Lake Avenue Church - Statements that Seem to Undermine Christian Faith

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Statements that Seem to Undermine Christian Faith

By Greg Waybright | Tuesday, June 08 2010 | Read 1070 times

I had a Jewish friend tell me his religion is more intellectually and historically sound than Christianity. His main point was that Jewish oral tradition is the source that gives insight into interpreting the Scriptures accurately and that, since Jewish oral tradition contradicts Christian interpretations, then the Christian faith must be wrong. I had never heard anything like this so I’ve been somewhat shaken by it. Where is a Christian to start when faced with this kind of daunting search for truth?

All through my doctoral studies at Marquette and Cambridge, I was confronted with challenges to my thinking – and that included challenges to the very source of my understanding of God, i.e., the Bible. Sometimes, I would think, "Well, my faith must not be true..." (And then in the next breath) "But it is real!" Then, "But, what about...?" On and on it goes while we live by faith and not yet by sight.

Long ago, I decided not to over-react and throw everything away when I faced a faith-challenge but to go after the questions and doubts head on. I still have a lot of questions I keep up on my intellectual shelf and come back to now and again.

More specific to this question: Often, devout people who want to promote their religion against another will make the kind of broad general statements your friend made to you – and sometimes they come across with a lot of authority. "How can you ignore all the Torah studies that go against...?" How does anyone begin to deal with such a sweeping statement? It's as if all the Torah studies from a Jewish perspective are united in their perspectives. Stop for a moment and think about it.

People like the Apostle Paul were leading Torah scholars of their day and still came to see how the Old Testament pointed to Jesus. Jesus himself had to tell the main scholars of his day, "You've missed the heart of the matter. Don't you see from the Scriptures that first the Messiah had to suffer and only then would come the glory (read Luke 24 and you'll see what I'm paraphrasing). I have many Jewish scholars as friends. They too admit that there are enormous complexities in the "older testament" that, they admit, make such sweeping statements as your friend made, impossible to defend.

A good starting point for further investigation into interpreting the Old Testament might be some of what Walter Kaiser has written. Be warned: There are so many levels of scholarship. Whole dissertations are written on one verse of the Bible! I’m not sure how “atomistic” you want to become. I say that so you will know that, if one of Kaiser's books is not specific enough, there are much more scholarly things written not for mass publication but for the academy itself that I could recommend. Among Kaiser’s books:

Are They Reliable and Relevant?
Messiah in the Old Testament.
The Christian and the Old Testament.

A final thought: I love Jesus' claim, "I am the truth." One thing that says to me is that when we seek honestly after what is true, we will not move away from him. At the end (of a sometimes long journey), we will come to him.

To His Glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor

2 comments

posted by Charles Hanson ■ Jan. 15, 2011 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Leave a comment

Hello Pastor,
Just a note on the Holy Spirit.

Jewish oral tradition is the source that gives insight into interpreting the Scriptures accurately and that, since Jewish oral tradition contradicts Christian interpretations, then the Christian faith must be wrong.

This statement does not surprise me at all.
Oral tradition is of the past. We Christians now have the Holy Spirit to interpret the Scriptures who lives in us.
I do not understand "the Christian BELIEF (FAITH) must be wrong".
Charles
posted by Carol Koenig ■ Aug. 01, 2010 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Leave a comment

I appreciate the question and response by our pastor. The depth of knowledge is very evident.

On several instances, Jesus during his time on earth confronted the belief systems held by the religious Jewish leaders because of their mis-interpretation of the law, prophets and writings. Many times, Jesus was responding to confrontations made by these Jewish leaders (Matt 21:23 is just one of many), on other occasions Jesus confronted them (Matt 23) and on other occasions he long to connect with them (Lk 13:34). There is another example in Mark 7 with the issue of Corban.

Even during the first century while Jesus was alive, there is still the basic question; Do you recognize and accept Jesus as Lord, Master and Savior? Even the Jews of the first century had to deal with this question.

Jesus is our Rock. He's not going anywhere. Since He is God and the source of all truth, as our rock, He can take every possible challenge and not even flinch. So, we can explore this world and its many complexities without fear. We can be confident that our Lord will lead us into all truth.

Thanks for allowing me to share.