What the Bible doesn't say

Teaching Old Testament Survey this last year made me take a deep and deeply discomforting look at my beliefs about revelation, inspiration, and canonization. My journey into the topics actually began three years ago when I bravely endeavored a master's thesis on the topic, The Mother's of the Disciples. By the end, my topic was more closely, Mothers of the Gospel. One day, I will have both brains and guts to rewrite and publish it under that title. But in terms of inspiration and canonization, the Gospels and the New Testament are straightforward. They name as their sources real historical figures who we can place in historical time and space. We even have copies of the documents showing up within the century in which they claim to be written, nearby where we know their author to have been. It is immensely comforting that way.

Not so with the Old Testament. Even the parts of the Old Testament that look like they claim an author are--well--not necessarily by the author claimed. The Books of Moses: probably not by Moses. Isaiah, not probably written by Isaiah. The Proverbs of Solomon: collected several kings later. The Psalms of David: only half by David.

So what in the world does someone who believes in revelation do with this? I do really believe the Bible contains revelation in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, if you believe the New Testament is reliable, you have to believe the Old Testament is reliable. You are logically obligated to this conclusion because the New Testament cites many portions and passages of the Old Testament as its source of authority.

But there are other books that the New Testament cites as well. Books we don't have.

And there are books the Old Testament cites as its sources of authority, books like "The Book of the Wars of the Lord" cited in Numbers 21: 14. The Book of Jeshurun, chronicles of various seers and prophets and kings, books that discuss angelic matters, books from which the proverbs of Solomon or the psalms of David were collected. There are all sorts of books--real, authoritative, inspired books; books with authority to be cited as sources of significance in which the readers of the Bible could find the historical and spiritual record of the events cited only in brief in the text we have inherited. But these books to which the authors refer were more important to the authors than their own work. The authors looked to the books they cited as their sources of history, of revelation, for discussion of angelic mysteries. If the author of Kings had thought that the book of Kings was all we would have, he would never have written it as he did. He did not believe himself to be the final word of God. He believed he was writing the things of God in a way that God would approve of. Did he think that two and a half, maybe three millenia later that would be all that remained as inspired canon? I doubt it.

Which is why I have reached the conclusion that we cannot deduce anything from what the Bible doesn't say. Frankly, we are missing pages of our Scriptures. The pages we are missing might very well have something to say on the topic. But we don't have those pages. It's not simply that those pages have been ignored for centuries or passed out of popularity around the time of Constantine. Some were, some did. But some passages were simply destroyed. Perhaps they were burned at the library of Alexandria, perhaps they passed out of mind when Baghdad was so badly ruined that blood ran ankle deep in the streets, when bishoprics sat empty or illiterate men held the office in cities hundreds of miles away passing the position down to their illegitimate sons. Perhaps some texts had passed out of existence a thousand years before, when the temple in Jerusalem was sacked and the gold carted off; or the other time, when it was burned and the gold melted down over the rocks, each turned and scrapped so that a soldier could bring home more booty. Did texts from the tent even make it into the temple? A tent doesn't provide much protection from the elements. They didn't have archival paper back then. Some texts would have been stored in jars, but even jars risk mildew. Some in chests, but even chests get termites. A few treasures, like the Ten Commandments perhaps, would have been preserved by being carved into stone. The other best way would be clay tablets. But we don't have clay tablets of the Pentateuch dating back to this time. It doesn't mean there weren't any, but we don't have them. It's a problem for anyone studying the Old Testament.

What is it that the Bible once said, that we don't have anymore? It would make a difference in how we discuss things. But I can't argue my points from what the Bible doesn't talk about. How did Deborah get to be recognized as a prophetess? I don't know. The Bible doesn't say. Perhaps she wrote a book that did say. I just don't have it. What was her role as a prophetess? Beyond the short snippy little descriptions of judging from under a tree (what?) and leading a single battle where someone else got the credit, I don't know. Perhaps she offered sacrifices: it doesn't say she didn't. Perhaps she only gave women marital advice, and the battle was the single exception. Who is to say? The Bible doesn't. Perhaps it once did. Perhaps we should listen for echoes of what it once said in the histories and traditions that have made their way down to us. But in the mean time, the conclusion to which OT studies led me most firmly is this: do not argue from what the Bible doesn't say. A great deal of what it did say was lost.

I had a conversation which kept me up writing last night. Here is an edited version.

There is no one so powerful as an isolated teacher of religion. Even if they don't think of it as religion, but that is what it is. It is a belief systems. Their beliefs control people. Nothing in the world is as powerful as that. I can't let just anyone control me. All sorts of people will offer to teach me a million life changing belief structures. How can I choose between them? Who would I trust? Why would I let one person shape me--one, out of a million--control my inmost thoughts?

If you are my friend, I would give you that power. That is the only reason I ever would. I only give my friends the power to determine the course of my life. I give them a voice in shaping my conscience. When they say, "I am gay. I love God. I think He loves me." I say, I know you. I love you. I know I want my God to love you. I know you are my friend, and you do not normally tell lies. I do not assume about my friends that they have told a lie when I have no proof. When you tell me you experience God's love, then I trust your experience. I add it to my worldview. Maybe it is uncomfortable. Maybe it means I have to rearrange the furniture in my spiritual house. But you are my friend, and you are welcome. I will make a space for you to fit. You will shape my worldview, because you are in my world.

My friends tell me about the world and about religions that are found in it. When I think about religion, I think of several friends who had siblings abused by their youth pastor. I think of terrified little kids who were spanked for their sanctification. I think of missionaries who left their families to do God's work. I think that I don't like that kind of religion. I don't like it at all.

But I also think of other friends. When I think of prophecy, I think of friends who have prophesied. When I think of visions, I think of visions my friends have seen. I think of the Spirit as one who has been among us, among me and my friends when we were laughing or maybe crying together. I know God. He is one of my friends. He too shapes my worldview because He too shapes my world.

I will only trust what you say about God, if He has been in the room with me at the same time as with you. If we've had a conversation with Him together, then I know that you know Him. I know we are talking about the same God, though we might have very different relationships. But if we've never met with Him together, then I can never be quite sure. Perhaps our conversations have had similar scripts, but I can't know we have have a similar God.

I know a Spirit who is alive and dangerous. He sometimes hurts me. Sometimes He leaves me alone for much longer than I asked for. My God sometimes lets things happen that He doesn't want. Sometimes silly things I ask for and shouldn't have. Sometimes really terrible things, like missionaries who abuse kids. Yes, I know. It's happened close to me. It's happened to me. Don't try to prove from the Bible that God had a reason for it. He didn't. He hated it. My God sometimes hates things.

My God is a picky God. You have to act the way He likes around Him, and He's everywhere. You have to be nice to old people around Him, and you have to be nice to little animals too. Actually, I am picky about how my friends act to old people too. My friends are like parts of me. I care about how they act. God is also picky about other things being done His way, like He wants you to use water and food and wine to remember Him by. Most of my friends like to be remembered. They like you to keep in touch. My God is the same way, because my God is my friend.

My God is cryptic, persnickety and moody. He's also funny. He likes to pull pranks and make puns. He likes people who have the courage to fight with him. That's why we get along. We're always fighting. It's our relationship.

I always tell Him things that need fixing. Sometimes He tells me its my job. I say its too big and He is the cosmic fixer. We fight about that. I yell at Him when He lets bad things happen to people I like. I yell at Him when His people do things to me that I don't like. Yelling is one way we talk. Sometimes, I yell myself out, then I have a good cry, grab a cup of hot chocolate and watch a movie. When the movie is done, I slip out to the balcony. "Oh God," I say, "the stars are beautiful." And He grabs a cup of hot chocolate and sits out there watching the night sky with me.