Command or Culture?

Mark Dunagan
08/11/13 - Sunday Morning

Command or Culture?

In 1967, the United Presbyterian Church in America adopted a new confession of faith.  Concerning the nature of the Bible, the following statement was made:  ‘The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men, conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written.  They reflect the views of life, history, and the cosmos, which were then current’.   This position on the Bible is as convenient as it is clever, for it allows one to think they are respecting its teachings, while at the same time, it gives one the latitude to ignore any teaching that one finds undesirable. 

The idea is that the Bible was a good book for its time, but like many old textbooks, is now out-dated and certainly behind the times, and therefore does not need to be followed as closely.  We are more and more encouraged to pick and choose what teachings and practices we feel are still relevant to our times.

Views of the Cosmos Then Current?

In reality, the Bible actually gives a view of the earth and the universe that was at the time neither current, popular nor in harmony with the culture.  In fact, the view of the cosmos that the Bible presents was not only quite ahead of the thinking of the cultures in which it was written, but was notably advanced above many cultures after it was penned.  The Bible certainly did not express the ignorance of the time, but because the Creator of the universe is in fact its Author,  it contained the following pre-scientific foreknowledge:

• The earth is a circle:  Isaiah 40:22
• The earth is suspended in space and rests upon nothing: Job 26:7
• Spontaneous generation is not scientifically possible; life comes only from pre-existing life:  Genesis 1:11
• The universe is operating on all the raw materials and energy it was given at the beginning:  Genesis 2:1
• The universe is wearing down: Hebrews 1:10-12
• Ordinances and laws govern the movement of the heavenly bodies—not fate or mysterious forces:  Job 38:33
• The stars and planets do not control our destiny, rather they were created to give light on the earth and for such things as helping with agriculture, keeping time and navigation and by their very existence, show us the vastness and power of our Creator:  Genesis 1:14

So where is this view of the cosmos in the Bible that was "then current" but is no longer true? While the Bible doesn't teach or endorse the concept of a flat earth (Isaiah 40:22), we could likewise note that neither does it present an ignorant view of human reproduction (Genesis 3:15), the laws of physics (Genesis 2:1; Hebrews 1:10-12), sanitation (Book of Leviticus), medical science (Leviticus 17:11), biology (Genesis 1:11),  human psychology (Mark 7:20-23; Proverbs 9:8-9; 15:1; 18:12; 28:1,26);  marital counseling (Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Peter 3:1-7), or how to succeed in one's personal relationships (1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Romans 12:14-21; Ephesians 4:25-32).   All this demands the question, "Where does the Bible present a view of life or reality that, (though unpopular) is no longer true?”

Views of Life or Morals Then Current?

If we think that the moral code of the Old or New Testament simply reflected the then current morals of the surrounding culture, we need to take a closer look at both history and our Bibles:

• The moral code found in the Old Testament was far different from the culture in Egypt where the Hebrews had lived for 400 years, as well as the culture in the land of Canaan.  In Leviticus 18 God gives a description of the immoral life that existed in Canaan —practices upon which the Law of Moses placed the death penalty, were viewed as common and normal among the various Canaanite nations (Leviticus 18:24).
• When Jesus gave the Sermon the Mount, He would often introduce a new sub-topic by saying, “You have heard” (Matthew 5:21,27,31,38), then He would give the truth on the matter.  What He was doing was comparing the popular views of the culture with what God in actuality had said.  In fact, our modern culture has very similar views to the ones that Jesus exposed as false.  The culture had condemned murder, but not the anger that leads up to it (5:21-22).   The culture had condemned flagrant adultery—but not the lusting that often leads to it (5:27-28).  The culture did not condemn divorce, but essentially said, “Make sure you have all the right paper work done” (5:31).  The culture said that certain promises are binding and others are not (5:33).  The culture justified certain forms of personal revenge by twisting an Old Testament verse (5:38).
• When Jesus taught the subject of marriage, divorce and remarriage, He taught something that even shocked His dedicated disciples (Matthew 19:10).  Clearly, even the religious culture in which they lived had not taught such a high standard.  Their reaction demonstrates that not only did Roman and Greek culture have a rather loose view of divorce and remarriage, but that the same type of view had made its way into the Jewish culture of the First Century.
• When the apostles in their letters condemned such things as fornication, homosexuality or drunkenness, we need to realize that they were not merely reflecting the morals of the current culture.  Those practices were considered “normal” in the First Century. They addressed those issues frequently, for the very reason that the current culture did not condemn them as they should have (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Peter 4:3). 

Applications to Many Cultures

There are number of times in the Bible, where the Holy Spirit cites an event from another time and place, and then makes the application to an entirely different group of people who lived in a entirely different time and place.  This proves that the relevance of a Biblical text is not confined to the time in which it was written:

• Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction”
• 1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction”.

In fact, the clearly inference is that such things as fornication, grumbling, testing God, lusting after evil things—are still wrong and are wrong at all times and places (10:6, 7, 8-9). The Creator of the universe is the only One who gets to set the standards for what is right and what is wrong. Morality is not determined by way of consensus.

Counter-Cultural

Instead of thinking the Bible reflects the culture in which it was written, we need to realize that the Bible contains teaching that was counter to the prevailing culture.  For the term culture is just another word for the term “world” that Christians are not to love (1 John 2:15-17), or conform to (Romans 12:1-2).

Practical Applications

• What the Bible says will condemn a person is a practice that will still be wrong at the last day:  Galatians 5:21
• Jesus did not teach that His message would merely judge His generation, but rather, it would judge all men at the last day:  John 12:48
• The Holy Spirit ties a number of Biblical teachings, not to something in the current culture, but rather to the early chapters of Genesis, indicating that it is a teaching that applies to all men and applies everywhere and in every time period.  This is both true of His teaching on divorce (Matthew 19:4-6,8) and the apostles teaching on male and female roles in worship (1 Timothy 2:13). 
• The very wording of the Great Commission, to go out and teach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), admits that no culture has it right, but that every culture needs the gospel.
• Time and culture did not modify the Law of Moses.  The Jewish people, after their deliverance from bondage, went through many cultural shifts.  They encountered the Canaanites, then the Philistines, then the cultures that came from the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians, yet I never find God adjusting His Law.  Centuries after the Law was given, God’s people were still expected to observe the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15), support the priesthood (Nehemiah 13:10), abstain from intermarrying with certain nations (Nehemiah 13:23), and offering the right sacrifices (Malachi 1:6ff).

Praise be to God whose word is ageless. May we know it well, teach it freely and enjoy the beautiful fruits of living by its wisdom— no matter the shifting winds of culture or popular opinion.

Mark Dunagan  |  mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ  |  503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net