[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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