“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” –Proverbs 14:15
According to John 18:37-38, Jesus told Pilate that the reason he came
into the world was to “bear witness unto the truth.” As the story
goes, Pilate replied dismissively with the rhetorical question, “What
is truth?” Such evasions aside, truth is simply this: the inescapable
reality that is established by a certain framework of indisputable
facts. Whether Pilate liked it or not–whether you or your preachers
like it or not–there is such a thing as truth, and you cannot
exempt yourself from its rules.
If the facts are inconsistent with a claim I am making, then that
claim is not true. If the claim is not true, then it is false, and so
is every other claim that depends on it. It’s really that simple.
Buyer Beware
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” –Eccl. 9:5
If I am trying to sell you a used car, it had better start when you
turn the key. My statement that it “runs fine” will be proved false
otherwise, and you will have little patience with my excuses. That
spectacular failure of my claim to conform with the facts will make
you inclined to distrust everything else I try to tell you about the car.
There is no way for me to get around this problem. A protest that your
“carnal understanding” cannot comprehend the qualities of the car
would make me look just plain crazy. So would the assertion that it is
only your “wrongful pride” that keeps you from truly considering the
qualities of my non-functioning car. Your money would remain in your
purse or back pocket as you move slowly away.
“God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” –2 Thess. 2:11
It is a testament to the power of religion in the human psyche that it
can exempt itself from the evidentiary standards of even a used car
salesman. The same question you would be a fool for not asking–Is it
true?–in the one case is considered downright offensive in the
other.
When you give the analogy just a little space to play out, you quickly
realize how sad the whole spectacle really is: The car does not only
fail to start, but by any objective indication seems not to exist at
all. The salesman cannot get his story straight about what kind of
car it is, claims it is the only car you could ever possibly own, and
threatens you with sadistic tortures if you decide not to buy it. And
if you walk down the street, you will find hundreds of equally
impassioned salespeople selling their own invisible cars, all claiming
to have the only one that actually exists.
But This Is Different...
“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” –1 Tim. 5:23
“In matters of faith and salvation, however, we must set our carnal
mind and understanding aside.” So claims an article “The Gospel Is Not
Earthly Wisdom,” published in the April 2012 issue of the Voice of
Zion newspaper of the
Laestadian Lutheran Church (LLC). The images
you see throughout this posting are scanned excerpts from the
article. Its author cites various well-worn Bible passages to make his
warnings against “rational understanding.” The old citations are
thrown at the reader one after another, wrapped in such familiarity
and piety that one can easily disregard the human hand of the
article’s author in selecting them. But selected they were–from a
sprawling, contradictory hodgepodge of all-too-human ancient thought
that has been compiled over many centuries, argued about, imperfectly
copied and translated, and finally transformed into an object of
veneration as “God’s Word”
(§4.3.4).
The Bible texts themselves are seldom read in their full
context. Instead, the pious eye hastily glances over the atrocities
and outrages, the inconsistencies and failed prophecies, to find
familiar passages that will shore up a doctrinal conclusion that was
predetermined before the book was ever opened. As with the used car
with all its dings and scratches, a sale is most likely if you don’t
look too closely at what you’re buying.
“I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” –Col. 1:24 (NASB)
To expose the illusion and show the quote-mining subjectivity for what
it is, my caption to each scanned excerpt is another passage from the
very same book of the Bible that a Laestadian preacher would never
find occasion to cite. And this provides only a small example of the
selective reading that goes on every Sunday, in every Voice of Zion
article, in every discussion about “faith matters.” The Word itself,
it turns out, needs quite a bit of earthly wisdom from Laestadian
editors to stay on message.
The writers and expounders of scripture protest that what they are
selecting and saying is actually what God wants to say. As the
article puts it, God “has revealed the mysteries of faith through His
Spirit in His kingdom.” It is latter-day
Gnosticism, with a
privileged few sharing “esoteric knowledge” among themselves.
Within the sacred enclave, curious transformations take place in
language. Acknowledging the possibility of error is no longer humility
but dangerous pride. Childhood is associated not with its natural
curiosity and search for knowledge, but a passivity and resignation
more suited to those with one foot in the grave. All is done in the
service of “God’s kingdom, the pillar and ground of truth” where, in a
bitter irony, the very meaning of truth is cast aside. Instead, as Sam
Harris puts it, faith “obscures uncertainty where uncertainty
manifestly exists, allowing the unknown, the implausible, and the
patently false to achieve primacy over the facts.”
“[I]t is impossible for those who were once enlightened ... if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” –Heb. 6:4-6
Never mind why the omnipotent God “who will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4) would
provide his spiritual guidance to 0.002% of the world’s population
within just one of many groups claiming to have the One True path to
salvation
(§4.2.2). Never
mind how that claim of sectarian exclusivity conflicts with the
teachings of Martin Luther, whom the group claims as its most
prominent spiritual founder
(§5.2). Never
mind why the Spirit would allow abusive practices to dominate the
group’s operations for over a decade
(§4.6.4,
§4.10.2).
No, you are not supposed to give any consideration to these and the
literally hundreds of other issues with “the simple doctrine of
faith.” The salesman is talking, and he doesn’t want to be interrupted
by your impertinent complaint that the engine won’t start.
“The truth shall make you free,” Jesus is reported to have said (John
8:32). Yes, it will–if only you let it.
Further Reading
-
Another article from the April 2012 Voice of Zion describes how
the preachers at the LLC’s Winter Services lamented “‘attacks against
God’s kingdom,’ questioning the validity of God’s Word in today’s
world.”
-
An Examination of the Pearl, free online version with various
sections linked with the “§” hyperlinks above. The section on reason
(§4.5.4)
is relevant to this posting as a whole.
-
Gnosticism entry on Wikipedia.
-
Harris, Sam. 2005. The End of Faith. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.
-
New American Standard Bible. 1995. La Habra, CA:
The Lockman Foundation.
———
I first
posted this on the
Learning to Live Free blog, 4/18/12. In August 2014, I reformatted and slightly edited the version you see here. Between this one and the version originally posted two years earlier, it’s been viewed over 8,000 times.
