Faith and the Book of Bart

Probably the one question I get asked more than any other by people who know that I am an agnostic scholar of the New Testament, is why I continue to study and teach the New Testament if I no longer believe in it?

This is a question that has never made much sense to me. The Bible is the most important book in the history of Western civilization. It is the most widely purchased, the most thoroughly studied, the most highly revered, and the most completely misunderstood book - ever! Why wouldn't I want to study it?

Jesus Interrupted
Chapter Eight: Is Faith Possible?
by Bart D. Ehrman

Dr. Ehrman goes on to describe his study of the Bible to be like scholars who study the works of Chaucer, Homer, Plato, and so on. But the classic works of these writers are not said to be the inspired writings of God and do not represent the sacred writings of millions of people, both past and present. Nevertheless, it is Ehrman's stated response to what seems to be a very understandable question.

More to the point, Dr. Ehrman describes the relationship between the issue of faith and what he writes and teaches as follows:

Some readers will find it surprising that I do not see the material in the preceding chapters as an attack on Christianity or an agnostic's attempt to show that faith, even Christian faith, is meaningless and absurd. That is not what I think, and it is not what I have been trying to accomplish.

I have been trying, instead, to make serious scholarship on the Bible and the earliest Christianity accessible and available to people who may be interested in the New Testament but who, for one reason or another, have never heard what scholars have long known and thought about it.

Ehrman doesn't go into detail in this book, but he says that his studies of and conclusions about the Bible did not result in his putting aside his faith. Rather, it was the issue of perpetual human suffering on earth that finally caused him to walk away from Christianity. In other words, the classic question of "why would a loving God permit innocent people to suffer" could not be reconciled sufficiently to allow Ehrman to believe that the God of the Bible could be the God of the universe.

As I was reading this final chapter of Ehrman's book, I started thinking of how many other people have suffered terribly and yet retained their faith. What did they have that Dr. Ehrman lacked or perhaps, what did they lack that Dr. Ehrman had?

There's no way to really examine a person's faith. Each person's faith is as unique as fingerprints and as elusive as the soul. Although my faith has been challenged recently, I don't feel that it has weakened (perhaps momentarily) and maybe it has even gotten a bit stronger. There's something about having to rise to a challenge that either defeats a person, or results in them being able to exceed what they thought were their limits. I'm hoping the latter is what's going on with me.

At my congregation yesterday, I talked a lot about this topic. I adapted some of the things I learned in Ehrman's book and asked my class to try and determine the day that Jesus died. It seems to vary depending on which Gospel account you read and in the end, we couldn't point to a definitive answer (it's not a foregone conclusion that Jesus was crucified on "Good Friday"). I mentioned in my previous blog post that we read the Bible as much with our faith and our Spirit as we do with our mind and our intellect. The Bible can be seen as the inspired Word of God, the testimony of the witnesses of the life of Jesus, and a very human response to dilemmas of faith. One of the dilemmas presented by the Bible is that under close examination, it's not as "perfect" as we often suppose.

A life of faith can't be lived solely with a historical understanding of the events that took place 2,000 years ago in another part of the world, although that information certainly is important. A life of faith is negotiated directly with God and we often struggle with Him as much as Jacob did with the angel (Genesis 32:22-32). I also believe that, like Jacob, once you've had that struggle, you are marked for life. In Jacob's case, he carried a limp for the rest of his days. For us, the scars or signs are different and unique, but they are very real.

The fact that Ehrman calls himself an agnostic and not an atheist is one sign of his struggle. So is the fact that he doesn't outright denounce Christian faith as bogus and unintelligent. Why does he maintain his particular opinions when everything else he has written points to faith as fictional? Why (besides the fact that he teaches New Testament classes at the university level) does he associate and is close friends with other New Testament scholars who are also Christians?

Besides reading one of Ehrman's books and listening to an audio recording of a debate between him and Dr. Michael L. Brown, I know nothing of Dr. Ehrman and can't claim any special knowledge of his life.

But how he describes himself gives us clues to the nature of our own faith and the dangers believing people face. We live in a world that seems designed to disassemble faith in God and which glorifies sin, debauchery, and corruption. Further, even within the community of faith, a vast spectrum of scholarly opinions abound, and we seem bombarded with this authority or that, telling us that only they are right and everybody else is wrong. It would almost be easier to give up a life of faith than to continually swim against such a powerful tide.

But people of faith have been assaulted throughout the ages. How many Jews were tortured and murdered for refusing to renounce their faith and be forcibly converted to Christ, who they saw as a false Messiah? How many of them went to their deaths singing the Shema and were faithful to the God of Jacob to their very last breath?

Almost three years ago, a dear lady in our congregation named Cyndy succumbed to cancer after a long and agonizing battle. Her husband Dale and their five children were devastated and, if anyone had a right to ask where God was while Cyndy was slowly and painfully dying, it was this family. In spite of the horror that accompanied Cyndy's decline and passing, her husband, to this day, remains one of the most faithful believers I have ever met. His wife's suffering, the grief of his children, and the agony of his own loss drove him closer to God, not away from Him.

Coward that I am, I pray that God never tests me the way he tested Dale and his family, but God does what He does. God does not require that we understand Him and His actions, only that we continue to believe and to live a life honoring the Creator and serving our fellow human beings.

I wish I could say that my faith is rock solid and that nothing life or God throws at me will change it, but if I ever became that arrogant, I'm afraid God would indeed put me to the test and humble me down to the dark basement of my existence. No, I don't ask for such a challenge, and whatever He does allow or provide, for good or for ill, I pray that my faith will endure and that the Messiah will continue to walk with me, as my stalwart companion and protector, as we travel along the road.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. -Plato

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark, but we don't have to travel alone.