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... simpler doctrine to follow. After a period of time, these people learned how to read the deeper meanings within the text. Thiering takes many of the supernatural events that occur in the New Testament and interprets their meaning. There are many references to the miracles involving Jesus in the New Testament. For example, there is the virgin birth, the feeding of 5, 000 people, and the Resurrection (Matt. 1: 23, Jn. 14: 17 - 21, Jn. 20: 9).
In the story of the feeding of 5, 000 people, Jesus takes five loaves of bread and feeds 5, 000 people. Thiering asserts that the five loaves of bread represents the Sacred Meal given by the Levites. The Levites were a descendents from the tribe of Levi who were appointed by God to hold responsibilities in the Temple. Aaron, the brother of Moses was a Levi and the first High Priest of the Israelites (Ex. 4: 14). Thiering states that when the Scriptures talk about Jesus breaking the bread and giving it to the people, He was really giving them the authority previously reserved for the Levites (Riddles VHS). Jesus Himself broke the Jewish law when He blessed and broke and gave the bread (Matt. 14: 19).
If Thiering's theory is accurate, then many of the unexplained events in the Scriptures can be interpreted and understood. Her theories take away the divine nature of the Old and New Testament making it more believable and logical. However, her claims for this theory raise many questions. For instance, Thiering states that Jesus did not really die and resurrect. Instead, He was buried alive and rescued by His disciples after three days (Riddles VHS). Afterwards, He went into solitary hiding, thus He was received into heaven (Mark 16: 19).
The puzzling aspect of Thiering's theory is, if Jesus did live until an advanced age, why are all references to Him in the later parts of the New Testament made in the past tense? And if He was alive during persecution of His disciples, why did He not do anything? But, most mysteriously, why arent there any existing writings by Jesus? After all, the New Testament makes constant reference to His teaching, yet there arent any documents written by Jesus Himself. Biblical scholars Dave Miller and Dr. Barbara Thiering both agree that the Scriptures are true documents.
Miller states that the events occurring in the Bible should be taken in a literal sense. Thiering states that the Bible is a true collection of documents, however the documents must be studied at a deeper level. These two people represent the two extreme views of biblical scholars. Very few completely agree with either of these views simply because the scholars lack the evidence supporting these claims. Robert Funk, a former college professor and author of many books pertaining to the Scriptures, states that Jesus was more human than divine (Romjue 1). In his studies, Funk has come to the conclusion that none of the divine occurrences in the New Testament should be taken literally.
Even some of the sayings that are attributed to Jesus are questionable according to Funk. His reasoning comes from studying the parallels of the four Gospels, which describe the life of Jesus (Romjue 24). However, Funk has been criticized by many denominations. My uncle who is an elder for the Korean Baptist Church of Concord states that a true leader is never accepted by his own people (Personal Interview # 1). He is saying that Jesus is facing criticism because of his authenticity.
My uncle believes that every word of the Bible declares the truth and this truth proves the validity of the Scriptures (Personal Interview # 1). Rather than just focus on the extreme views pertaining to the Bible, let us look at the consensus of the majority of biblical scholars. Here is an excerpt from my interview with Gerard Lee Dykstra, pastor of the Reform Church of Walnut Creek. His views sum up the majority views of biblical scholars. When asked if all of the Biblical events are accurate, including the concepts that seem to disregard the laws of nature and science, Dykstra replied: Do I believe that everything written in the Bible is true? Absolutely.
Do I think that people misinterpret the Bible? Yes. For example, Noahs Flood. Most Christians argue that this flood was universal and that it covered the entire earth.
After all, in Genesis, it says that the flood was on the earth (Gen. 7: 17). But, I take a different stand on this and I have been criticized by many for believing differently. Do I believe that this flood occurred? Yes I do. Do I believe that God uses natural phenomenons (sic) to reach his people? Absolutely.
However, at the time that this was written, the world as known to the people at that time, was not the entire world, as we know today. The world the people knew back then was just their continent. The people in the Bible believed that the world was divided into layers. The first layer being a firmament that was like a huge covering. This layer included the sky, sun, moon, and the stars. Then there was the land.
These people believed that the land they were living on was floating on top of water. Why? Because in any direction they walked, they ended up reaching water. And what happened when they dug the ground? They eventually found water.
Therefore, many events in the Bible are misinterpreted by society today. Same goes for the story of Creation. People state that the world was created in six days. That is six, 24 -hour days.
However, this is not true. Yes, I do believe that God created the world, but not in six days. (Personal Interview # 2). In this interview, we can see how Dykstra addresses both sides of the issue regarding the validity of the Bible. When Dykstra comments on the misinterpretation of the Bible, he is addressing the extremists like Dave Miller, who believe in the literal translation of the Scriptures. However, Dykstra differs from Miller in that he believes that there is a cultural error in the Bible. He claims that the Bible was written using knowledge known to the world at that time.
In any case, Dykstra still holds firm his belief in the divine nature of the Bible. There is a new concept that we can see here with Dykstra. This concept is visible in Millers argument as well. It is the concept of faith and belief.
Millers faith in the Scriptures allows him to find the validity of the Bible within the text itself. Therefore, all archeological evidence seems to be proving the Bible. In my case, and the case of many others, our doubts regarding the truth of the Bible influences our interpretation. Therefore, the same archaeological evidence, which Miller sees as advocating the inerrancy of the Scriptures, can be, in the views of others, evidence which, disproves the Bibles validity. There is no way to physically prove the Bible. After all, much of the Bible contains supernatural events, which could never be scientifically proven.
Also, the earlier books of the Old Testament refer to events that occurred anywhere from 4, 000 to 6, 000 years ago. These events have never been proven and there has never been any archaeological evidence supporting the existence of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, or any of the earlier characters. Biblical scholar and founding editor of the magazine, Biblical Archeology Review, Hershel Shanks sums up the consensus of the majority of biblical scholars. He states that you cant look at the text literally. It wasnt written as modern history was written. But on the other hand, it certainly wasnt made up (Lemonick 3).
The Bible has been vastly influential book of Western society. Its birthplace is an area no bigger than the state of New Jersey. Yet, this book has lasted for over 4, 000 years. Those years were not at all gentle and delicate to the Bible.
It had to survive persecution by many different cultures, outlive the hardships of the Dark Ages, and allow itself to be translated hundreds and thousands of times. It is shocking to see how the Bible infiltrated almost every corner of the earth. In some ways, perhaps the very existence of the Bible advocates it validity. Bibliography: Bibliography Albert, Patty, et al. Chicken Soup For the Christian Soul. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. , 1997.
Baigent, Michael, Richard Leigh. The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception. New York, NY: Summit Books, 1991. The Bible: New King James Version. 14 th Printing. Korea: Korean Bible Society, 1987. Brown, Raymond E.
Responses to 101 Questions on the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1990. Cheadle, Rand, and Jim Hill. The Bible Tells Me So: Uses and Abuses of Holy Scripture. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1996. Cohen, Edmund D.
The Mind of the Bible-Believer. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1988. Dykstra, Gerard Lee. Personal Interview (2). 4 Dec. 1997.
Edwards, James R. Who Do Scholars Say that I Am? Christianity Today. 4 Mar. 1997: 14 - 21. Griffin, Jerry.
The Bible: Preserved for You. Bible Advocate Press. Jul. 1997. (1 Dec. 1997). Lemonick, Michael D. Are the Bible Stories True? Time. 18 Dec. 1995: 62 - 66.
Kim, John B. Personal Interview (1). 26 Nov. 1997. Mason, M. S. Classes Ponder Faith and Science.
Christian Science Monitor. 8 Dec. 1997: 1 - 4.
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Research essay sample on Archaeological Evidence Divine Nature
