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The Westside Café Blog
By Rev. Todd Boddy and Rev. John Cunyus
In the Westside Café blog you will see the commentary and application. We welcome your comments and questions.
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Are Dietary Holiness Codes Arbitrary?
04/15/2010 by Todd Boddy
In Deuteronomy 14 Moses gets a little more precise in just how this national community of Israel is going to become the holy people of God. One of the things he details in Vs 1-21 are the types of meat whcih can be consumed.Some types of meat is deemed "ritually impure" while others are considered "kosher" for consumption.
If you look at the lists of which types of meat can be consumed, one can wonder is there a ryhme or reason for these choices by God? The opinions on these categories are several: health and avoidance of disease carrying animals, categories of animals which themselves eat a particular diet which is unclean, and avoidance of Canaanite forms of worship. There is probably some merit to all of these views.
There is one more however you may have not heard of; that these dietary codes for the most part were arbitrary. the word "arbitray" according to the online Merriam webster can mean (based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something, or depending on individual discretion and not fixed by law.)
So why in the world would these holiness codes concerning food be arbitrary? Why would God do that?
The first reason might be to demonstrate God's grace reflected in how he arbitrarily chose Abraham to make him into a great nation. Abraham was called out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees. Over time God slowly shaped his off spring into a special nation called out as a testimony to the Nations. The scriptures are clear God chose this "stiff necked" people in spite of their character.
Similarly the new dietary codes might contain some symbols of God's arbitrary grace. In other words God is saying,"I am choosing you to be my special people, community, nation and reflect our covenant in these particular choice of ritually pure/unpure foods."
This arbitariness comes to light in Acts 10 when Peter has a vision of hunger related to ministering to the gentile Cornelius. A sheet comes down out of heaven full the the very animals and categories prohibited in Deuteronomy 14.
Peter voices that he will never touch these obscene and ritually impure animals. However God tells Peter that He has now declared them ritually pure. This jives with Mark 7 where Jesus teaches it is what comes out of a person's heart which really makes them unclean, not what food is consummed.
How to Study the Bible
04/05/2010 by
Sometimes people ask me, “How do I study
the Bible?”
It’s a good question. If, for instance, you pick
up your Bible and it opens randomly to
Leviticus 2, you may be forgiven for
wondering about the relevance to you of
instructions on offering a live animal as a
sacrifice to the Lord.
Nevertheless, the first part of the answer to
“How do I study the Bible” is simple: read it!
I know that sounds sarcastic, but it isn’t. So
many of the arguments in the culture about
the Bible come from people who don’t bother
to read it. Their minds are full of what they
think it says, of what other people have told
them it says. But they haven’t taken the time
to find out for themselves what it actually
says.
Some talk as if the “original” Bible had some
hidden meaning that has been obscured by
translators. A conspiracy exists, they think,
that keeps scripture from saying what their
uninformed opinion tells them it ought to say.
I hate to say it isn’t so, but it isn’t so.
In fact, the meaning of scripture has been
spelled out with great accuracy over the
millennia. We can lay various translations
side-by-side and see that with our own eyes.
As my grandfather used to say, “It’s not the
part of the Bible I don’t understand that
bothers me. It’s the part I do!”
So, read the Bible. Read it from beginning to
end, at least once, so you can get an idea of its
unity. Read it end to end so you’ll have a
sense that the Bible tells one story, through
sixty-six books, rather than sixty-six different
stories. Read it so you will know its central
character, the Lord God. Then you can decide
for yourself whether He is merely a character
from literature, or something more.
As you read it, ask yourself the five W
Questions from journalism: Who, What,
When, Where, and Why (I always thought
How should be in there, but apparently it’s
included under What). Answer these question
both from inside the text and outside it. The
internal Who, for instance, may be “Who is
speaking,” “to whom are they speaking,” etc.
The external Who would be “Who wrote this
book.”
Let me give a brief answer to those questions,
as they relate to The Latin Torah .
Who: The first Bible’s five books are often
called the “books of Moses.” Scoffers point
out that Moses would have had a hard time
writing the story of his own death. Yet that
isn’t the point of calling these the “books of
Moses.” Moses is a central figure of the last
four of the books. He wrote some of it,
caused other parts of it to be written, and is
the subject of still other parts. They are
“books of Moses” in this sense.
In another sense, Israel itself is the author.
Through Torah , Israel tells us who it is,
where it came from, and what its vocation is.
No doubt we have family stories too that tell
us and others who we are and where we came
from.
In yet another sense, God is the author.
Through the book, God introduces Himself to
us. He tells us who He is, how He relates to
us, and what His expectations are of us.
What: There are two aspects to this question,
as well. When you answer it, consider what
the text is not, as well as what it is. To hear
those on either side of the creation vs.
evolution battle tell it, you might think this is
a biology text. It isn’t. I took biology in high
school and college. On occasion I opened the
text books. Torah is not a biology text,
whatever the partisans on either side may
claim.
It is a work of law. There are two types of
law, at least in Texas (my home State): statute
law, and case law. Statute law is the kind of
law that a lawmaking body makes. Case law
is an account that illustrates legal principles.
Torah contains both. The stories of Genesis
establish the principles by which God relates
to us, and by which we are to relate to each
other. The statute law in Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy, spells out many
of these legal principles and makes them
specific.
Torah also contains genealogies, hymns,
sermons, and prayers. Each type of writing
communicates truth in different ways. We
need to be sensitive to the differences in our
study.
When: Again, we face the issue of the
“internal When” and the “external When.”
Internally, Torah begins with creation and
ends with Israel on the edge of the Promised
Land. According to the Jewish calendar, this
sweep of time took roughly 3000 years.
Externally, the question of when this
document was written has been controversial
for a long time. Some insist it was written in
its entirety by Moses, prior to Israel’s
conquest of Canaan. Others say the books as
we know them didn’t take shape until after
Jerusalem’s destruction and Judah’s exile, in
587 BCE.
My view is something of a hybrid. Different
portions of the book were almost certainly
written at different times. We know from a
copyist’s note in Genesis 36:31 that at least
one portion of it was written after “Israel’s
children began to have kings.” This is
helpful. Israel’s children began to have kings
under Saul, in the 11th Century before Christ.
They stopped having kings as a united nation
after the death of Solomon, late in the 10th
Century before Christ. So, by deduction, that
particular copyist was writing in that time
span.
To this we add the fact that scripture begins
making reference to “the book of the law” in
Joshua. Assuming that Israel didn’t have two
“books of the law,” this document must have
existed, in some form at least, from Joshua’s
time on. The “book of the law” is also
referred to in 1 and 2 Samuel, when Israel
became a united kingdom under Saul and
David.
I can only conclude, on this basis, that Torah
existed in book form prior to Israel’s
division, which took place around 931 BCE.
We have evidence of this book having existed,
pretty much in its present form, since the
reign of Solomon. Portions of it were far
older. The document’s great age makes it the
oldest continuously studied book in human
history.
Where: Internally, the where stretches from
Eden (whose location is a bit fuzzy), to
Babylon, to the mountains of Armenia (where
Noah’s Ark comes to rest), to Ur, to Egypt. It
encompasses the ancient Fertile Crescent
between Mesopotamia and Egypt, plus a little
more. This area saw the flowering of the
earliest human civilizations, followed in short
order by Indian and Chinese civilizations as
well. Externally, the book comes from the
land of Canaan, where Israel settled following
the Exodus.
Why: In much of life, there doesn’t seem to
be any “Why,” any reason, at all. This is not
true of Torah . The God of Torah always
has a why, always has a reason. We may not
particularly like the reason, but it’s there
nonetheless. Torah exists to tell us who God
is, who we are, and how we are to live.
Through its story, it gives us principles by
which we can uncover the reasons why things
happen in our lives as well.
As the biblical story of Job illustrates,
sometimes this why is troubling, painful. Yet
it is always there. As we get to know the God
of Torah through this book, our spirits will
no doubt testify to us as to whether His why’s
are relevant to us.
In conclusion then, study this book by reading
it in its entirety. Open your understanding
further by asking of it (and of any portion
within it) who, what, when, where, and why.
But above all, dedicate to it the time and
attention it deserves.
If, in the end, you can’t bring yourself to
believe in its God, you will at least be familiar
with a document that is at the heart of so
much of our history, law, and literature. If, in
reading it, its God becomes more than just a
literary character to you, you will have
discovered the pearl without price, the
greatest treasure this earth affords.
©2010, John G. Cunyus
All Rights Reserved
www.JohnCunyus.com.
The Christmas Special, "Why Mary?
01/26/2010 by Todd Boddy
We were so happy this year to produce the Christmas Special, "Reflections of Mary, on the Son of God" for the Westside Cafe. I have written smaller pieces before as 1st person narratives of different Biblical characters. But Mary, the mother of Jesus is one I was hesitant to take any liberties with until now.
Originally we planned on just presenting a straight forward birth narrative of Jesus from the N.T. However I thought it might attract more interest to listeners if I could manage to try and fill in a few blanks about Mary's feelings toward raising Jesus without being sacrilegious in any way toward her.
Mary had great faith but we see from luke 2:41-50, where Jesus intentionally stays behind in the temple during the end of passover week at age 12, that she struggles with understanding how Jesus could abandon the family's return home without permission to study with Israel's teachers.
Jesus asks the question "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph did not understand Jesus reply in the midst of their panic attack. Yet he explains about Mary's suspicion of something else happening, "his mother treasured all these things in her heart".
So even if you don't feel it's Christmas season, and you haven't yet listened to our Christmas special, it is always a good time to hear the marvel of the incarnation. We added Mary's piece as a middle aged mother reflecting on the treasure and pain of being mother to the Messiah.
Of course thanks to our team and partners at the Westside Cafe, Bill Anderton, John Cunyus, Brandon Boyer, Linda Dimon, Randy and Melanie Breen, Russel Church, Norm Stolpe, Actors, Ed Delatte, Michael Rains, Crystal Kreitzer, Musicians-Performers John Tracy and Terry Wilson, Eran McGowan, and Joseph Golf.
And thanks to all our listeners for your prayers and support of the Westside Cafe.
The Latin Torah Available January 2010
12/03/2009 by
Please see my "Living Large" blog here at www.cccdt.org for the cover photo.
Thanks!
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