The Old Testament is Dying: Blame the System

Here is a stinging quote from Strawn:

“If individual believers’ knowledge is suffering, if they can’t speak the language, then at least part of the blame must be laid at the door of the religious systems (and their leaders) to which they belong and to which they adhere (even if only loosely, which is, of course, part of the problem). To be more direct, the failures in religious knowledge reported in the [U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey] appear to reflect massive failures in the religious system(s) in question, especially the education arm(s) of said system(s), and the leaders responsible for those systems and that education. For Protestant Christianity, that means not only the failure of “Sunday school” or “Bible study” phenomena (whether for children or adults), but also the failure of the sermon to be an effective tool in disseminating the language that is the Christian faith, not to mention other failures to provide adequate linguistic instruction in the Bible’s—and, more specifically still, the Old Testament’s—contribution to that faith” (The Old Testament is Dying, 27).

In The Old Testament is Dying, Strawn invokes an analogy. The Old Testament is a language. Just as language can describe the world, construct a worldview, and articulate reality, so too can the Old Testament (Scripture as a whole for that matter). Yet just as a language can suffer and die, so too can the Old Testament (as well as Scripture). To prevent the death of a language, it must be used…used often…and used properly. So too for the Old Testament and Scripture. But what happens when the data tells us that a language is suffering? What happens when the data informs us that people no longer use it properly, can handle it, or use only small portions of a language? Logic would tell us that said language is on its way out the door. Or, at the very least, it’s on its way to be being so transformed that it’ll no longer be identifiable.

According to the United States Religious Knowledge Survey, which is discussed extensively by Strawn in his second chapter, this is what’s happening to the Old Testament and Scripture. For example, only 55% of people surveyed know that the Golden Rule is NOT one of the Ten Commandments. Or, only 45% know the names of the four gospels. Perhaps most strikingly, only 16% know that the critical difference between Protestant and Catholic views on the conviction that salvation hinges on faith in Jesus Christ alone (Strawn, 23). Indeed, some of the people in the survey make no claims to be Christian, but what if I told you that the raw data of those who claim to be Christian shows a higher level of error than Jews, Mormons, and atheist/agnostics? To put it bluntly, a vast number of people surveyed who claim to be Protestant Christians know little more than jack-squat.

So, to revisit the linguistic analogy again, “The vast majority of people surveyed are adherents who, presumably and by their own profession, “speak the language of faith,” but who are actually missing huge portions of the most basic vocabulary, syntax, and so forth of their (putative) religious tongue” (Strawn, 26). Thus, we must acknolwedge that we are the farthest thing from being fluent. And if we are not fluent, then the danger of losing the language lurks just around the corner.

Consider an example from my OT 100 class. I ask my students to watch a couple brief videos about the prophetic institution in addition to reading basic material from our textbooks. In turn, I ask them to share some new ideas and revelations about the institution that they have gleaned from the course material. Without exception, there are comments such as, “Well, I just thought the prophets were concerned with predicting the future.” Or, “I didn’t know that some of the prophets were not ‘prophets’ by vocation.” Then there is, “I just thought the prophets spoke to their context.” Translation: there are massive gaps in our students’ understanding of one of the foundational institutions of the Old Testament.

Sadly, all of this makes sense. Strawn goes on to share more data that exemplifies how the Old Testament is used. First, sermons that are “OT-only” sermons are dwarfed by their counterparts, “NT-only” sermons, by approximately 2.5 times. In fact, “OT-only” sermons are surpassed by “no-text” sermons! Second, the Psalter is used with prejudice, and the lectionaries are similarly prejudicial in the OT content they employ. All of this adds up to a scenario where using the Old Testament is highly selective, if at all. The result is, at best, a skewed view of the Old Testament. Again, how can we even begin to call ourselves fluent?

So, in closing let's return to the beginning. We are suffering the results of a flawed system. If Strawn's data is true, and there is really little reason to doubt the essence of what it communicates, then our youngest generations are doomed from the start. We don't give them a steady dose of the Old Testament, and if we do we are giving it to them at our own convenience. Naturally, then, the question that arises is what can we do about this flawed system. Can anything be done? Can it be redeemed? Or, are we merely just going to flounder in our illiteracy until the moment when the language goes the way of ancient Sumerian?  

The Old Testament is Dying...

I am starting to wade through one of Brent Strawn's most recent works, The Old Testament is Dying. I say "one" of his most recent works because this guy must have a team of robots...or monkeys...that help him pump out publications. He also just put out The World Around the Old Testament (with Bill Arnold), and it seems like every time I turn around he is publishing some article or editing some volume.

Nevertheless, I digress.

Strawn is a Professor of Old Testament at Chandler School of Theology (Emory University), a flagship school of theology in the southeast and a darling of the United Methodist Church. He also serves the Church through speaking and what-not. Consequently, when he puts out such a provocative title, I am bound to notice....and take his word under consideration.

So, off the cuff, is the Old Testament dying? To open, Strawn shares a story that solidified his conclusion. While speaking to a group of "saints" at a local church somewhere around Atlanta, he was astonished that his audience did not know that the famous words Jesus uttered on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" (quick, can you recite it in Aramaic...or Hebrew?!), were actually a quotation from the Old Testament. I can't say that I am surprised by this. I grew up in the church, even the United Methodist Church, and the level of biblical illiteracy is more striking by the day. Moreover, I don't see it changing if the status quo remains.

I teach a range of students at a number of institutions devoted to theological education. Every semester it seems that there is an increase of comments such as these.

"I don't really know too much about the Old Testament, but at least I am excited to learn!"

"I really like the psalms because they seem to give me just the right word whenever I need to hear it. But I don't like the historical books. They seem so....historical."

Or think of it this way. When is the last time that you heard a sermon preached that utilized an Old Testament passage as its primary text?

I do remember one time that my father decided to preach a series of sermons on the book of Genesis. One week led to a month, and a month led to multiple months. About a year later, he was still preaching from Genesis, although he would take a break periodically to address special Sundays. This likely was my dad's least popular sermon series. But never mind that it's the foundation of Scripture. Never mind that the cosmic problem that still plagues humanity--that thing called Sin--is introduced there with dramatic detail. Never mind that the cosmic solution to that problem is also introduced in Genesis. And never mind that in articulating that cosmic solution the doorway to Christ is opened. Never mind all of that. "Just give me Jesus...and maybe some Paul..."

So, yeah. I think that the Old Testament is dying. But is it dead? Gosh...I hope not!! Yet more importantly, I still believe that it's possible to reverse the trend. However, bucking trends are never easy. It takes commitment, patience, and a "bull by the horns" mentality.

So, pastors preach from the Old Testament! If you don't know how to handle it, find some guidance! Whether it's a professor near by, a book to guide you, or more formal education, it doesn't matter really. Remember, it's Scripture. And when I say preach from it, don't just use it as a "footnote," merely to support some point. Develop sermon series from an event recollected, a book found therein, or a theme rooted there. Professors, let's make it exciting and fun! Let the Old Testament personalities shine through our boring lectures and assignments. Let's show our students that its content is just as potent today as it was when it was written millennia ago. Above all, let's not back down from what makes it so difficult to handle.

I'm sure that Strawn will have other things to say. However, I do know, based on the sub-title alone, he too believes that there is a treatment to this death spiral.

Today is the day...

It’s graduation season. As such, people all over the United States will flock to countless academic institutions to celebrate the achievements of their loved ones. One of the more memorable elements of any graduation ceremony, at least in higher education, is the processional of the professors. This is where all the professors line up behind a grand marshal and march into the room to take their place near the graduating students. What makes this processional so intriguing is the eclectic mix of academic regalia. There are so many colors and styles to the robes worn by the professors, and to be honest, these outfits are kind of a big deal. However, there is a level of irony that gravitates around these academic outfits. Save for convocations, graduations, and other “official" academic celebrations, one's regalia normally just hangs in the professor’s office essentially as decoration piece.

Yet one’s academic regalia is also something of a proclamation. By means of its design and color scheme, these outfits identify the professor with their ultimate level of education and the institution from which they graduated. So, when a professor puts on their regalia, it becomes a statement of their academic history and heritage. By implication, these statements are also something of a status symbol.

“Look at Prof. So-and-so. They graduated from Harvard…those are Harvard’s colors.”

When I defended my dissertation in 2012, I received my academic regalia as a gift from my parents. They spent way too much money on it, but they were happy to make the purchase. In their minds, it was money well spent, for it symbolized the culmination of their son’s 25 years of formal education. I am grateful for their gift. However, I must confess that for five years now it was been a bit of a sore spot for me…a source of frustration every time I saw that black plastic garment bag hanging in the closet.

After graduation, I gathered with my professors and fellow graduates for a picture (almost 5 years ago to date). As this unfolded, I distinctly remember one of my professors looking at me and saying, “You are going to get a lot of use out of this.” In response, I said nothing. Why? Because I didn’t believe him. There was no job other than the one waiting for me in the private sector selling industrial bearings. The whole pomp and circumstance was somewhat demoralizing.

So, after graduation I packed up that expensive robe set and hung it in the corner of a closet, as far out of sight as possible. I didn’t want to look at it. It symbolized my greatest frustration—years of theological education in the pursuit of a calling and passion that I knew was real…but had very little to show for it.

Since that day in May 2012 I have opened up that closet for a number of reasons, and each time I have felt those emotions of frustration rise. Childish? Perhaps. But the thought of that garb hanging in the closet has kept me grounded and focused on a field that is getting more difficult to penetrate by the day.

But today is the day that I take out that regalia and say, “Hello," because today is the day that I signed my first official, real contract. So, I celebrate my appointment as Assistant Professor of Old Testament for Wesley Biblical Seminary.

I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. This school, based in Jackson, MS, aligns with my theological heritage, and it will offer me a more official, somewhat permanent context to do what I love—study Scripture and teach the Old Testament. Most importantly, this is an opportunity to live out a calling first detected my Freshman year of College. It has been a challenging journey at times, but God is faithful.

Now, I have a chapter to write on the Gilgamesh Epic....

Dever, Archaeology, and Biblical Studies

I’m in the initial stages of writing a book about the intersection of archaeology and Biblical Studies. More precisely, I am writing on some of the most important archaeological finds for Old Testament studies. You know, which find revolutionized the field? Which ones created new paradigms? Which ones proved something about the Old Testament? As it is an expansion of blog series I did for Wesley Biblical Seminary in the Fall semester of 2017, the topics that will be covered range from Mari, Sennacherib’s Annals, Ketef Hinnom, and others. You can read all about it here.

A by-product of this project is the need to fall-off-the-log when it comes to my understanding of the relationship between archaeology and Biblical Studies. What is the purpose of archaeology, and what is its relationship to Biblical Studies? Is there a relationship? And what about the popular term “Biblical Archaeology?” So, when I scanned my most recent volume of Biblical Archaeology Review (43.3 [May/June 2017]) yesterday, I quickly moved to William Dever’s article “Whom Do You Believe—The Bible or Archaeology?”

Dever is one of the world’s most respected Syro-Palestinian archaeologists, and certainly the most famous American. But more to the point, I have found myself agreeing with a lot of what he says about the nature of archaeology and its relationship to Biblical Studies. I was first exposed to him during my Biblical Archaeology course during my post-graduate studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. And truth be told, this article, although brief, personal, and informal, reinforced my appreciation of the guy’s position.

One of the first things that peaked my interest came shortly after he asked why reconstructing a history of ancient Israel mattered. He initially gave the typical, non-offensive, cookie-cutter answer: “…because it provides perspective.” However, he quickly went somewhere that I didn’t necessarily expect. He also linked the answer to authority. Acknowledging “people of faith” within the debate, he said, “Unless God is manifest in history…he is invisible. It is ultimately a question of authority. What can we believe and what moral imperative do we have” (p. 44)? Sure, Dever doesn’t necessarily align himself here with people of faith, but linking the important of history, particularly Israel’s history, with moral authority is an interesting, and ultimately laudable, angle to take. I study history, particularly Israel’s history, because I want God to be visible in real space and time. And when God is visible, his authority becomes more difficult to brush aside and/or ignore.

Another important implication he offers is that archaeology and Biblical Studies are two independent sources that must be synthesized in the pursuit of historical Israel. “Both [archaeology and Biblical Studies] are valuable, but both have obvious limitations. Beyond recognizing that fact, sound method and honest require that these two sources for history be dealt with independently and then compared. At that point, we have what I call “convergences”—points at which parallel lines of evidence come together” (p. 44). Such convergences sound like what I call potential “points of synthesis,” which are the phenomena that construct Biblical Archaeology—the application of archaeological data upon the Biblical Studies.

Many Evangelicals don’t like Dever, and I understand why. Some people may criticize Dever’s historical pursuit of “ancient Israel” as naïve and fundamentally flawed. I’m in neither of those camps. What I appreciate about Dever is his ability and willingness to keep archaeology and Biblical Studies separate and yet emphasize that in many instances the two disciplines can augment each other in the pursuit of a common goal.

So, back to the title of the article. Whom do I believe? I believe both, and I think Dever would echo this.

Woah! A Philistine Cemetery!

Over the weekend, news hit major media outlets regarding the excavation of a Philistine cemetery just outside the ancient city of Ashkelon. You can find here the National Geographic, NY Times, Biblical Archaeological Review, and Haaretz releases. Ashkelon was one of the 5 major Philistine cities that populated the Coastal Plain during Biblical times, and excavations there have gone on now for over 30 years, thanks to the Leon Levy Expedition. It is one of the most important sites for understanding Philistine culture.

It goes without saying that the immediate importance of this find is that Philistine burial practices can now be examined in detail without the shadow of classification. Indeed, there have been other sites linked to Philistine burials, but they have also been disputed and questioned. Here, it's undeniable. We are dealing with a Philistine site that exhibits over 200 skeletons, of all ages. Consequently, the excavators can work with a little more certainty, analyzing these burial customs against known baselines to understand relationships and developments. So, for example, what does the material culture interned with the bodies tell us about their value and thought systems? What does it mean that the burial practices of the Philistines were significantly difference than their Canaanite neighbors?

However, in my opinion, the most interesting possibilities will come in the form of DNA analysis. Ever since the human genome was mapped in 2003, genetic analysis in the scientific community has exploded. Indeed, DNA sequencing has been around for sometime, but the ability to map out where human genes sit on our chromosomes has opened up a world of opportunity. Biblical archaeology needs to properly harness these genetic tools, for I think a new world awaits.

Most immediately, we may be able to put to bed the long debate of Philistine origins.Consider this, if the skeletons contain enough usable DNA (and from the suggestions of the articles, this may be the case), then they will likely be able to sequence the DNA. Whether it's the entire thing or just chunks of it, scientists may be able to use that sequence against known base lines to determine the relationships and developments of the Philistines. In a word, we may be able to identify whence they came. Burial customs are neat, and they are very important to understanding the thought-world of any culture. But sign me up for harnessing the implications of genetic analysis.

All of this is another example of how science is manifesting itself in new ways in the field of Biblical Archaeology, and, by implication, Biblical Studies. It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few months. Certainly, this will give the field plenty to talk about in San Antonio this coming November. I look forward to how our understanding of the Philistines will be rounded out through this site. This will in turn allow us to understand better the acidic relationship between the Israelites and the Philistines that informed so much of the Old Testament and ancient Israelite identity.

Harry Potter's Forbidden Forest and the Wilderness Concept in Scripture

The other day I found myself watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. You may ask “Why would you do that? Are you 12?”

I can understand that line of inquiry. But for the record....I like watching my favorite movies and movie series over and over because they always seem to give me something to notice. This time I found myself thinking about the Forbidden Forrest.

In the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry descends into the forest with a group of his friends, a dog, and one of his nemeses. They are on the hunt for something that has been killing off unicorns, and ultimately they find what they are looking for. In the process, Harry meets the spirit-form of Lord Voldemort, the one responsible for destroying his family and setting his life on particular path.

The Foribidden Forest is a recurring location throughout the Harry Potter saga, and so let’s tease this out for just a moment. To be overly abstract, the Forbidden Forest is a definable region that exists on the fringe of the Hogwarts grounds and is associated with concepts of disorder, chaos, danger, and sinister forces. It is distinct from other sections within the grounds that are orderly, hospitable, and largely safe. In a word, the Forbidden Forest is a type of “wilderness.”

Yet there is something important about this forest as one progresses through the Harry Potter saga. Harry can’t avoid the Forbidden Forest. No matter how much he wants to, he finds himself going back there again and again. Climactically, this is the location where he faces the biggest choice of his life—the sacrifice of his life to stop forces of evil.

So, this got me thinking. How does the “wilderness” function within the Biblical narrative?

For many of us, the wilderness is profoundly negative. It is the location of one of Israel’s greatest historical failures and the location of years of wandering and the death of an entire generation. Furthermore, there are very powerful voices in the New Testament that want the reader to remember those failings so that they are not repeated (for example, Paul in 1 Corinthians and the writer to the Hebrews). However, this perspective does not represent the entire picture painted by Scripture.

The reality is that there is a duality associated with the wilderness throughout Scripture. To put it crudely, it is both positive and negative. For example, it was indeed the place of Israel’s failures on their way to the Promised Land. But it was also the location of Israel's encounter with God at Sinai. [Remember that half of the Pentateuch is set in the Sinai Wilderness!] Indeed, the wilderness is a place of banishment and isolation, but in the case of Hagar and Elijah, it was also the place of personal provision and intimate encounter with God Almighty. Jeremiah remembers it as the place of Israel’s (short lived) innocence, and many prophets envision the wilderness as being a place that will reflect God’s future glory. Perhaps most importantly, the wilderness was a necessary place of preparation for Jesus. In the words of Randall Kohls, “The Gospel Begins in the Wilderness.”

Naturally, this begs the question. “What dictates a positive or negative experience associated with the wilderness?”

In many instances, it is choice.

It was the actions and choices of a generation that transformed a time of encounter and intimacy into a time of death and isolation. It was the persistent rebellion and inability of a people to look beyond their uncomfortable state of affairs that allowed them to forget their salvation and, in time, forfeit their future. It was unfaithfulness to God’s expectations that shattered what was supposed to be a time of innocence. And true to form, it will be our choices and actions that will dictate our experience with the gospel.

Potsherds, Computers, and the Composition of the Bible

This week, the National Academy of Sciences published a new type of study on some of the Arad Ostraca. The shock headlines have read something like, "New Evidence of when the Old Testament was Written!" Or, "Bible Written Earlier Than Thought!" It really appears to be an interesting article, and in light of a late night text message from my older brother, I felt compelled to register some of my knee-jerk reactions.

I posted them on a blog site for Wesley Biblical Seminary, which is a school with which I do some teaching. You can access it here.