LET'S CREATE A DUST STORM!

It may surprise some to discover that we have no original copies of biblical books. However, we have many copies and fragments of copies that are carefully compared to produce the Bibles that we possess today. The Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran. These scrolls – when scrutinized over the next twenty years – would refine and corroborate the preceding scriptural examinations! Their value is inestimable!

We know that all of our New Testament was written before 100 A.D. The Old Testament scriptures had obviously been carefully maintained for well over a thousand years earlier. The original languages would have been Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek!

There was chaos in the first four hundred years A.D. trying to determine which books had authority. The process was not highly structured, but rested in the hands of the early church fathers who eventually confirmed – by the end of the fourth century – the sixty-six books that protestants consider the Holy Bible.

But the history of western Asia and Europe was then enveloped in a period that we know as the Dark Ages. It’s difficult for us to imagine this period of history. I’m reminded of a joke I enjoyed as a teenager.

Why was the period from 500 – 1500 A.D known as the ‘Dark Ages’?

Because there were so many knights!

It was during this period that monasteries were established throughout Europe and the feudal system came into being. Most of us know that this was an incubation period for this new Christianity! Monks busied themselves meticulously copying the early manuscripts of scripture by hand-writing copies of the Bible!

By the fourth century when books were copied by hand, there was a standard rate of pay for scribes. Books were divided into what were called stichoi. A stichos is not a line. It was originally the length of sixteen syllables [based on the average length of a line that Homer wrote].

There is a sixth-century New Testament manuscript called the “Codex Claromontanus” which gives the number of stichoi in each New Testament book.  It reported that in Matthew there are 2,600 stichoi, in Mark 1,600, in Luke 2,900 and in John 2,000. Consequently there were 9,100 stichoi in the four Gospels.

There is also an edict of Diocletian published early in the fourth century that fixes the prices for all sorts of things; and amongst them it fixes the rate for the pay of scribes; and the pay is 25 denarii per hundred stichoi. A denarius was a little over five cents, so the rate was approximately $1.25 per hundred stichoi.

This means that – at that time - one could purchase the four Gospels for about $124. All the letters of Paul would have cost about $68.

When Wycliffe published the Bible in English for the first time at the end of the fourteenth century, it was, of course, before printing was available. The Bible still had to be copied by hand. Later, George Foxe wrote: “Some gave five marks (equal to about $55), some more, some less for a book. Some gave a load of hay for a few chapters of St. James or St. Paul in English.”

“When the Great Bible was published in 1540, Bishop Bonner placed the six copies in convenient places in St. Paul’s Cathedral; and such was the eagerness to read them, and to hear them read aloud, that services were rendered impossible and the traffic disrupted and the crowds so great that Bonner had to threaten to take the Bibles away if the eager disorder did not cease.”

When George Foxe had spoken of the eagerness of the people to read the Wycliffe Bible and of their sacrifices to pay for one, he went on, “To see their travails, their earnest seekings, their burning zeal, their readings, their watchings, their sweet assemblies…may make us now in these days of free profession to blush for shame.” It was 1563 when Foxe wrote that.

There is a lesson in this review for all of us. Something that was originally hailed as life-transforming has become mundane! At various points of history, people craved to hear or read the word of God! They would expend inordinate amounts of money or invest hours of time in order to hear these precious, life-giving words!

Many over the years have prayed for a revival. Perhaps instead, we should pray for a rebible!

Gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

You have clearly given us Your Word!

You initiated people through many ages to write these sacred words.

You protected manuscripts through centuries of chaos and rebellion.

You’ve guided the process through translators and translations.

And today, we hold in our hands THE WORD OF GOD!

There is no limit to its power especially when energized by Your Holy Spirit!

Grow in us a DESIRE FOR YOUR WORD!

Create hunger in us for it.

Speak to us through it!

Guide us and use us to incite passion in others for Your precious messages!

FOR YOUR KINGDOM’S SAKE.

AMEN!

Woodrow Kroll, the late president of Back to the Bible once said: "If Christians blew the dust off their Bibles at the same time, there would be a massive dust storm."  [adapted]

Maybe it's time for a dust storm!

HE PREACHED HIMSELF INTO EXILE

I read this morning about a noteworthy pastor who lived from 349 – 407 A.D. He was raised in Antioch which was a leading intellectual center of late antiquity. He was raised by a widowed mother who was a pious Christian woman.

Originally known as John of Antioch, he eventually came to be known as John Chrysostom [meaning “golden mouth”], because of his eloquent and uncompromising preaching. He did not cater his messages to the listeners, but spoke the bold truth as he perceived it based on the Word of God.

A sample:

“It is foolishness and a public madness to fill the cupboards with clothing,

and allow men who are created in God’s image and likeness to stand naked and trembling with the cold so that they can hardly hold themselves upright.”

In the spring of 388, a rebellion erupted in Antioch over the announcement of increased taxes. Statues of the emperor and his family were desecrated. Officials responded by killing some city leaders! In the midst of this crisis, John preached:

“Improve yourselves now truly, not as when during one of the numerous earthquakes or in famine or in drought or in similar visitations you leave off your sinning for three or four days and then begin the old life again.”

As a result of this kind of boldness, he was in great demand as a preacher! In his sermons, he denounced abortion, prostitution, gluttony, the theater, and swearing. About the love of horse racing, he complained,

“My sermons are applauded merely from custom, then everyone runs off to [horse racing] again and gives much more applause to the jockeys, showing indeed unrestrained passion for them! There they put their heads together with great attention, and say with mutual rivalry, ‘This horse did not run well, this one stumbled,’ and one holds to this jockey and another to that. No one thinks any more of my sermons, nor of the holy and awesome mysteries that are accomplished here.”

His sermons tended to run from thirty minutes to two hours and were well attended. He had a large, bald head, deeply set eyes, and sunken cheeks and brought images of Elisha the prophet to people’s minds. Once – when he was discouraged – he wrote:

“My work is like that of a man who is trying to clean a piece of ground into which a muddy stream is constantly flowing.”

In 398, he was kidnapped and carried to Constantinople where he was forcibly consecrated as archbishop of Constantinople. This was orchestrated by a government official who wanted to adorn the capital city with the best orator in Christianity. John accepted it as God’s providence.

Rather than soften his words for his new and prestigious audience – which now included many from the imperial household – John continued themes he preached in Antioch. He railed against abuses of wealth and power. Even his lifestyle itself was a scandal: he lived an ascetic life, used his considerable household budget to care for the poor, and built hospitals.

In a sermon against the theater he said,

“Long after the theater is closed and everyone is gone away, those images [of “shameful women” actresses] still float before your soul, their words, the conduct, their glances, their walk, their positions, their excitation, their unchaste limbs…

are there within you, she kindles the Babylonian furnace in which the peace of your home, the purity of your heart, the happiness of your marriage will be burnt up!”

Eventually his lack of skill and tact made him too many enemies – in the imperial family and among fellow bishops. He was exiled back to the plains of Asia Minor where his health immediately began to suffer. He received visits from loyal followers and wrote many letters from this exile.

Before he died, he wrote:

“When you see the church scattered, suffering the most terrible trials, her most illustrious members persecuted and flogged, her leader carried away into exile, don’t only consider these events, but also the things that have resulted: the rewards, the recompense, the awards for the athlete who wins in the games and the prizes won in the contest.”

Remarkably, 600 sermons and 200 letters survive this great early church father!

[Heavily drawn on material from 131 Christians Everyone Should Know pp.83-85]

A GIFT WE FAIL TO APPRECIATE!

The extent to which we have benefitted from two thousand years of theological reflection, scholarly thought, and vigorous debate is inestimable!  But no period was more foundational than the period between the years 30 through 400 A.D.

30 A.D. is the commonly accepted date for the death and resurrection of Christ!  The four gospels describe His life and ministry.  Acts records the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ taking us up to the time of the Apostle Paul’s and Peter’s deaths – 65 A.D.  About this same time, Emperor Nero launched vicious attacks against the Christians. Remember that the Temple in Jerusalem was totally destroyed in 70 A.D.

The deaths of the other apostles would follow before the year 100 A.D.  By this time, all of the books of our New Testament would have been written, however, they would not have been collated yet or referred to as the New Testament!

It seems apparent that the apostles were realizing that Christ’s return was not going to occur during their lifetimes.  Consequently, some began training younger people so that the propagation of the gospel would continue into the next generation.  Paul trained Timothy and others.  Peter worked closely with John Mark – who gave us the Gospel of Mark – likely the first gospel written.  John doesn’t name trainees, but he frequently refers to his associates as his ‘dear children’ and ‘dear friends’.

What most of us don’t realize and rarely think about is the massive amount of reflection and consolidating that had to have taken place in these early centuries.  There are so many areas that demanded consideration and thoughtful reflection – we cannot possibly consider them all [or no one would bother to read this blog 😊]. 

Therefore, let’s consider just three – and only briefly.

1.    Establishing a Christology [a study of Christ]

How did God become a man?  How was it possible for Jesus Christ to be wholly divine?

One of the first theories considered was that of adoption. God saw that Jesus was a good man, so God adopted him to be his Son by giving him a special blessing.

So, when did this ‘adoption’ take place? 

·         At His baptism?

·         On the mount of transfiguration?

·         In the Garden of Gethsemane?

·         While suffering on the Cross?

Eventually, the adoption view was replaced by the consideration  of a divine birth.  How did THAT happen?  How could a human baby be divine?  The prophecies were merged with Mary’s report to Luke and the concept of a virgin-birth was developed – confirmed by Old Testament prophecies regarding the timing and location of this birth!. 

All of this took great thought, discussion and Biblical study! 

We have inherited two thousand years of development that has just been handed down to us!  But these early followers of Christ were engaged in a deep, focused, laborious and passionate search for understanding and truth!

2.    Establishing the Church

The history of the development of the church fills volumes of books!  The progression from a ragtag group of followers to a rapidly expanding body of believers made up of both Jews and Gentiles demanded significant focus, effort and agreement! 

The first great council of the New Testament Church took place around 50 A.D. in Jerusalem.  We have a recording of the deliberations of this group recorded in Acts 15.

Many councils would follow, some of which met and deliberated for over a year!  They debated and protected the developing church from many heresies that were rapidly expanding across the then global Church!  They discussed ways that the Church should structure and maintain unity and accountability. 

Several of these ‘councils’ capped their work by the dissemination of a creed:                

·         First Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) – Nicean Creed

·         Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) – Chalcedonian Creed

What we commonly refer to as ‘The Apostle’s Creed’ seems to have been fully developed by the fourth century.  It is not clearly connected to a council, but rather the common acceptance of the Church and its leaders - based on the teachings of the Apostles!  It has become the litmus test for groups that identify themselves as ‘CHRISTIAN’. 

The conversion of the Emperor Constantine (312 A.D.) freed the Church from persecution and gave it official recognition across the Roman Empire!  Consequently, Leo the Great was consecrated as the Bishop of Rome (440 A.D.) - a key leader in the foundling Church.  In 590 A.D., Gregory the Great was elected to be Pope of the new Church. 

This, of course, coincided with the beginning of what we know as the ‘Dark Ages’ [roughly 500 – 1500 A.D.]  This was characterized by three important developments:

A.   The emergence of the Roman Catholic Church.  The first major divide occurred in the mid-seventh century over a controversy regarding the use of icons in worship.  This led to the first major split of the Church into the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

B.   The Dark Ages also ignited the feudal system of government particularly across Europe. 

C.   The establishment of monasteries focused on the development of clergy and the protection and duplication of the Holy Scriptures – by hand!

 3.    Establishing an agreed upon group of writings as our current Bible!

Scholars refer to this collection of approved scriptures as the ‘Canon of Scripture’.  The process of producing an approved list of scriptures [Old and New Testaments] was not done in an official manner.  Various lists of ‘approved’ scriptures began to emerge in the writings of the early church leaders. 

This process has had much written about it.  Until the middle of the 15^th century, the Roman Catholic Church had approved a list of scriptures: 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. 

This coincided with Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press that infinitesimally increased the production of Bibles across the world! 

The Protestant Reformation was not a highly structured rebellion against Catholicism. Although it began with Martin Luther’s scholarly disagreement with many positions and practices within Catholicism [primarily the sale of indulgences], it was rather the emergence of several divergent directions of belief that would develop during this century:

o   Protestantism

§  Martin Luther – Lutheranism

§  John Calvin – Calvinism [Presbyterian/Baptist]

§  The Anabaptist movement – many leaders [Amish, Mennonite, Brethren]

§  In the following century, the British ecclesiastical revolt under King Henry VIII, leading to John Wesley’s Revival [resulting in Methodism]

Today’s protestant Bible includes the 39 books of the Old Testament [omitting the apocryphal books previously included in the Catholic OT] and the 27 books of the New Testament [as commonly printed and recognized].  The Catholic OT Canon included - Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, I and II Maccabees - plus sections of Esther and Daniel which are absent from the Protestant OT. 

These developments have impacted us immensely today, yet we had practically nothing to do with their evolution.  This is why John Calvin felt it essential to regard the tradition of the Church as a key way of learning about God! 

We are blessed to have had so much done for us so long before our engagement in this world! 

Thank You Eternal God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

 

For guiding these processes from the earliest days until the present!

Thank You for the investments that so many made over the years!

Thank You for the work of scholars and leaders.

Thank You for overseeing and guiding the many councils that formed our theology!

Thank You for courageous reformers who corrected and directed the path and trajectory of The Church!

Thank You for those who illustrated and taught us the Truth as we were growing up!

 

Help us to be faithful to these traditions,

to protect them as a precious gift,

to pass them carefully and accurately to the next generation,

and to regard them as a holy treasure as we live our lives to Your glory!

 

BLESSED BE YOUR WORD, YOUR CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

AMEN!