: Agreements with Chapter Five.

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Four

Chapter Four of God's Problem by Bart Ehrman is entitled "The Consequences of Sin". The focus is the biblical understanding that some suffering may not be the wrath of God but may simply be the consequences of sin. Some Agreements I have:

1. Bart says that the Bible shows life as it is not in an idealistic manner to this I agree. Because of this he states he believes that the Bible is a purely human book. One thing he misses is that the Bible does present things as are but God is in the way things are.

2. He states he has problems with God ordering the genocide of the Canaanites. I too have a problem with this but I think there is an explanation.

3. The passage about Herod's slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy is a problem that too few Christians want to face. It is difficult to think of God this way.

4. Other problems Bart has are -- David and Uriah -- David gets away with it but his infant son dies. Solomon's use of forced labor.

5. I too have a problem with the false belief that God only brings good things, that is not the Bible presentation of God.

6. He has a problem with God foreordaining sin and suffering an so do I, but I changed my theology not my faith.

7. He states that freewill is a practical solution many problems.

8. Modern answers to these problems by theologians are unsatisfying and suffering does indeed require a living response.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Four

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Three

Now some disagreements with Bart Ehrman's God's Problem chapter 3.
This is going to be longer ;-).

1. On page 61, Ehrman's makes a statement that suffering seems to be random but he says this in the context of the Nazi death camps. Sorry this was not random suffering, nor is any suffering that can ultimately be attributed to peoples' decisions. There is nothing involving chance about the death camps -- they were deliberate efforts to inflict human suffering by other humans.

2. On page 62, Bart also shows a poor understanding, like many Christians, about the Proverbs. Proverbs are not promises or guarantees. They are general principles that if lived improve one's chances of living a better life. This is why it is called a book of wisdom, not a book of promises.

3. I want to restate a point that became very clear once again by the time I got to page 64. Ehrman does not seem to see how humans have caused a majority if not all the suffering they receive. He continues to want to point the finger at God, but almost seems to be glib in taking about man's sinfulness leading to mankind's own suffering.

4. Ehrman states that because of Eve's sin she will now experience pain during childbirth. The fact is this passage actually indicates their would have been pain in childbirth already as it does not say cause pain in childbirth but -- "I will greatly multiply or increase you pain". Some suffering may have been present to mark warnings or trigger certain events.

5. When Ehrman considers the flood, I think he puts God in double jeopardy. Mankind has become completely and thoroughly evil. My guess is that humans causing suffering is run amok. God decides to destroy mankind (which would end the evil) to solve the problem. Ehrman sees this as extreme. God is thus damned if he doesn't --because here is God letting evil run amok again. God is damned if he does, now God is causing suffering Himself to 'innocent people'. Though how a people could be innocent if they are thinking evil all the time is beyond me.

6. Bart seems to not understand the seriousness of entering a covenant with God. He seems to think it unfair if God enforces the consequences when people break their word to Him. What's God supposed to do, beg them.

7. He calls Joshua's army ragtag. After training for 40 years and fighting against two people groups already, I doubt they were ragtag. They were trained experienced warriors.

8. "Every man did what was right in his own eyes" -- Bart interprets this improperly as a moral statement. The context of this statement is not moral but political -- "there was no king in those days" It is actually a statement of the freedom that existed in the period of the judges. I believe Samuel (who was against the monarchy) wrote Judges and if so this is actually a statement against becoming a monarchy. The fact is based on judges that when the people did right wilfully as a group they prospered and handled their problems well.

9. Second Isaiah Nonsense -- I have only one thing to say -- show me two separate texts. Oh you don't have any. Why is it that Bart here will believe this theory without a shred of textual evidence but then turn around and say the current manuscripts are false when they actually represent textual evidence. Seems odd that we will believe something with no evidence but then not believe something that actually has evidence.

10. By the time I was done with both chapter 2 and 3, I could safely say that Bart relies way to much on penal atonement theory as the only way to look sacrifice. I can say this there is almost no consideration of the possibilities other atonement theories might have on suffering and sacrifice. He assumes 'this interpretation" of things is the Biblical one and i know many who would beg to differ. This is one Christian way of looking at atonement, but it is by no means the only one.

11. Israel was overcome by her enemies because they didn't listen to God or the prophets. Had they listened they would not have been overcome. The times they are defeated is always in the context of their disobedience. Bart really tries to avoid Israeli culpability here. Part of the problem is that he believes many of the 'fulfilled prophecies' are written after the fact. But then their is no evidence for this either.

12. Bart asks the question: Is suffering really our fault? He states that freewill only answers part of the problem. He then gives a short list of things he believes cannot be explained by freewill. Allow me to engage them.

a. Famine -- actually famine is a preventable thing, if you do not believe me look at the US. When is the last time we had a famine and it is not because we have not had droughts. Why is this the case -- food storage when things are good (Joseph), as well as learning how to get greater yields out of crops and learning how to make food last longer. Many famines happen because of political repression -- the rulers starving their people. By not being wise, prudent or kind people starve. Our fault, we could do better.

b. Genocide -- Is God killing these people or man? Man.

c. AIDS (STDs in general) to be blunt if people followed God's plan of faithful matrimony sexually transmitted diseases of all types would disappear in a couple of generations. God has told us how to stop this we just refuse to listen.

d. Cancer other diseases -- God told us not to eat the tree or we would die -- mankind blew it we die. We all die of something. Who's fault? -- ours.

e. War -- it seems to me that people make decisions that result in wars -- and people make decisions to be soldiers and fight in them. I don't see God' to blame in this.

f. Natural disaster -- see d. Plus the fact that if we take Genesis literally then the introduction of natural disaster may be the result of The Flood which means: WHO got evil, so evil that God almost destroyed us all -- that would be mankind. The odd thing too is that we all know natural disasters happen and yet people rarely prepare for them like they could. Our fault again.

I am beginning to think that maybe all this suffering is just because mankind is sooooooo stupid and continues to refuse to learn from God.

Next: Agreements with chapter Four

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Three

God's Problem by Bart Ehrman continues with more of the same in chapter three -- More Sin and More Wrath: The Dominance of the Classical View of Suffering. Here he continues to pound the idea that the classical view of suffering is the main view in Scripture

The Agreements I have with this chapter are few but here they are:

1. That suffering is the result of disobedience to God is a dominate view of Scripture -- I don't deny this. It is not the only one but the fact remains it is quite common for a Biblical writer to point to God's wrath for disobedience as a reason for suffering.

2. In the Old Testament law, religion is primarily about worship of God properly. I am a little non protestant here in that I feel works do play some role in salvation (not to merit it, but to show it). Everything Moses writes does indicate -- don't do things wrong do them right in the right way.

3. I too have questions about Isaiah 53 in relationship to the Messiah and Jesus. The prophet Isaiah does call this suffering servant Israel. Christians have universally said this is Christ but in the original context this would not have been considered. This make Isaiah 53 more complicated that it first appears.

4. That God eternally punishing people in hell is a problem that seems to contradict the love of God. Of all the problems related to evil this is still the one that bothers me the most and one I still struggle with. Bart deals with this at length in later chapters so I will hold off for now.

Next: Disagreements with Chapter Three

Engaging God's Problem -- Disagreements with Chapter Two

As short as my last post was, this one is going to be a little longer.

The first thing I want to make abundantly clear is that think that Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem is not evil. In fact I am glad he wrote it. These issues need to be front and center because if Christians just stick their head in the sand about them it is cowardly -- people are asking these questions and we need to give reasoned responses.

1. The first disagreement I have with this chapter and one that I have throughout the book is that Ehrman seeks constantly to avoid human responsibility for evil. The one thing that Bart constantly harps on is God is responsible for evil according to the Bible. I disagree. Bart says that while many things can be attributed to freewill he says that things like natural disasters cannot be attributed to human responsibility. I believe that Bart's great weakness in his book is that he does not consider the stories of Genesis and their showing of the origins of evil seriously. His contention is that THE BIBLE does not answer the problem of suffering but then he dismisses some of the Bible's explanation because he does not want to believe it. If I say as a apparent to a child -- "don't do that or you will be punished" and then the child does it who is going to be responsible when the punishment is carried out? This kind of puts God in a position of 'damned if He does, damned if He doesn't" If God does -- he is too harsh. If he doesn't -- he does not keep His Word. No matter what God does he loses to Bart.

2. This leads to my second problem with Bart Ehrman -- His constant reliance that liberal views of the text of Scripture is absolutely true. He uses the JEPD theory in this chapter and I find it interesting that He on the one had dismisses the text of Scripture of the New Testament (See Misquoting Jesus) but then supports and uses as a guiding light for his interpretation a theory that has NO TEXTUAL SUPPORT AT ALL. It is inconsistencies like this in Bart's reasoning that bother me.

3. Bart has problems with God's treatment of Israel after their disobedience. God promised to protect them and make them great but then he destroys them. "What kind of God is this?" Bart contends. He is a God that keeps his word. You cannot read Deuteronomy and not get the impression that God's promises were conditional, very conditional and that IF they did not keep their end they were bring the punishments on themselves. Bart never brings this out or seems to even have considered it.

4. Bart contends that the prophets only spoke to their time. I am not sure other Biblical writers would agree. The Gospel writers in particular believed that Jesus fulfilled a lot of things said by OT prophets. I think this a poor understanding of prophecy by Bart as poor as the Evangelicals have at times. Egotism aside, that does not mean the prophets did not speak to the future of God's activities. As to some predictions being unfulfilled -- Prophecy is also conditional, if the conditions change, the results change. Being an open theist my understandings of prophecy are different -- God makes promises but he can choose the time and place of their fulfillment and if the other side of the relationship does not keep their end he is free to not keep His.

5. In punishment, God is not trying to improve morale as Bart contends (humorously but the point is wrong) the point of punishment is correction of behavior. The fact is that Israel could have avoided the evil it suffered by doing one thing -- OBEY, and it wouldn't be to hard. It was only hard because the Israelites thought it was more important to serve themselves than God.

Next: Agreement with Chapter Three

Engaging God's Problem -- Agreements with Chapter Two

This week I really want to make headway on Bart Ehrman's God's Problem so prepare yourself for six posts in a row.

I do have many agreements with chapter 2 -- Sinner's in the Hands of an Angry God

1. I agree that some suffering is caused by God -- not all mind you but there is an indication that God causes disaster and the suffering and death that may be associated with it. Some Christians have a dualism that says God only good things and the devil bad -- this is not what the Bible says.

2. I agree that most Christians do not understand or respect the fact that prophets in the old testament were speaking primarily to their own times. Many people, particularly my evangelical brethren, like to see "US" in the prophets and that in probably in many cases not truth. The fact is much interpretation of prophetic Scriptures by current Christians is in deed egotistical. That is, it is me and my generation centered. I think it stems from a very poor and western understanding of prophecy as a kind of long term crystal ball -- problem -- these interpretations are often very wrong.

3. There is a large school of thought in Scripture that suffering is a result of God's punishment. Sin and you will be punished and judgment will fall.

Next: Disagreements with chapter 2

Independence Day

Revolution!!!

After all that is what we celebrate today -- a day of revolution against tyranny and oppression. Today actually celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence as the revolution had been going on for months. In the end colonies became states and the states formed a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to a government by the people.

Happy Independence Day everyone and continue to fight against tyranny and oppression.

A Definition of Idolatry

Colossians 3:5: Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to
idolatry.

If we are going to define idolatry in the present age we must turn to this verse. What Paul points out is that idolatry is more than bowing down to an idol of stone, metal or wood. It is the force behind the idol that is the real object of worship and all of these forces are forces of the human flesh.

1. Immorality -- behavior that conflicts with God's expectations
2. Impurity -- mixed with the world attitudes and behaviors --lewd.
3. Passion (lust) -- the desire to possess another's sexuality
4. Evil Desire -- any desire out of line with God's commandments
5. Greed -- Desire for money at the expense of another person.

In short, idolatry is what happens when we fail to love God and our neighbor. So when your looking at the commandment not to make idols -- you might want to look at it a different way.

Just a Quick Post on a Busy Day

Fact is that my day has been filled from start to finish and this is the second brief time I have had at the computer. Tired and need to go to bed so no time for an intelligent post so.

1. God Bless
2. See You Tomorrow
3. Be Well

Thoughts on Misquoting Truth -- A Response to Ehrman

Hey just finished Misquoting Truth by Timothy Paul Davis which is a response to Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus. I have to say it is well done as much as Ehrman's. Vinny wrote me a list of what Ehrman might say in a comment to my last post to my questions and I agree because I have read both books and much of what Jones has said I would have said in response.

A little background on me -- I have taken two years of Greek and the entire second year focused on two things -- translation and textual criticism. I know the ropes and the basic arguments -- my problem with Ehrman is that his book is very one sided and like Jones I find his reasoning flawed.

In responding to Ehrman and Vinny (note Vinny did not say that he agreed with Ehrman but tried to speak for him) I and Jones would like to respond in the following manner.

(1) The rate of variants in the third century manuscripts is greater than the
rate of variants in the fourth century manuscripts. The rate of variants in
the second is greater than the rate in the third. Projecting the trend
backwards points towards the rate of variants being greater still in the
first century.

But what is the nature of those variants. 99% of them are, to be blunt -- insignificant and can be easily corrected -- that means only 4000 variants (roughly) are of any real significance. Of these many can be explained and the best reading discovered. The ones left (In my experience I found only about 25) where it is a toss up what it could read -- both sides of the reading were backed up by other Scriptures. I would also like to point out that as far as variants in the first and second century there are many of the insignificant type not very many significant ones. The fact is all variants can be explained in different ways but none of them is truly shaking to the basic tenets of Christian faith or undermines the history value of the documents.

(2) Origen indicates that the early copying practices were poor.

Yeah and Origen is one of the later church fathers -- he is not early on in the
question of the quality of the first and second century documents being a
late
second third century father. He also could be whining about the quality
of
what he had access to -- being only one witness though he stand alone.

(3) The quotations in the early Apostolic Fathers point towards instability in
the texts.

Instability of what kind -- small scribal errors or wholesale alterations? They really don't say. In think the significance of this is overplayed we don't know specifically at times what they are talking about.

(4) Scholars believe that ancient texts were most susceptible to corruption in
the first hundred years after they were composed.

Which Scholars -- sorry the basic tenet of textual criticism is -- older is better because of less chance of corruption, now were going to contradict this idea because Ehrman's says so? -- Ehrman's might say this but the fact is 'most scholars' is usually code for -- 'the ones that agree with me' See my post "Most Scholars Agree..." The fact is that scholarly debate this point is sharp and contested, a point that Ehrman's omits and I think on purpose.

(5) The earliest copyists might have thought the writings important, but they
did not think of them as scripture.

Jones smashes this notion as both Paul's writings and others are thought of as Scripture and are named as such by other writers including the church fathers. The fact is this is a big whopper of a lie. I have read the earlier church fathers and they refer to many writings of the apostles as 'Scripture". A such they would have been carefully preserved by someone -- to say all early Christians didn't consider these things as Scripture is contradicted by the early lists of books considered Scripture including the hostile witness of Marcion.

(6) Early pagan copyists would not have even had a concept of
“scripture.”

And. Even so a pagan scribe would have still done his job well if a rich client payed him -- his reputation would have depended on it. Rich Christians then could have not only preserved Scripture but hired good scribes to copy them -- a point Ehrman never considers.

In addition, Jones points out many other things that are problems with Ehrman's book Misquoting Jesus. Misquoting Truth is a good read. Read both books and make up your own mind.