Alrighty, buckle in..
Because we’re gonna review what we’ve gone over the past couple of days about “Literary Criticism”, “Orthodoxy/Heresy”, “Modern Systematic Theology” and so on.
So if you recall, this can of worms was opened up when we began discussing the new form of Bible academia known as Literary Criticism.
This school of thought says we can’t trust the books of Samuel and Kings at face value.
And it all centers around one question:
“Did God want Israel to have a king or not?”
When we read these books, there seems to be a contradiction.
Either God changed His mind or the Biblical text themselves are corrupt.
Now I’ve already pointed out the issue was never whether God wanted to install a king over Israel or not…
It was all about what kind of King He wanted to install over Israel.
Ya feel me?
Anyways, let’s get started with this review.
So during the 18th century, the gentile church found themselves under attack by a movement we all know today as the European Enlightenment.
What was this movement all about?
Simple, the European Enlightenment wanted to replace the spiritual and miraculous elements of the Bible with their own brand of religion called “Secular Humanism”.
This was an era when one’s own intellect and the Scientific Method were worshipped as the best ways to discover truth.
However, since there isn’t a scientific way to physically verify things of a spiritual nature like God, souls and spirits, the proponents of the Enlightenment concluded those things simply didn’t exist.
As a result, the church found itself under extreme attack.
So they tried to find a “systematic” way to present their faith to the new “Enlightened Society” while at the same time holding on to their faith.
That was a big mistake.
Never kowtow to the enemy.
The Church’s response was to return to an innovation they had invented earlier but that we now know today as Modern Systematic Theology.
I personally call it “Trying To Futilely Fit God Into A Box” theology…
Because that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.
The gentile church divided up their religion into 10 pieces…
They gave each piece a category and a name…
Then they attempted to answer key questions about their faith through the lens of these 10 categories.
So depending on how you answered those questions, you were considered a believer or a heretic.
In other words, Systematic Theology was nothing more or less than an expression of the Orthodoxy/Heresy notion I discussed earlier.
Now the big problem with this black and white methodology is there’s zero room for flexibility.
You’re either right or wrong…
Or you’re in or out…
You should also know by this time the Catholic Church was no longer the big boy on the block anymore.
The Protestant reformation had occurred and the Church of England was already well established.
In addition, there were a growing number of competing Protestant churches sprouting up all over the West.
But that didn’t matter.
Cause each and every one of these churches were handcuffed by the Orthodoxy versus Heresy mindset.
The strategic use of their modern version Systematic Theology was simply a new weapon to enforce their dogma.
Only Judaism never fell prey to that stifling booooool sheeeeet (with the exception of how they dealt with the Messianic credentials of Yeshua and fortunately even that is changing).
So what has been the historical result of the two Christian innovations known as “Orthodoxy & Heresy” and “Systematic Theology”?
The first answer is there is ZERO universal agreement within the Christian world concerning the nature of God, His relationship to His son, Israel’s role and matters of salvation.
Why do you think there are over 3000 Christian denominations that declare each other cults and heretics?
Heck, the institutional church declared they had replaced Israel as God’s chosen people.
You can’t get more unscriptural than that man!
I used to be heartbroken that Japan (my father’s country) was less than 1% Christian…
Now I’m relieved they never fell for the idolatrous abominations of the gentilized version of what was once the true Messianic Faith.
Otherwise, they’d all be trinitarian idol worshippers man!!!
They deserve better than that.
Or perhaps they knew better?
Seriously, when Messiah came about 2000 years ago, didn’t he encourage us to have unity in him?
And not this ridiculously splintered mess we’ve got today?
Anyways, the question that lies before us today is…
Is there not a better approach to understanding Holy Scripture than Christianity’s “Orthodoxy/Heresy” and “Systematic Theology” methodologies?
As I said, right now there are about 3000 competing Christian sects each claiming to be the sole possessors of divine truth.
But they can’t all be right man!!!
Isn’t there a better way?
The good news is there actually is…
But it’s gonna require you to undergo some serious paradigm shifts homie.
Let me share a quote from a Jew who changed the way physicists fundamentally view the universe forever and for all time.
“You cannot solve a problem with
the same mind that created it.”
-Albert Einstein
My point is we are all are entrenched in theological assumptions that are untrustworthy.
That’s right homie.
I’m saying you and I have unconscious and ingrained assumptions lying deep inside of us that we aren’t even aware of…
These assumptions affect how we view Scripture, our relationship with God, our sexuality, our spiritual maturity…I mean EVERYTHING.
We’re gonna have to step outside out of our deeply ingrained preconceived notions if we’re ever gonna have a snowball’s chance in hell of viewing Scripture and the doctrines we hold to so deeply in a new light.
Unfortunately, most people of any religion handcuffed by social pressure will never have the guts to question their deeply held beliefs and will go to their death beds clutching onto their falsehoods.
So next time, we’re going to start discussing a new and better way to interpret Scripture outside of Christianity’s orthodoxy versus heresy mindset that I think you’re gonna find liberating.
And fair warning, we’re gonna be applying this methodology to our study of Samuel.
My only request is that you remain open-minded.
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