[Dialogue] Spong 7/24
KroegerD at aol.com
KroegerD at aol.com
Thu Jul 24 10:52:14 EDT 2008
Thursday July 24, 2008 The Origins of the Bible, Part IX
The Judges — Transition Between the Law and the Prophets When one initiates
a series of columns on the origins of the Bible and how it came to be
written, there are inevitably times when there are transitions. They are not the
most exciting part of the story, but they are essential if one is going to hear
the story in its entirety. We come to such a transition part of the story in
this column. Let me set the stage.
Thus far we have examined the development of the Torah, the name by which
the Jews refer to the first five books of the Bible. Though they are popularly
known as "The Book of Moses," today scholars are universal in denying the
Mosaic authorship of these books for three reasons that, upon examination, seem
quite obvious. 1) Moses had been dead some 300 years before the first verse
of the Torah was written, making it, shall we say, somewhat impossible for him
to be its author; 2) The Torah contains an account (Deut. 34) of Moses'
death and burial, a rather remarkable thing for an author to be able to write;
and 3) An analysis of the Torah reveals it to be the combination of at least
four separate strands of material written over a period of some 500 years from
950 BCE to 450 BCE, but reflecting events in Israel's earlier history. Recent
scholarship has finally and completely dismissed one of the prevailing
fantasies marking biblical literalism. In this week's column, we transition beyond
the Torah and toward the prophets.
Jewish tradition was built on the "twin towers" of the law and the prophets.
Moses was the Jewish face of the law and his name became a synonym for the
law. The prophets, however, were not identified with a person in the same way,
even though Elijah has been designated, I think inaccurately, as the father
of the prophetic movement. Elijah lived in the 9th century BCE, a time in
which the Jewish people were divided into competing nations, the Northern
Kingdom, with its capital in Samaria, and Judah with its capital in Jerusalem.
Elijah was identified with the Northern Kingdom.
The Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy) covers Jewish history from the moment of
creation to the time when Israel was poised on the edge of what they called "The
Promised Land." The Exodus and the Conquest of Canaan are located in the
1250-1200 BCE period. The prophetic movement appears in the reign of King David,
but its golden age does not arrive until the 8th century BCE. So there is a
considerable gap of time between the Torah and the prophets. During this gap
the solitary Jewish nation divided through a civil war into two separate
nations. The Northern Kingdom lasted until 721 BCE, when it was destroyed by the
Assyrians, and the nation called Judah lasted until 586, when it was
destroyed and its people exiled to the land of the Babylonians. These constitute the
stories related in the biblical books from Judges to II Kings, which now come
into our focus. These books probably do not give us much real history. They
are rather filled with folk tales, hero stories and national propaganda, but
they do provide information into the character of Judaism. We look first at
the books of Joshua and Judges.
It is still a much debated question as to whether Joshua was a historic
person. Historians wonder whether the conquest of the land of Canaan was done in
a single military conflict resulting in a Jewish victory, as the Bible
suggests, or whether that conquest occurred over hundreds of years as marauding
Semitic bands settled in this land and only later did their stories merge into a
consistent Jewish history. What we do have in the biblical story is that
Joshua was the successor to Moses and that he was of the tribe of Ephraim, which
made him a member of one of the two Joseph tribes that would some day
constitute the bulk of the Northern Kingdom. Many Moses stories appear to have been
wrapped around Joshua. Certainly the splitting of the Jordan River so that
the people of Israel could walk across it on dry land on their way to conquer
Jericho is a Red Sea story being retold. The conquest of Canaan by Joshua is
portrayed in the Bible as being total, but later history shows Jews and
Canaanites living side by side and even intermarrying long after Joshua, which
would seem to indicate that Joshua enjoyed something less than total victory.
The Book of Joshua actually only relates three major military campaigns: The
Battle of Jericho, which is told in great detail; the battle against the
kings of the South and the battle against the kings of the North, both of which
have scant details. If you read the word kings here as if they were more like
mayors of various villages, you would have a truer picture of these battles.
After these three campaigns the Bible suggests that the people settled down
into loosely-knit confederations under the leadership of local judges.
The period of the Judges in Jewish history produced folk tales, hero stories
and myths that are quite distinct even in the Bible. People tend not to be
familiar with these stories, except for the narrative about the strong man,
Samson, and of his dramatic undoing at the hands of his lover, Delilah. As
delightful as the story of Samson is, it is only one of many that we find in the
Book of Judges. There is also the account of Jael, who finds the number one
enemy of her people, a Canaanite general named Sisera, delivered miraculously
into her hands. After giving him a glass of milk laced with sufficient drugs
to render him unconscious, she proceeds to nail his head to the floor with a
mallet and a tent peg. It is a rather gory story! There is also the story of
Jephthah and his rash vow to sacrifice anyone who comes out to greet him on
his return from a military victory. The innocent one who gets trapped in this
vow turns out to be his own daughter. Then there was the story of Ehud, the
left-handed judge, who managed to drive his sword so deeply into the stomach
of Eglon, the hugely fat king of Moab, that his hand actually disappeared in
the king's flesh. Perhaps the most repellant story in the Bible is the
narrative in the Book of Judges about a man who travels with his concubine to
Jerusalem where, to save himself from abuse, he offers his concubine to the men of
the city for gang rape. When they have done their worst to her, they threw
her unconscious body on the porch of the home where this man was staying. He
then proceeds to carve this woman into twelve pieces, sending part of her to
each of the twelve tribes of Israel to call them to arms (Judges 19). The
stories found in the Book of Judges are not necessarily the passages one reads in
church and then says, "This is the word of the Lord!"
This period in Jewish history when local judges were the real rulers might
best be understood as analogous to that period of American history when the
people of this nation lived under the articles of confederation as a loose
union of states with little or no national power. Having just endured the life of
submissive colonies ruled by a foreign power, these early Americans were not
eager to cede local authority to anyone. The Israelites also had searing
memories of their oppression at the hands of the Egyptians and so, having found
freedom, they were also not eager to be submissive to a distant authority
again. That is a natural reaction, but it is hardly ever a permanent solution.
The American Colonies would never have maintained their independent life had
they not become a unified nation. The tribes of Israel would never have
maintained their independent life had they not become a nation. The new union in
both nations was, we recall, quite fragile and was tested by secession. It was
80 years after the kingship of David was established that the ten Northern
tribes seceded from the nation ruled by the tribe of Judah. It was 73 years
after the United States established the central government, under the presidency
of George Washington that secession from this union occurred that ultimately
involved eleven states. The process of nation building seems to go through
certain inevitable stages.
The period of the Judges came to an end under the leadership of the final
judge, whose name was Samuel. He is clearly the pivotal figure in this period
of Israel's history between being a people in the wilderness and having an
established nation. As seems to be the case with every pivotal figure in Jewish
history, Samuel becomes a model for Jewish messianic thinking, Certainly the
Jesus story shows the influence of Samuel. Samuel had something of a
miraculous birth. His mother, Hannah, had been unable to have children until, as the
story says, God intervened to answer her prayers. When Samuel was born Hannah
was said to have sung a song that is quite similar to the Song of Mary that
we call the Magnificat. When Luke tells the story of Jesus going up to the
Temple at the age of twelve, there are many similarities with Hannah taking
Samuel to the shrine where Eli the priest lived.
Samuel is also the pivotal figure in the establishment of the monarchy. At
first he was said to have resisted the pressure to have a king, warning the
people that kings can be tyrants, and yet he anoints Saul to be the first king
of the unified Jewish nation. When Saul proved to be a poor choice, Samuel
sought out and anointed a shepherd boy named David, the son of Jesse, to be the
second king and it was David who established the lasting monarchy. It was
also during the reign of King David that a lone man, armed with nothing except
a sense of his belief in the immutable moral law of God, challenged King
David publicly for what he believed was the king's immoral behavior. By this act
this man established the prophetic principle, which was rare indeed among the
ancient nations, that even the king must live under and be judged by the law
of God. Ultimately this principle would make Israel a very different nation
from all of the rest. To this man's story and its role in the rise of the
prophetic movement we will turn when this series continues.
–John Shelby Spong
____________________________________
Question and Answer
With John Shelby Spong
ArdyceC. Fish, via the Internet, writes: "I have read your books and
listened to tapes of your addresses and can hardly wait each week to read your
column. I read Unity's Daily Word every day and save and re-read many of them. I
have also been reading books by Eckhart Tolle and receive much good from them,
too. I have not seen any references by you to Eckhart Tolle's work. I would
assume you are acquainted with him, as he is quite popular now. I do not
attend any church, but find my spiritual support from these sources. Would you
give me your opinion of Eckhart Tolle's works?"
Dear Ardyce,
Thank you for your letter. I only recently read a book written by Eckhart
Tolle. It was given to me when I was speaking in Spring Lake, Michigan. The
person who gave it to me was excited about it, indeed ecstatic about it.
I read it on the plane home. I found it a helpful and insightful book. It
was well written and dedicated to discovering the kind of human wholeness that
I think people seek and that I believe is the ultimate goal of the Christian
faith.
The fact that this man chose to rename himself "Eckhart" was a plus. Meister
Eckhart was a great Christian mystic in the 14th century. The orthodox
leaders of the Christian Church have always found mystics to be difficult because
they think and write outside the traditional lines of ecclesiastical
authority.
Tolle's work would be quite compatible with the message of the Unity
Movement to which you have referred. I have great admiration for the message of the
Unity Church. I also find similar themes in the works of Del Wilbur. So read
Tolle with enthusiasm and be edified by his insights.
John Shelby Spong
P. S. I have just today learned that Christ Community Church in Spring Lake,
Michigan, is organizing an "E-Course" on Tolle's book A New Earth: Awakening
to Your Life's Purpose. If you or anyone else reading this is interested in
taking this course you can receive information about it by going to
http://www.christ-community.net/ecoursetolle.htm
Below is a letter from Ian Lawton, Senior Pastor at Christ Community Church
in Spring Lake, on "Eckart Tolle and Christ Consciousness." It was published
on his website and I include it here for your information.
* * * * * * * * * *
Eckart Tolle and Christ Consciousness
"A growing number of followers of traditional religions are able to let go
of identification with form, dogma, and rigid belief systems and discover the
original depth that is hidden within their own spiritual tradition at the
same time as they discover the depth within themselves. They realize that how
spiritual you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do
with your state of consciousness." – Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
Over two million people from 139 countries around the world have
participated in Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle's web-based seminar studying Tolle's
recent book, entitled A New Earth; Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. Many have
questions as to whether Tolle's teaching is consistent with Christianity. In
fact, I believe it is not only consistent with the teachings of Jesus and many
Christian theologians over the centuries, but will lead you to discover a
depth of insight that will awaken you to living more fully and loving more
deeply.
What Is the Message of A New Earth
Tolle asks the question, "Who do you think you are?" You think you have some
solid and fixed identity. The problem is that this fixed sense of self is
completely conditioned by past emotional pain and projected ideas about the
future. This false sense of a fixed self prevents you from living in the
present, where you have direct access to your true essence which is no other than an
expression of the universal life force.
All things (from planets to pebbles to flowers to animals) are expressions
of this universal life force. Humans have evolved to the point where we have
the ability to be aware of our oneness with the universal life force.
The false identification with the past and future has the world and the
human race on the brink of extinction. Fortunately, this crisis is sparking many
people to move from an unconscious state to consciousness. In order to become
conscious, you must recognize that you are more than your ever changing
thoughts and self image. Learn to be present in the now, because the past and the
future exist only as ideas. As you learn to operate from your true essence
rather than your ego, you will experience incredible transformation, and the
planet will become "a new earth."
How Does the Message of A New Earth Gel With Christianity?
Tolle quotes more extensively from the Bible than any other source. He is
clearly impacted by the teaching of Jesus. Further, Tolle renamed himself after
his experience of awakening at age 29. He named himself Eckhart after the
medieval Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart was controversial,
because he downplayed the need for the church to mediate an experience of
God, and instead suggested that every person could experience God directly. No
doubt Eckhart Tolle is similarly controversial. But then again, so was Jesus
who was heavily critical of religious elitism that controlled resources and
spiritual truth.
Jesus acted as a mirror to his disciples. He modeled union with God. At one
point, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" He did this to
illustrate that people were locked in a number of ideas about his identity.
Jesus was the persona they needed him to be; a mighty victor, a compassionate
savior, a reborn hero. Then he brought the question closer to home, asking
them, "Who do you say that I am?" Now he was urging them beyond personas and
roles to engage in the moment with him. The answer came, "You are the Christ,
the Son of God."
Mystics of Jesus' time believed that Christ was a way to describe union with
God, or consciousness, within the man Jesus. Many Christian theologians have
spoken of Christ Consciousness as the awareness of true essence.
How Can This Notion of True Essence Transform Your Life?
There is a poignant scene in the movie Anger Management. Jack Nicholson is
the oddball psychologist attempting to draw out Adam Sandler in an anger
management class. He asks the question, "Who are you?" Sandler describes his
occupation. Nicholson says, "I didn't ask you what you do for a living. I asked
you who you are." Then Sandler says he is easy going, and Nicholson says, "I
didn't ask you to describe your personality. I asked you who you are." Sandler
breaks down in frustration at that point. He is locked in roles and ideas
about his identity.
You have all sorts of roles and personas. They are valid and important.
Embody them fully. However they are time bound and don't fully capture your
essence. Your true essence could never be captured by an occupation, a gender, a
religion or a personality type. Your true essence is beyond words and
description. You are nothing less than a Christ, a child of God, an expression of
universal love in this moment.
Jesus embodied this truth and A New Earth has mirrored the same truth. Are
you prepared to see beyond ideas and personas to the magnificence of your
essential humanity?
– Ian Lawton
John Shelby Spong
____________________________________
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