The main question among earliest followers of Jesus of Nazareth was this one: In order to be a follower, does one have to be a Jew or become one? A lot of people thought so. After all, for the first few years all those converted were racially Jews even though many came from different parts of the Roman empire.
The first converted Gentile was a Roman army officer named Cornelius, described as a devout and generous man. This is all detailed in Acts 10-11, and the story is one of my favorites in scripture. God's interest is obvious. First, an angel is sent to Cornelius, who instructs him to send for the apostle Peter who's staying at the time in Joppa. Peter will then, the angel says, tell Cornelius what he is to do. By the time Cornelius's men arrive in Joppa, Peter has had a vision himself, one repeated three times. Troubled by what he's seen, Peter finally understands: God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. (10:28 KJV) Led by the Holy Spirit, Peter accompanied by six believing Jewish friends, went to Caesarea to meet with Cornelius. For what happened there let's read Peter's own summation.
1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.
12 And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:
13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
(Acts 11:1-18 KJV)
Cornelius was no pagan. Oh, he was no doubt born pne. And raised one. However, scripture tells us another thing about this man. He was, it says, "one that feared God with all his house" (10:2 KJV) He was what is now referred to as a "God fearer." At some point he had come to believe that God alone was God and had given up all idolatry. Others of the ten commandments were required of God fearers as well. They weren't to murder, steal, or commit sexual sins. Such men were welcome in the synagogues.
Jewish believers weren't required to leave Judaism, or even encouraged to do so. As we see in Acts 15 and the book of Galatians, Gentiles were not required to become Jews-- or even encouraged to do so. Becoming a God fearer, though, was a different question. Certainly no convert was going to continue in idolatry.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
So Where to Start?
Where to start indeed? There's so much I want to go into. Hmmm... So, I guess the thing to do is just start. Wherever. And just go from there.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Why Am I So Presumptuous?
So, why am I so presumptuous to believe that I should be taking the lead on a Bible study blog?
Well, after years of caring nothing about the Bible, in the late 1960s I began to develop an interest. This was about the same time as our first move to Waco. My wife and I had been longtime members of the Christian church, but we had become disappointed in the way they looked at scripture. Once this denomination had been strong Bible believers. One of the founders, Alexander Campbell, wrote, "Where the scriptures speak, we speak; where the scriptures are silent, we are silent." But by 1968 that was no longer the case and we stopped going.
A friend of mine, a very bright guy, a PHD student in physics at Baylor, was a lifelong Seventh Day Adventist. Because of some discussions I had with him, I began attending the Waco SDA congregation. I was a regular attendee throughout 1969 and really enjoyed the Biblical emphasis I found there. But a problem developed for me. One Ellen G. White. A lot of people considered her a true prophetess, her works inspired, but I never could. I left.
My wife and I, still searching, contacted the Worldwide Church of God sometime late in the following year, and after a congregation was started in Waco in 1971, we were invited to church by the pastor. (Yes, you had to be invited back then.) We remained members until July 18, 1993 when we dropped our letters of resignation into an Olathe, Kansas mail box. This was a freedom day we still refer to as July Teenth. Goodbye, cult.
It took me a long time to realize it but the WCG had had its own Ellen G. White all along, Herbert W. Armstrong. He had his Mystery of the Ages; she had her The Great Controversy. Following Armstrong's death in January, 1986, Joe Tkach became Pastor General (and apostle). Is "Pastor General" biblical? (Is "Pope" bibical?) In the WCG the Pastors General all expected to be treated like the Pope, little popes albeit, but as popes nonetheless. I realized that for twenty-two years I had been doing what I wanted to avoid, following a man.
No more gurus! This is what I took from the WCG experience. Unlike a lot of folks that realized how they had suffered years of abuse from Armstrong/WCG and gave up the whole religious thing, even becoming atheists, our faith in God never wavered. But we weren't about to seek out more doctrinal and ministerial abuse by attaching ourselves to one of the four or five hundred splinters that came out of a dying WCG. As my wife put it, "Herbert W. Armstrong was a charlatan who made fools of us all. As long as we accept that, we'll be okay." And we are.
So. the WCG wasn't bibical; the SDA wasn't biblcal; the Sunday churches aren't biblical. As far as that goes, Judaism, in its three main forms, isn't biblical. Other than maybe the Karaites anyway. Where was I to turn?
Since that point in time I've learned an awful lot from many varied sources. For instance, in Overland Park, Kansas there is a Jewish messanic synagogue, Adat Yeshua. When we were living there it was, and may still be, a satellite campus for Ron Moseley's American Institute of Holy Land Studies. As we lived nearby, I took quite a few courses there. Since retirement I've continued with AIHLS by correspondence. Right now I'm a little over halfway to a bachelors degree. Through these courses I've had access to believing scholars, real scholars, like Moseley, Roy Blizzard, Dwight Pryor, and Jim Fleming. Dr. Fleming speaks in the Houston area once or twice a year and when we were living there, heard him several times. These men have taught me much about the history, culture, language, and geography of the first century in particular, and of Bible times in general. These studies are commonly referred to as "Hebrew Roots."
Whenever Michael Rood would come to town I would try to go listen. Am I, then, a disciple of Michael Rood? No. Do I believe all the doctrines of Ron Moseley? No way. I'm true to my rule, "No more gurus!" I'll learn from anyone, but am a follower of no man. No currently living man, that is. I certainly have no problem with Peter, John and Paul.
I'm presumptuous enough to believe that I have knowledge a lot of people don't have and I would like to share. Hence this blog. As well, maybe others will read and share things I don't know. That's my hope.
Well, after years of caring nothing about the Bible, in the late 1960s I began to develop an interest. This was about the same time as our first move to Waco. My wife and I had been longtime members of the Christian church, but we had become disappointed in the way they looked at scripture. Once this denomination had been strong Bible believers. One of the founders, Alexander Campbell, wrote, "Where the scriptures speak, we speak; where the scriptures are silent, we are silent." But by 1968 that was no longer the case and we stopped going.
A friend of mine, a very bright guy, a PHD student in physics at Baylor, was a lifelong Seventh Day Adventist. Because of some discussions I had with him, I began attending the Waco SDA congregation. I was a regular attendee throughout 1969 and really enjoyed the Biblical emphasis I found there. But a problem developed for me. One Ellen G. White. A lot of people considered her a true prophetess, her works inspired, but I never could. I left.
My wife and I, still searching, contacted the Worldwide Church of God sometime late in the following year, and after a congregation was started in Waco in 1971, we were invited to church by the pastor. (Yes, you had to be invited back then.) We remained members until July 18, 1993 when we dropped our letters of resignation into an Olathe, Kansas mail box. This was a freedom day we still refer to as July Teenth. Goodbye, cult.
It took me a long time to realize it but the WCG had had its own Ellen G. White all along, Herbert W. Armstrong. He had his Mystery of the Ages; she had her The Great Controversy. Following Armstrong's death in January, 1986, Joe Tkach became Pastor General (and apostle). Is "Pastor General" biblical? (Is "Pope" bibical?) In the WCG the Pastors General all expected to be treated like the Pope, little popes albeit, but as popes nonetheless. I realized that for twenty-two years I had been doing what I wanted to avoid, following a man.
No more gurus! This is what I took from the WCG experience. Unlike a lot of folks that realized how they had suffered years of abuse from Armstrong/WCG and gave up the whole religious thing, even becoming atheists, our faith in God never wavered. But we weren't about to seek out more doctrinal and ministerial abuse by attaching ourselves to one of the four or five hundred splinters that came out of a dying WCG. As my wife put it, "Herbert W. Armstrong was a charlatan who made fools of us all. As long as we accept that, we'll be okay." And we are.
So. the WCG wasn't bibical; the SDA wasn't biblcal; the Sunday churches aren't biblical. As far as that goes, Judaism, in its three main forms, isn't biblical. Other than maybe the Karaites anyway. Where was I to turn?
Since that point in time I've learned an awful lot from many varied sources. For instance, in Overland Park, Kansas there is a Jewish messanic synagogue, Adat Yeshua. When we were living there it was, and may still be, a satellite campus for Ron Moseley's American Institute of Holy Land Studies. As we lived nearby, I took quite a few courses there. Since retirement I've continued with AIHLS by correspondence. Right now I'm a little over halfway to a bachelors degree. Through these courses I've had access to believing scholars, real scholars, like Moseley, Roy Blizzard, Dwight Pryor, and Jim Fleming. Dr. Fleming speaks in the Houston area once or twice a year and when we were living there, heard him several times. These men have taught me much about the history, culture, language, and geography of the first century in particular, and of Bible times in general. These studies are commonly referred to as "Hebrew Roots."
Whenever Michael Rood would come to town I would try to go listen. Am I, then, a disciple of Michael Rood? No. Do I believe all the doctrines of Ron Moseley? No way. I'm true to my rule, "No more gurus!" I'll learn from anyone, but am a follower of no man. No currently living man, that is. I certainly have no problem with Peter, John and Paul.
I'm presumptuous enough to believe that I have knowledge a lot of people don't have and I would like to share. Hence this blog. As well, maybe others will read and share things I don't know. That's my hope.
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