A Christian religion page on how to read and understand the Bible, authored by
Frank Ellsworth Lockwood

Friday, November 04, 2011

ONE -- AUTHORSHIP: “WHO WROTE THE BIBLE PASSAGE?"

TOPIC:  AUTHORSHIP 


"Who is the author?" 


This is the first of seven questions one might ask when attempting to discover the true significance of any passage in the Bible. (This is not meant to imply that the questions must be asked in any particular order; authorship is merely the first question to be addressed in this blog.)

Who should read this post: Christians who want to explore modern alternatives for understanding the bible, keep the faith, should read this blog. Each of the next several posts address one seven questions is important to determining the meaning and interpretation of the text. Learn how to study the bible better with these seven helpful hints.



The serious student soon becomes aware that only seven of the 14 "Pauline" epistles are clearly authored by Paul, and several are, by almost universal agreement, written by pseudo-Pauline authors, while several others are considered "disputed."


Today’s post will attempt to partially answer the question: "How does the author’s identity (or in some cases anonymity) affect the meaning of a passage of scripture?"


Review: The questions suggested in the previous post were as follows:
  1. Who wrote the passage in question, that is, who was the author? 
  2. Who were the intended audiences? 
  3. How would the intended audience have understood the passage?
  4. What are the various possible meanings?
  5. Why did the author write this passage?
  6. What is the author's intended message?  
  7. How does this passage apply to modern audiences, if at all? 

Question 1: Who Wrote the Passage?

Anonymity
Perhaps the author’s identity affects the  meanings not at all, or perhaps a lot, but knowing the source of a passage can definitely affect our “take” on the text. 

Millions of people suppose they must base their lives on Bible texts, all of them, without an inkling of who wrote them. But who wrote them does make a difference in what we take away from a reading. Most scripture analysts today believe that much of the Bible was written anonymously, and many other parts were written pseudo-graphically, which is to say, authors wrote “in the name of” other famous Christians, notably apostles.[1] 

A few decades ago most Christians accepted the following propositions without questioning: that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, that the Apostles wrote the four gospels and that all books bearing an author's name were actually written by that author as described. 

Most Bible scholars know differently today, simply because they have read what the texts actually say. But old ideas die hard.

Why does it matter? Sometimes authorship does not affect the message, but at other times it could. I believe the main reason some people fight so hard for outdated views of scripture is that they are afraid their theories concerning Bible inspiration could be proven wrong; they are simply unaware that their dogma has already bitten the dust.


What happens if you find the evidence convincing that a Christian did, indeed, write "in the name of" an apostle? If that is the case it raises other interesting questions, such as: "Why did he do that?? Was there some point that -- in the eyes of  the new writer -- the apostle failed to emphasize enough? Did the original apostle "make a mistake" that needed to be addressed? Were some people misinterpreting the original apostle, hence the need for clarification, at least in view of the pseudo-graphical author? In my studies I have come across just such instances?.

Why are so many people afraid of scripture analysis? 

People defending a theory, such as the theory of plenary inspiration[2], may feel threatened by the notion that their favorite books were not written by an apostle or by Moses or by the person named in the text as the author: Many conservative Christians fear modern text analysis, and with good reason. Specifically, they oppose higher criticism”.

The facts, however, seem to be as follows: 

  • We simply do not know who wrote many of the books of the bible.
  • Books bearing the names of the Apostles were not written by them personally and may have been written (in part or completely) posthumously.

My view on this is that, sooner or later, modern Christians must acknowledge that the entire history of Christianity is one of change: From the earliest days of Christianity until now, ideas that once seemed perfectly reasonably in one generation were later shown to be incorrect, and so Christians have always been forced to adapt.[3] One of the things that we must come to live with is that the authors of many of the Bible texts are not who many of us formerly supposed them to be. There is no other field of inquiry where participants are theoretically locked into the past, like their ideas were cast in cement. The science of a thousand years ago is not good science today. But people seem to think that our knowledge of spiritual things is cast in stone. 


Keep in mind that people of the first century found it difficult to give up the ideas of Moses and the Law, temple worship, circumcision, dietary laws, and laws about eating with non-Jews had to give way to accommodate the new religious views. So far as many Jews were concerned, the Law was God's eternal word, never to be changed. Many of them still believe that today, although since the so called "Second Revolt," in which Jerusalem was razed, I don't think they have used animal sacrifices. The animal sacrifices had to go, even for most devout Jews.

As Paul said (1 Corinthians 3:10, NLT) "Because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful." 

Much later, probably after Paul's death or disappearance, the unknown author of Hebrews Chapter 12 expounds upon earth-shaking changes when he writes concerning the giving of the Law of Moses:
"At that time his voice shook the earth , but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words 'once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken -- that is, created things -- so that what cannot be shaken may remain.Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"
Perhaps the author of Hebrews was speaking of a future, literal annihilation of the earth, which he expected to happen "soon" (and which even modern scientists believe will eventually happen), but the passage also makes a good metaphor for  us today: Theology or "the knowledge of God" is in the midst of the greatest upheaval since Christianity's inception; a tremendous earthquake is shaking weaker underpinnings of the Christian faith. Perhaps only that which is valid will stand. 

Some of the earliest Christians, though I am sure they were trying to be careful, did not have the tools available that we have today for comparing texts, and that comparison has sometimes  revealed embarrassing facts. 

Why must Christianity change now? Writers of the first Century applied different literary norms than what is acceptable to day: we have to live with that. Better understanding those norms might help us understand why the Apostle Paul seemingly flip-flopped on his position concerning women … or it may not. My point is that authorship makes a difference beyond the knee-jerk fears of those promoting  “sola scriptura.” I don't have a problem with scripture being the supreme text guiding our faith, but understanding of scripture depends upon careful reading and an honest evaluation of the facts as known. 

In my mind at least, the more certain we are of an author’s identity, the better we can assess the significance of the passage in question.  Knowing that someone was writing in the name of Paul, using Paul’s name as a “pen name” (if that is the case as it seems to be) may help us to understand how Pauline doctrine was “tweaked” or even changed, possibly for historical reasons. The early church changed and adapted, and so must we. 

Knowing that Luke was a close companion of the Apostle Paul might cause one  to look for similarities between Luke’s gospel and many passages ascribed to Paul. It might also cause one to examine whether the “Pauline gospel” compares to or contrasts with the other two synoptic gospels, and so-on.

The supposed “divine nature” of scripture has long been under attack , and rightly so. That antiquated viewpoint has apparently taken so much flack that a number of Baptists have begun to eschew the use of the term,[4] but in whatever terms they put it, the idea is the same. For many, the bible is almost a magical book, penned by men but authored by Jehovah/Yahweh Himself. I used to accept that view but as I continued to study I had to relent, as the position became increasingly untenable the more I looked into it.

Some say the Bible has all the “earmarks” of a book written by God. In fact, the book has all the earmarks of often-errant human authors, but lo, I have strayed from my topic.  To understand who wrote a book gives us a a starting place for evaluating both the intended message and the validity of an Bible passage.  

End.

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If you would like to see the second post in this series please go to: http://peddlersack-religion.blogspot.com/2011/11/question-two-why-was-this-bible-passage.html

If you enjoyed this blog you might also like: http://shadowsofturning.blogspot.com.





[2] See: http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/603-are-the-scriptures-verbally-inspired-of-god. Plenary inspiration accepts the bible on all geographical, historical and even scientific “facts,” even if they conflict with archeology, geology, secular history or current science.

[3]From Jesus to Christianity: How Four Generations of Visionaries & Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith by Michael White: ” http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Christianity-Generations-Visionaries-Storytellers/dp/0060526556

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