Fixing A Flat

Starting a brawl, or in the photo above, getting into a showdown, is not going to take us very far. Start slinging mud and people just get dirty. Besides, you lose alot of ground. On the Jesus Bus, I think that there is a way to get better mileage. Take another look at the objections and claims made in oppositition to scripture. Then, take another look at what scripture really says.


Ecc 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.


2 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.


3 What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?


4 One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.


5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and goes quickly back to the place where he came up.


6 The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.


7 All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.


8 All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.


9 That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.


As I read this, I get the impression that the writer is trying to get the point across that some things never change. Human nature is fairly predictable. Beyond that is his observation that the order of the physical universe is also predictable. That is a notion that does not mesh well with the popular idea that there is some mysterious force in nature that is ever advancing toward a state of increasing order and complexity in the biosphere. It's made all the more mysterious by the fact that science has not been able to identify that particular force in nature. Or, at least, I have not seen it identified.


As the Jesus Bus travels along we need to be careful to avoid running into things that will cause a flat. There are a lot of hazards strewn along the road. At the present time, one of the more subtle hazards is to accept the opinion of others as being worthy of equal weight as the revelation of scripture. There are experts out there, who can't even agree among themselves, yet will be quick to dismiss the authority of scripture. Jesus accepted the authority of scripture and the sovereignty of G-d.


Mt 22:29 But Jesus said to them in answer, You are in error, not having knowledge of the Writings, or of the power of G-d.


In the quote above, Jesus says plainly that ignorance of scripture, will lead to error. In the preceeding verses, Jesus was asked a question about what was going to happen after this life. He pointed out that the question was based on a misunderstanding of scripture, since the hypothetical situation will never take place in the hereafter. The question is a product of the imagination of those who ask it -- pure fantasy.


Ecclesiates is a fascinating book. Like the rest of scripture, in order to get an accurate understanding of the text, it is like peeling back the layers of an onion. In Ecclesiates, the writer uses descriptions of the physical world he sees around himself to illustrate his points. He seems to possess a keen sense of the mechanics of the physical world. But it is not described in mathematical detail which would make it incomprehensible to most readers.


The quote above is from the first nine verses of that book. As I read it, I begin to think about the taunts that are directed toward scripture from those who are just like the one who questioned Jesus. They say things that are based on a distortion of scripture -- products of their own imagination. The goal in this line of questioning is not to better understand the teaching of scripture, but to plant doubt into the minds of those who would choose to believe. Watch out for those hazards. Another way to describe this kind of question is to call it a 'strawman' argument.


Another way to look at it is like this. You don't have to be able to field EVERY question that is thrown your way. Scripture provides what we need to know, and plenty of answers for those who want them. So,that's why the attack against scripture is often from an oblique angle. It's easier to launch an attack from a point not fully discussed or not mentioned at all in the text.


Mark Twain, a famous atheist, is said to have made the comment, It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that bother me. It's the parts I do understand.


One of the taunts that I've heard over the years, is "You believe the Bible! So, you're a member of the flat earth society?"


See, it's a 'strawman' taunt. JESUS believed the Bible. It is recorded that Jesus never questioned any teaching of scripture. He questioned the attacks leveled against scripture.
Nowhere is there any inference in all of scripture that the earth is flat! Whenever I heard that taunt, I never made an effort to ask, Can you give me line and verse on that doctrine. Of course, it's just a taunt.


Look at verses five through seven --astute observations of the physical world. The first describes the orbit around the sun, as a regular daily cycle. Then the cycle of atmospheric circulation, then the hydrologic cycle are described. These are not stationary 'flat earth' phenomena. Unless the shape of the 'flat' part is a funny kind of flat.


Sure, I know that the description given here is not meant to be scientific, since the book was not written as a science text. The point is that, even in the language that it's written, it agrees with what we now know about earth science. There is no disagreement between scripture and science. There is disagreement between scripture and mythology.


In fact, verse six describes atmospheric convection and the coriolis effect with surprising accuracy. This wouldn't work so well with a stationary flat ...earth. Once you let all the air out of it, the 'flat earth' comment goes flat.


Mt 22:29 But Jesus said to them in answer, You are in error, not having knowledge of the Writings, or of the power of G-d.


30 For when they come back from the dead there are no husbands and wives, but they are as the angels in heaven.


31 But about the dead coming back to life, have you no knowledge of what was said to you by G-d in the Writings:


32 I am the G-d of Abraham, and the G-dof Isaac, and the G-d of Jacob? G-d is not the G-d of the dead but of the living.


33 And the people hearing it were surprised at his teaching.


34 But the Pharisees, hearing how the mouths of the Sadducees had been stopped, came together;


35 And one of them, a teacher of the law, put a question to him, testing him, and saying,


36 Master, which is the chief rule in the law?


37 And he said to him, Have love for the Lord your G-d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.


38 This is the first and greatest rule.


39 And a second like it is this, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself.


40 On these two rules all the law and the prophets are based.


It's not hard to understand what Jesus taught in the passage above. The hard part is actually doing it. Challenges to the authority of scripture are based often on the objection that it will require a change in my behavior. Mark Twain was right about that much. It is never comfortable to change habitual behavior. There is no reason to doubt the teaching of scripture. Nothing in scripture is at odds with genuine science. You just have to learn how to let the air out of objections that don't make much sense. Not because it's going to change anyone's mind. But rather, that we don't spend time and effort on the Jesus Bus trying to fix a flat that doesn't have any leaks. We can trust the authority of scripture. Jesus did.


1Tim 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:


21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.