In this lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes up presentation of the Polemical Fathers by introducing a final third century theologian, the controversial Origen. Pastor Dave also discusses two issues brought up the second and third century fathers: the allegorical hermeneutic and the proper Christian response to world culture.
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right right I think Lyndon showed that to me before very good all right well good morning everyone welcome to Sunday school it’s always fun to have people here right at the beginning I know some others come in after we get started but that’s okay thanks for being here right at the start let’s pray as we begin today heavenly father thank you so much for your truth thank you for showing us for Opening Our Eyes Lord you have called us to hold fast to it to contend for it and Lord thank you for the faithful men and women who’ve come before us to do that Lord we study more into church history today I pray that it would be encouraging instructive convicting and help me be able to explain it well in Jesus name amen all right well we are proceeding onward today in our newly extended church history 101 course on the early church you remember in the second half of the course we have intended it’s been my intention to have us meet notable church leaders from the first four centuries and learn about their legacies the things they’ve passed on both the good and the bad for us today and the church throughout the centuries we’ve met the app stock fathers already they were the fathers of the first going into the second century the ones right with and after the apostles then we met last week uh group from the second and third centuries these were known as the second century apologists and the polemical fathers now we’re soon going to meet the 4th Century fathers and they would be the ones who would have the greatest impact on Christianity beyond the early period so we’ll spend a decent amount of time with them but before we get there I want to wrap up our discussion or I not only want to wrap up our discussion on the polemical fathers by talking about one more one last person from that group but I also want to return to to the issues that came up even in last week’s lesson especially the question what is the proper way for Christians to engage with an unbelieving culture I hope you’ve been thinking about that question as it came up last week started to formulate an answer in your own minds about what is a proper biblical way to engage I do want to provide you some guidance to that question at the end of our class but I also want to talk about one of the issues that has come into the church from engagement with World culture and that is the allegorical hermeneutic treating things in the Bible as or assuming things in the Bible are symbolic or allegorical last week I alerted you to the dangers of using the allegorical hermeneutic for interpreting the Bible and most if not all of you would agree that you should not use the allegorical hermeneutic as your approach to the scriptures but here’s a question that I want us to consider today even if you reject the allegorical hermeneutic as unjustified and dangerous do you in fact still use it when it comes to certain sections of the Bible we might surprise ourselves in this area so this is a bit of a special lesson today in our church history one-on-one course looking at origin allegory and culture I alluded to the Man origin last week he’s our last figure our last major figure in the group of polemical fathers so let’s start by getting to know this controversial man origin he’s going from the second century into the third Century considered to be one of the most brilliant Christian thinkers of the early church if not the most brilliant is bringing sometimes got him into trouble Professor Nathan busnitz at the master Seminary notes when origen was right he was brilliantly right but when he was wrong he was abysmally wrong as we’ll see origin’s father was a learned man and a devout Christian but his father was arrested and beheaded during a wave of Roman persecution under the emperor septimius Severus allegedly young origin was almost martyred himself as a young man he sought to be executed alongside his father he wanted to turn himself in but his mother shrewdly hid all of origin’s clothes so that he was not willing to go out there naked and he survived but after origen’s father’s death and the seizure of the family’s property by the Roman government origin became an ascetic and a student at Alexandria’s catechetical School likely learning under Clement of Alexandria who was one of the men that we met last week now origen soon took over as one of the teachers in this Christian school and he was later appointed a priest remember that just means presbyter an elder in a church at caesarea in Palestine origen would consider continue to do a lot of traveling though even after being ordained now besides preaching and teaching Christianity origin taught physics metaphysics dialectics and ethics he was an incredibly prolific writer and was supported by certain wealthy Christians he was patronized that enabled him to do so much of this scholarly work one quote I heard about origin is that he wrote more in his lifetime than most men read it was truly a very talented person now origen lives up to his title as polemical father as he was frequently called upon to write against heretical groups facing Christianity in fact some of origin’s strongest supporters were former Heretics that origen had brought back into Orthodox Christianity now in terms of surviving works we have several I’ve listed them on the slide we have the hexapla which is the Old Testament in six different translations in Hebrew Hebrew and Greek letters the Septuagint which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament and then three other Greek translations oh put together by origin in one document he also wrote difference a piece which is translated on the first principles and some consider this to be the first attempt at a Systematic Theology which would make origin the father of systematic theology something very useful for the church is the work called on prayer a work called against kelsus a multi-volume apologetic against a particular secular philosopher I have a few letters from origin and then we have his commentaries on the Book of John and part of his commentary on Matthew now this is just what survives origen wrote much more than this now let’s talk about really notable legacies from origin you could say that his first pursuit of a systematic Systematic Theology is a legacy that we’ve inherited and a positive one but within that is another Legacy from origin that is actually negative and that is Origins heretical speculations some of what origin suggested in his Systematic Theology the principles is we have to admit outright heresy including ideas like the following pre-existence of Souls Origins speculated that All Souls existed before the world began and enjoyed intimate fellowship with God these Souls though rebelled and fell away and the degree of their fall origin speculated God determined would result in the states their particular states in the created World those Souls that fell the worst that fell the most became demons and those Souls who fell a little bit less they came into the world as humans until and you keep going up the different levels in origin speculation until you get to the one Soul who didn’t fall at all in appreciation of the glory of God and that Soul became the son of God that’s definitely not what the scripture teaches but something that he presented in his work another idea from origin was Universal salvation origin suggested that the various pre-existent Souls that he was thinking about there would be a restoration of all these Souls back to Harmony one day with the father and where do you get that idea from well he seized on phrases in the New Testament like First Corinthians 15 28 First Corinthians 15 28 says when all things are subjected to him that is Jesus Christ then the son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him so that God may be all in all now origen frequently talks about this future restoration where every soul is made one with God and again God being all in all that also is not scriptural that is not what the Bible teaches that is way out there and then one other idea was purgatory and or reincarnation because if you have all these pre-existent Souls that are going to have to somehow find their way back to God and some of them clearly don’t believe in God well something has to happen to bring them back even after they die to accomplish Universal salvation God origin speculated might need to further refine some Souls beyond what they experience in their Earthly lifetime perhaps they will need several lifetimes in a different world or a better world or a worse world eventually however Origins speculated that All Souls will be brought back to Oneness and appreciation with the father Now by way of example let me show you an excerpt of origin Systematic Theology the principles we’ll pick up a piece of book 2 chapter 3 paragraph seven which is near the end of the chapter where he summarized his previous arguments even some things related to the ideas I just presented to you here’s origin having sketched then so far as we could understand these three opinions regarding the end of all things and the Supreme blessedness blessedness Let each one of our readers determine for himself with care and diligence whether any one of them can be approved and adopted speaking of one theory about the end of all things unpurified Souls after their apprehension and their chastisement for the offenses which they have undergone by way of purgation May after having fulfilled and discharged every obligation deserve a habitation in the land that is heaven while those who have been obedient to the word of God and have henceforth by their obedience shown themselves capable of wisdom are said to deserve the kingdom of that heaven or heavens food is called a descent to this earth but an exaltation to that which is on high and this way therefore does a sort of Road seem to be opened up by the departure of the Saints from that Earth to those Heavens so that they do not much appear to abide in that land as to inhabit it with an intention namely to pass on to the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven when they have reached that degree of perfection also now I know some of the that language is a little bit hard to follow but he’s presenting something that sounds like Purgatory there can be Souls that depart they’ll be refined they’ll be perfected even the good Souls will go to another land temporarily until they’re totally perfected and they’ll go to the final Kingdom now that’s heresy that’s that’s not at all what the Bible teaches that’s the opposite of what the Bible teaches but did you notice how this excerpted section begins what does he call on his readers to do says these things that I’ve written let the readers determine for themselves whether any of these things can be accepted or adopted as truth which is kind of clever it means that origin is not being dogmatic about these speculations he’s not saying they’re true he’s just saying here’s an idea why don’t you decide for yourself whether you think it’s true or fits with the scripture and this is the thing with origin he had these incredible heretical speculations but he never said they were true they were just things that he thought were interesting to consider and for thus this reason some people really didn’t like origin at that time and for other reasons but it was hard to call him a heretic because he would cheat he would teach sound Doctrine he would fight against heresy and then he’d calculate on these weird things so origin you couldn’t say he was a heretic or at least people didn’t at that time but later generations they definitely did and one of the later ecumenical councils which we’ve actually talked about Constantinople II one of the minor conclusions of that Council was that origen and his followers were heretical and anathematized let her origin be damned to hell that Council determined this is why today even in the Roman Catholic Church in the Greek Orthodox Church though they look back to origin with respect they do not consider him a saint now of course that designation doesn’t really mean much but it does show what they think about origin despite Origins hesitancy to assert his heretical speculations as Dogma however others after origin would pick up some of these ideas about Universal salvation purgatory and they would assert them as Dogma so this is an unfortunate Legacy from origin other important Legacy for us to consider vision of the allegorical hermeneutic origin studied in Alexandria even under Clement of Alexandria he taught at Alexandria and he was clearly a fan of Greek culture and philosophy so that meant or that very quickly led to origin becoming a fan and practitioner of that very Greek style of interpreting the Bible moreover because origen was considered to be so brilliant because he was an important teacher and a prolific writer he ended up greatly popularizing this allegorical style of interpretation among Christians especially among his students and other church leaders here’s what Nick Needham who’s a Scottish Christian historian senior pastor at Inverness Reformed Baptist Church says about origins hermeneutic in his book two thousand years of Christ power it says volume one on the early church origin was a controversial figure in his own Lifetime and has continued to be so on the one hand few Christian leaders from the patristic age can compare with origin for his Noble humble gentle character for his sheer depth and breadth of knowledge both the Christian Theology and Pagan philosophy on the other hand origin’s own theology gave rise to the most fierce disputes he claimed that the Bible alone not Plato or any Pagan philosopher was inspired and that the Bible must be the basis of all Christian thinking but in fact platonism greatly shaped and colored Origins whole outlook when he interpreted the Bible he said it has three levels of meaning which he called the body the literal meaning the soul the moral or ethical meaning and the spirit the spiritual meaning this scheme of interpretation sprang out of origin’s threefold view of the human nature as Body Soul and Spirit a view which may itself be rooted in platonistic philosophy origin regarded the literal meaning of the Bible as less important than its moral or spiritual meaning this enabled him to build up his own theology in a way that did not tie it too closely to a literal understanding of the text you can see how these things kind of fit together right you have these heretical speculations you’re like where did you get that from well it’s connected with this symbolic allegorical hermeneutic we can take things from the Bible that seem to literally be talking about one thing and you can make them talk about something else now does this mean that everything that origen said was heresy certainly not as we’ve seen even those who frequently use the alligator allegorical hermeneutic both in the early church and today they often affirm the true gospel they can teach sound Doctrine but again why is the allegorical hermeneutics so dangerous yeah mark that’s right the allegorical hermeneutic makes The Interpreter ultimately the one who decides what something means rather than God in the text it’s a prescription for isagesis you force meaning into the text and rather than allow the text to speak for itself you draw the meaning out of the text to allegorize to spiritualize that’s the way it’s sometimes called a passage it seems very deep a very intellectual even very pious to say for instance the bread of the Lord’s Supper it represents the Old Testament and the wine it represents the New Testament see these are symbols in this great right of an even deeper theological reality that sounds deep intellectual pious or this is more common today I find Christ in every Passage here look Christ is represented in the Dove of Noah or here the crucifixion is represented in the story of the fiery furnace that sounds very spiritual very deep but this style of interpretation has no way to verify the claims of The Interpreter what ends up happening is we only obscure and compromise the intentions of the original author suddenly all you’re concerned about is this deeper meaning you don’t care about the surface level meaning the basic meaning the literal meaning and though it doesn’t always lead to error it many times does over time this style of hermeneutic will inevitably lead to error and it will prevent Christians even us from experiencing the joy of the scriptures the benefit of the scriptures as originally intended by God but what’s really profound is that we can affirm the dangers of the allegorical hermeneutic we can condemn it we cannot say we want nothing to do with it but we can practice it ourselves when it comes to certain parts of the Bible consider John Calvin love this guy Mark was talking about him a few weeks ago famous reformer of the 1500s he decried the allegorical hermeneutic as a great tragedy listen to what he said this is Calvin the error of allegory has been the source of many evils not only did it open the way for the adulteration of the natural meaning of scripture but also set up boldness and algorizing as the chief exegetical virtue we must entirely reject the allegories of origin and of others like him which Satan with the deepest subtlety has endeavored to introduce into the church for the purpose of rendering the doctrine of scripture ambiguous and destitute of all certainty and firmness let us know that the true meaning of scripture is the genuine and simple one and let us Embrace and hold it tightly let us boldly set aside as deadly Corruptions those fictitious expositions which lead us away from the literal sense now I love those statements from Calvin I mean what a straightforward bold clear statement about how we should actually approach the scriptures let the Bible speak for itself with its own literary cues always a literal perspective unless there are clues in the context which show that not only something is symbolic but how you ought to interpret that symbol that’s the way the Bible works that’s the way really any piece of literature works this is the genuine and simple hermeneutic I say Amen to Calvin’s words however Calvin himself sometimes practice and allegorical hermeneutic especially when it came to Israel listen to part of a sermon from Calvin on Amos 9.
actually why don’t you look at the passage yourself you have your Bible close to you you want to use the View Bible turn to Amos 9 I want to read the passage that Calvin’s about to give comment on so that we can consider for ourselves what the meaning is in context so this is Amos 9 and we’re going to read starting from verse 11.
to the end of the chapter Amos 9 11 to 15.
this is what the scripture says in that day I will raise up the Fallen Booth of David oh I should tell you in that day previously the author has just told us that the day in mind is the day in which Israel has been judged for its apostasy in that day we now hear in verse 11 I will raise up the Fallen Booth of David and wall up its breaches I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name declares the Lord that is Yahweh who does this behold days are coming declares Yahweh when the plowman will overtake the Reaper and The Treader of grapes him who sow seed when the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved also I will restore the Captivity of My People Israel and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them they will also plant Vineyards and drink their wine and make Gardens and eat their fruit I will also plant them on their land and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them says Yahweh your God now just consider that all by itself ask yourself don’t answer the sound loud what is this passage about what is God promising to whom is God promising it take a moment to come to a preliminary conclusion however that firmly in mind let’s hear Calvin’s take here the Prophet describes the Felicity which shall be under the reign of Christ and we know that whenever the prophet set forth Promises of a happy and prosperous state to God’s people they adopt metaphorical expressions and say that abundance of all good things shall flow that there shall be the most fruitful produce that Provisions shall be bountifully supplied for they accommodated their mode of speaking to the Notions of that ancient people it is therefore no wonders if they sometimes speak to them as to children at the same time the spirit under these figurative Expressions declares that the kingdom of Christ shall in every way be happy and blessed or that the Church of God which means the same thing shall be blessed when Christ shall begin to reign further what is your set of the abundance of corn and wine must be explained with reference to the nature of Christ’s Kingdom as in the Kingdom of Christ is spiritual it is enough for us that it abounds in spiritual blessings and the Jews whom God reserved for himself as a Remnant were satisfied with this spiritual abundance if anyone objects and says that the prophet does not speak here allegorically the answer is ready at hand even this that it is a manner of speaking everywhere found in Scripture that happy state is painted as it were before our eyes by setting before us the conveniences of the present life and Earthly blessings this may especially be observed in the prophets for they accommodated their style as we have already stated that the capacities of a rude and weak people all right let’s make sure we understand this according to Calvin why did God have to use Expressions about literal corn and wine instead of just telling the Israelites about the spiritual blessings they will one time one day receive they were rude and weak which is another way to say what they were too ignorant stupid and sinful to understand otherwise it’s kind of a strange assertion for multiple reasons first did not Calvin tell us in his other work that the simple meaning is the genuine meaning of scripture all over the scripture but now he tells us in this sermon that the people of amos’s time were too simple to understand the simple meaning so paradoxically God had to make it more complex by making it symbolic and even inaccurate without an understanding of New Testament realities the meaning of the text here according to Calvin is not the simple meaning which would we could also simply call the literal meaning he says it’s allegorical and in anticipation of those objecting to an allegorical interpretation what main defense does Calvin offer his or his opinion and you try to understand what he’s saying I mean certainly he’s asserting his opinion and Calvin’s a pretty smart guy he’s a faithful preacher so I mean there’s a lot to say for that I mean certainly he does but that’s not what he says here he doesn’t say hey I’m Calvin listen to me he points to something else yeah Dwayne that’s right he says we know this is the proper interpretation as allegory because there are plenty of other allegories in the scripture especially in the prophets which is kind of a funny thing to say he defends allegory by saying we know other passages the Old Testament are allegorical too but how do we know that those passages are allegorical certainly he would not appeal to this passage saying well that one’s allegorical too he’s assuming something here about passages in the Old Testament and it’s a bit of circular reasoning now I’m not merely trying to tear down Calvin here I love Calvin I’m so grateful for the Lord for Calvin he was a faithful preacher and Expositor great reformer by the way I do hope that you see just by bringing this up is that we can you can recognize the evil the danger of the allegorical hermeneutic and nonetheless actually use it yourself you can be inconsistent in implying a little hermeneutic to the scripture as we discussed this allegorical hermeneutic its origin is not the Bible the apostles it comes from Greek culture Greek philosophy Calvin himself claimed this and he said it’s hurt the church so much across the centuries now someone may ask but wait I’ve studied the Bible a little bit didn’t the apostles the New Testament sometimes use the Old Testament allegorically didn’t they sometimes take things out of context and interpret them figuratively even applying them to Christ did they sometimes find a deeper spiritual meaning and passages that appear to be talking about only literal things well that is a hotly debated question in evangelicalism today I would say a short answer that question is no that’s not what the apostles did it sometimes looks like they did that seems like they did that but if we look more carefully at what they did we’ll see that in certain places the apostles were doing something different than we expect with an Old Testament passage but they were not interpreting it allegorically they sometimes we’re making a comparison between what was a reality in the Old Testament and something that’s appearing in the life of Jesus or in the New Testament they were highlighting a continuation of a general principle from the Old Testament into the New Testament explaining further the significance of an Old Testament passage in light of New Testament reality but they weren’t interpreting it allegorically oftentimes we get tripped up by this because we say if he’s citing the Old Testament he must be saying that’s a literal prophecy that’s being fulfilled now and a lot of times that is true that’s not always what the apostles are doing they sometimes are doing something else with the Old Testament and we need to be ready for that and when we are then we see oh they’re not taking it out of context they’re just doing something a little unexpected whatever the apostles are doing with the Old Testament they never annul contradict or change the originally intended meaning of the Old Testament writer and that’s the short answer do you want to longer answer that question of how the apostles use the Old Testament or if you have a question about a particular passage I’ll have to talk about that after class or in another setting because it will take a lot of time I’m happy to talk about that I do believe that this is something that we can have an answer to I would commend to you also a particular resource I don’t have it on the slide but I love the work and writings of Dr Michael vlock Dr Michael block he was one of my teachers at the master Seminary he’s actually not at the seminar anymore I think he’s teaching somewhere else he did a talk at the 2012 Shepherds conference entitled not up for discussion did the apostles take the Old Testament out of context not up for discussion did the apostles take the Old Testament out of context I think that’s a very helpful crash course for dealing with this issue and really arguing against the apostles setting forth an allegorical hermeneutic for Christians to use but beyond that I think any of Dr Block’s work would be really profitable for you to read yeah he’s done a lot on eschatology and the kingdom and the New Testament use of the Old Testament I think you would find any of his work very helpful in clarifying he’s not even though he’s a scholar Professor he writes in a very clear way it makes it understandable even for people who are not seminarians so I think you’ll find him helpful but to come back to my main point the algo Oklahoma hermeneutic always leads away from what the scripture actually says to Isa Jesus because it either ignores the originally intended meaning of a passage as unimportant or the nulls that originally intended meaning as obsolete oh that’s just the literal meaning we’re way past that now the Bible becomes about what we wanted to say rather than what God Said but God will hold us accountable for what he actually said not what we pretend that he said he holds us accountable to believe it to practice and to teach it now to drive this home just a little bit more if we recognize the danger of the allegorical hermeneutic then why do we sometimes practice it even today why do we interpret the creation account of Genesis 1 to 2 to be symbolic of some evolutionary construct or to be some non-specific account of how God created the world why are we afraid to assert to affirm the simple meaning of the passage it presents itself as history why do we not affirm that by instead standing back and saying oh I don’t really know what it means it could be symbolic could be literal I’m not sure I think this is a compromise why do we explain all the passages about explain away all the passages about God’s restoration of Israel those which could not literally have been fulfilled yet but essentially mean nothing if they’re merely symbolic and spiritual somehow applied metaphorically to Christ in his church why do we even go so far as to say and some Evangelical Scholars say this that some or all of the accounts of Jesus miracles are not to be taken literally but as symbols allegories of a greater theological reality give you one example of this many scholars today will say that the earthquake and the raising of the dead from their tombs when Jesus died on the cross as recorded in Matthew 27 verses 50 to 54 didn’t literally happen that wouldn’t be reasonable I mean wouldn’t it be so weird like all these people come to Jerusalem like nobody else is talking about this it must be allegorical of how Jesus brings new life to all who believe in him allegorical hermeneutic is still around and we feel pressure to adopt it even though in other contexts we say no no no literal meaning let me go to a few places in the Bible unlike Origins like eschatology or like hot button issues in our culture or just what we think is not reasonable what the culture thinks is not reasonable and we say oh oh it’s just symbolic actually the same thing happened in the early church problematic passages in the Bible things that the world the culture particularly have problems with a lot of Christians dealt with that by saying oh it’s only symbolic it’s the same thing that the Greeks did with their stories about the gods say yeah yeah that was really immoral what those gods did but it’s just symbolic oh yeah God’s saying that the Israelites were to annihilate whole Wicked peoples yeah I know that’s kind of crazy um it’s symbolic that’s what they said some of them anyways we don’t want to fall into that same mistake I urge you brethren if you allegorize or spiritualized parts of the Bible please carefully examine why you do so and whether you’re really justified in doing so it isn’t more intellectual to do this it’s not more spiritual to do this and it’s not the apostolic pattern now instead should we interpret the Bible the same way we analyze any other serious piece of literature study the grammar study the book’s context study the context of the entire Bible become familiar with the historical situation the original audience then based on those Clues based on your careful observations of the text in its context come up with an argument for the author’s originally intended meaning this is the little hermeneutic this is what’s also called the historical grammatical hermeneutic it’s what we practice in this church it’s the right way to interpret the scriptures if you don’t use this way you’re going to fall into error maybe not so serious maybe very serious so fall into error in your theology fall into area error in your Christian Life your application of the scriptures now don’t misunderstand I got to say this there are figurative sections of the Bible not contradicting that a proper little hermeneutic doesn’t assume that there’s no such thing as figurative language in the Bible but it looks for Clues from the author in the Bible before we determine that something is figurative the passage will present itself as being figurative you don’t have to force that into the text and it’s amazing that when you look for clues in the text about something being figurative or symbolic and you actually see it the text is very straightforward about how to interpret that symbol and sometimes it’s almost hilarious how simple it is you know one of the prophets will look at something in a vision and he’ll be like man what do these things mean and the Angel’s like are you wondering what these things mean let me tell you that’s how you know oftentimes that something is figurative in the mind things like that all right to come back and finish with origin not to only did Origins allegorizing create problems in his own theology but it also influenced Christian theological interpretation for many years afterwards Alexandria would remain the Bastion of allegorical interpretation the center that promoted it but not everyone in the pre-nicia church subscribed to this style of interpretation Antioch in Syria and its theological School came to represent the opposite interpretive point of view they championed the simple literal unless otherwise indicated by the text hermeneutic historical grammatical exegesis these two schools of interpretation would continue to argue and rival with one another going into the medieval period but unfortunately it would be the allegorical interpretation that would become dominant during the medieval period and it’s really the reformers coming at the end of the medieval period that did a lot to recover a straightforward hermeneutic so what to think about origin it was a great heretic fighter and an intelligent Theologian but he nonetheless left us some harmful Legacies both in his radical theological theological speculations and the popularization of the allegorical hermeneutics having discussed origin and allegory let’s come back now and finish talking about the question that I raised for you or rather the second century apologists and polemical fathers raised for us last week how should Christians engage with the unbelieving cultures in which they live we’ve seen how different theologians in the second and third centuries had responded to this question and we saw some of the problems that resulted on the stances they took we have Justin Martyr coming of Alexandria An Origin on one side who saw a value in making use of and even integrating ideas popular in the world world culture for the sake of the Gospel and for the betterment of Christianity we got them on the one side then on the other side we have taishin the Syrian and tertullian who saw the world’s ideas and even Pleasures as pollutions distractions that need to be confronted that need to be repudiated for the sake of Christ in the church on the first side accommodating worldly wisdom led to Greco-Roman philosophical ideas and hermeneutics getting tied up in Christianity with the worst manifestation in the isogetical allegories and the heretical speculations of origin on the other side overzealousness and rejecting worldly influence led tation to found a legalistic cult and tetrolian he ended up supporting a group of ascetic Christian false prophets towards the end of his life so what about us what should we do should we look to find good in World culture or should we just separate from it well to more confidently answer that question can’t simply look at church history we need to go back to God’s perfect and authoritative word think about the Bible does the bible instruct us to make use of what’s in the world or to separate from the world you know what the answer is it’s both it’s both it’s not either or it’s both and when you go too far to one side or the other that’s when you run into heresy and error Jesus describes the way to life in his Sermon on the Mount as a narrow way which few find and I think narrow way is a good metaphor for a lot of the Christian Life and even what we’re talking about there is a Biblical way of engaging with the world it’s good it’s ideas but it’s a narrow way and when it’s in which it’s very easy to drift far too far to the left your left or too far to the right consider a very intriguing exhortation from Paul to Timothy in first Timothy 5.
why don’t you open your Bibles and go there first Timothy 5 verse 23 this is where Paul says something to Timothy about drinking wine First Timothy 5 23 . do you note the context whenever you turn there whenever you arrive there the context of First Timothy 5 23 and verses 17 to 25 Paul is talking about honoring Elders who lead well into church but also rebuking Elders who miss the mark who live a hypocritical life and notice in verse 22 which comes right before the verse I’m about to read to you what does call what does Paul call on Timothy to do in his own life keep himself pure Timothy you’re a leader you’re appointing leaders they need to be pure you need to make sure that you’re appointing pure people but you yourself need to be pure that’s a good exhortation but then notice what comes next verse 23 we can read that now no longer drink water exclusively but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments okay now ask yourself considering the context we just noted why would Timothy be avoiding drinking wine only drinking water if wine that is fermented grape juice mixed with water if that was the common drink of the time why would he only be drinking water and never whine quickly it’s this is not a random aside it’s exactly connected to what Paul was just talking about Timothy you need to keep yourself pure and I know you’re trying to keep yourself pure even when it comes to alcohol you don’t want to drink wine at all and we can understand why Timothy would want to do this even though the Bible never forbids drinking wine actually wine is commended as an enjoyable gift from God in Ecclesiastes yes the wine was a little bit different back then than it is today but it’s commended as a gift from God and is actually prescribed as part of celebrating the Lord’s Supper you got the bread and you got the wine we use grape juice today it’s really a form of the same thing but it would be a little bit fermented when they drank it it’d be a very diluted form of wine that was prescribed so even though the Bible doesn’t forbid drinking wine with what our wine and other types of alcohol the drinking of alcohol often associated in the Bible drunkenness what else yeah the carousing lifestyle that’s a surgery with that the immoral the indulgent lifestyle that goes with drinking and parties also alcohol addiction one of the qualifications of Elders is that they not be too much addicted to Wine what we would call alcoholism today Timothy sees these dangers these sinful ways of using wine are forbidden in the Bible no doubt many Believers in the New Testament Church were saved out of that kind of living Timothy wants to set a good example for them it says I’m not going to drink wine at all he’s been acting out of noble noble motives strong convictions but what’s the problem that Paul notes it’s happened to Timothy yeah he’s getting sick he’s having frequent stomach problems and Paul says it comes from your drinking only water now why would drinking only water result in stomach problems probably say that’s pretty healthy it’s not drinking soda he’s drinking only water that’s a good thing Paul what’s going on why would it be a problem probably related to not having fully clean water at that time especially if you lived in cities or towns unless there was a spring that was not being affected by any sort of manufacturing or other human activity it’s going to get dirty well wine was often safer to drink than water and if you drank only water well it seemed to result in stomach problems why according to Paul would a little wine be helpful it would help with the stomach it would help with Timothy’s frequent ailments now notice in verse 23 Paul specifies a little wine really for medicinal purposes so this is not an endorsement of uncontrolled alcoholic consumption or even a promotion of social drinking this is a careful and loving word of counsel to someone who’s well-motivated convictions are causing unnecessary harm in his life in his own life Paul says it’s okay I know you want to be pure but it’s okay to drink a little bit of wine and it will help you with your frequent stomach ailments now here’s an important question where did Paul get this knowledge that a little wine would be helpful for Timothy’s stomach proverbs talks about wine being enjoyable I think in one or two Proverbs but doesn’t necessarily talk about it being healthy Steve mentioned Dr Luke that’s quite possible certainly this is not an idea that comes directly from the Bible there’s no place in the Bible that says a little wine is good for the stomach I mean other than this obviously he is speaking by the Holy Spirit here so we could say oh we got it from God and one sense that’s true but in terms of a direct Avenue of practical wisdom he didn’t get it from the Bible he got it maybe be it Luke but he got it from World culture it was considered common knowledge in the culture of the time that a little bit of wine was healthy for a person to drink and this wisdom this very practical wisdom it came about by simple experimentation and observation hey Joe over there he’s had stomach problems for a while but since he started to drink wine in addition to water he’s been doing better who would have thought a little bit of fermented grape juice grape juice has some health benefits this had become common knowledge in the culture of that time so why is this all significant for what we’re talking about today here at the end of the class because it’s an example Paul by the Holy Spirit applying knowledge gained from outside the Bible to the benefit of a Christian knowledge gained from the world culture now Paul hasn’t accepted everything that the world culture has had to say about wine plenty of people in the world culture would say hey getting drunk with wine is one of the best uses of your time I didn’t accept that but he did find something useful in what wool culture had to say about drinking wine for a medical benefit he saw something useful something good for believers from the culture and you know what that’s just one example there is a lot of knowledge available outside the Bible which we might say comes from the world comes from experts in the world that is useful for believers I think you understand this science medicine technology a lot of that’s not in the Bible but it’s useful it’s a benefit to believers more specifically know-how for speaking well how to run efficient meetings how to set up good family traditions a lot of specific information about these topics not in the Bible but you do find it in the world and you know what it’s helpful for Christians or how about this the study of history even church history not in the Bible I mean there is history in the Bible but church history is not in the Bible not after the apostles but we’re studying in this class why because it’s beneficial it’s beneficial for you as believers and those are just some examples when it comes to so-called worldly enjoyments things that the culture might value and pursue the Bible not only allows for many of these things but it commends them if pursued in a Godly way we’re told in Ecclesiastes to enjoy food enjoy drink enjoy work and joy wealth enjoy companionship as gifts from God and Song of Solomon married persons are encouraged to enjoy the romantic and sexual love a lot of people think oh that’s worldly oh that’s so fleshly no it’s a gift from God sometimes we are tempted to think that physical things things that the world loves are evil do you know where that really comes from Greek philosophical dualism a narrative from Plato and others and their frequent abuses of God’s Gift in our society you see how people use things sinfully we say oh oh we gotta get away from that totally it’s not what the scriptures teach there are many gifts that God has given us in the world that are good they are to be enjoyed and thankful worship to God just as Paul teaches in first Timothy 4 3 and First Timothy 6 17.
Solomon goes so far to say in Ecclesiastes six Ecclesiastes six one to six that a life without the enjoyment of God’s gifts God’s good things is a wasted life and not even worth living so that’s all true yet we know there are limits to how we can enjoy what’s in the world or use the knowledge that it offers we kind of enjoy food drink work wealth or companionship in sinful ways we know the world often does that the Bible specifically warns us about going after those things the way the world does not just because they do it sinfully but they do it idolatrously they become their ultimate Treasures their chief concerns but God says no I’m your Chief treasure I’m your Chief concern pursue me not the things of the world we are to remain content in whatever measure we have the passing gifts of the world because Christ is all that we need in fact individually we will need to analyze and decide when and how to cut ourselves off from the enjoyment of certain gifts because they lead us too much into temptation they lead us too easily into idolatry we want to cut off those things that easily entangle us that’s not something that we command for the whole church you need to do exactly what I do in this area but we do need to come to that individually and you might have to do something different than someone else does so we know there’s a limitation and even when it comes to ideas we know that much of what the world has to offer us but culture has to offer us it is knowledge falsely so called it is wisdom that does not come from above it comes from below it is useless sinful and even demonic far from accommodating this kind of thinking from the world trying to use it we need to confront it as evil and call for repentance that’s true or useful as certain ideas are from the world we know from Romans 1 Ephesians 4 Jeremiah 17 9 that the world and its thinking is fundamentally hostile to God and broken it is a futile way of thinking generally speaking it is sick it will always come up short and the knowledge of God of holy living and of salvation we instead must guard the truth the Supreme wisdom which has already been given to us and we are to live accordingly that is the charge from Paul that is the charge from Peter we ought to refresh our minds daily in God’s true wisdom and not allow ourselves to be conformed into the vain thinking of our world no matter how wise it seems no matter how popular it becomes perhaps you say Pastor Dave you’re just saying things that are contradictory you’re telling me to do two different things at the same time well they sound different and contradictory but really they fit together the biblical way of responding to World culture is neither integration nor isolation it is careful use and zealous separation at the same time you might say well that sounds good in theory but what is this what does such a stance look like practically mm-hmm to be sure remaining on the narrow way when it comes to engaging with World culture is much easier said than done we probably won’t always get it right and when we find ourselves straying too far on one side or the other we need to repent come back to the biblical place but I think there are a few biblical principles that I can give to you just mentioned to you at the end of this class today that will help you a little bit in thinking through can I use this or do I need to abstain from it can I participate in this or do I just need to separate from it and I’ve given those to you on the slide above there I’ll give you these principles in the form of three questions to ask number one does something contradict the Bible either in the Bible specific commands or general principles if yes you can’t use it if no it’s okay obviously Christ is our supreme authority which makes his word the supreme authority so if God a man contradict we go with God let God be found true in every man be found a liar says Paul in Romans 3 4.
we trust the scriptures over the greatest discoveries advice maxims of men in our culture that being said we do want to make sure that something actually contradicts the Bible before we utterly reject and condemn it sometimes zealous Christians are too quick here have been too quick here but if something does truly contradict the Bible we can’t use it if it doesn’t we can but loosely without becoming too attached it may get some counsel from the will and you say Hey you know that seems like good advice doesn’t contradict anything in the Bible and later people are like oh actually we were wrong about that can’t be devastated by second Ecclesiastes tells us the knowledge knowledge in the world is vaporous you think you’ve got your grasp on something and turns out you don’t you got to be ready for that but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use anything that you see in the world some things if they don’t contradict the Bible they can be useful for you but along with that number two another question to ask is does it rest on an anti-biblical Foundation does it rest in an anti-biblical Foundation if yes you can’t use it if no you can but usely loosely and by this question I don’t mean does this come from non-believers because that would invalidate everything or almost everything but rather I mean is a certain idea or practice reliant on assumptions that contradict what the Bible teaches they assume certain things in order to make this practice work or make this idea work then actually the Bible says are not true because sometimes you and I will see ideas or practices in the world that don’t seem bad in and of themselves hey that doesn’t seem sinful Bible doesn’t say you can’t do that but if you look further and you detect an anti-biblical rationale driving it you need to reject it you need to stay far away from it you’re not going to find benefit Christians all too often are determined to salvage certain things from the world that rest on an anti-biblical Foundation but when they do this they inadvertently import certain anti-biblical ideas into their lives and into their theology I would assert that this is happening all too often when it comes to the findings of psychologists evolutionary scientists and social justice advocates people in these areas they make true observations about the world even useful observations but where they have theories or conclusions that rest on anti-biblical assumptions you can’t Salvage what comes from that you’re going to be forced to adopt to accept to some level those anti-biblical Notions so don’t say Hey you know this thing is totally wrong it’s wrestling anti-biblical Foundation but we’re going to salvage it no you’re not going to find any use from that you’re just going to hurt yourself and you’re going to hurt the church so a second question to ask is does it rely does it rest on anti-biblical assumptions if it does stay away from it if it doesn’t it’s open to your use then finally number three does something claim to be necessary for an aspect of life that the Bible already claims authoritative sufficiency if something claimed to be necessary when the Bible says I already speak sufficiently on this God says I already speaks efficiently on this let’s face it the Bible doesn’t claim to be an exhaustive encyclopedia or a scientific textbook but when it comes to fundamental wisdom holy living salvation the health and happiness of the Soul or the Inner Man the Bible needs no supplements it already claims I speak God says I speak authoritatively on these issues we already have all that we need According to second Peter 1 verses one the three to four we have all that we need for life and godliness so if someone or something comes along outside the scriptures and says oh you need this to be happy you need this to be holy you need this to be a proper evangelist for the gospel don’t believe it don’t buy it if you do it’s just going to trip you up but if something instead presents itself as good but not necessary you know what that may actually be profitable hey you don’t need this to share the gospel but it can be helpful you don’t need this to properly raise your kids but it can be useful there’s something that’s open to your use when something presents itself as necessary that’s a red flag especially if it’s an area that the Bible explicitly says no I already speak sufficiently on this I already show you what you need for life and godliness fundamental wisdom you’re not going to find it in the world all the wisdom all truism is found and summed up in Jesus Christ so if you think there’s some secret out there for how to live your life fundamentally that the Bible doesn’t talk about you’re going to be disappointed that’s what Ecclesiastes speaks against but if something is not presenting itself as necessary but perhaps useful it’s something you can look into much more we could say on this broad issue but I just wanted to give you something before we finish class today one question then to ask yourself as we close is regarding this issue do you does your family does this church remain on the narrow way when it comes to engagement with the culture are there aspects of your life and which you have accepted things from the world which you want not to you’ve drifted too much into worldly thinking you’ve adopted things you shouldn’t adopt is that true in certain areas of your life and other aspects of your life where you have rejected things from the world and in the world that you didn’t have to reject just made your life harder by doing so this is easy for very zealous Christians to do is this something that you’re doing what areas are you doing that in think about what the scriptures say think about what we see play out even in the second and third centuries of the church pray the Lord about it talk to your brethren about it and proceed onward in Holiness and wisdom let’s close in prayer Lord we thank you that you are our sufficient wisdom and yet you’ve given common Grace you have allowed us to have good things even discover additional things in the world that are not stated directly in your scripture yet God it is so easy for us to go to those things in the improper way to hold on to them to adopt them even when they contradict your scripture and it’s also easy to unnecessarily separate from those things and fall into a kind of legalism would we need help we need your guidance we need your shepherding and we know we get that from your word it would help us as a church and also individually Lord to know how to walk wisely in the world but not of the world to not become too confrontational nor too conciliatory what we are willing to call out what is evil and useless but often willing to use what is good and helpful Lord as as your gifts as your help to us pray Lord that you would be pleased with the rest of this service today that we may continue to grow and also Worship You sincerely in Jesus name amen