Leading Lights?

“What do the rabbis say?” That was what Jews said when there was a religious question in Jesus’ day. The word of the scribes and Pharisees carried weight. But depending on them for answers proved to be disastrous. These Bible scholars disagreed with each other and that left the people even more in doubt. They put their traditional explanations above the Scriptures (Matt. 15:1-9). One of the first things Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount was to expose the partial and self-serving interpretations of these teachers (Matt. 5:19-48).

In the 1700s and 1800s, brilliant thinkers in Germany began to analyze the text of the Bible on a supposedly higher plane. These writers were hailed as great scholars. But they denied the inspiration of the Bible. They argued that books of the Old Testament had been written and re-written and edited countless times over the centuries. Thus, they maintained, we cannot say that Moses wrote the law or that Isaiah wrote Isaiah. Tragically, seminaries and Bible colleges in Europe and America listened to these “experts.” These views plague religious schools to this day, even in some universities supported by churches of Christ.

This is a growing problem in the church. Our people, especially young Christians, are listening to well-known pastors. They admire their knowledge and their ability to communicate. They quote these men as their authorities. They see how many people follow these dynamic speakers and writers and think they must be doing something right. And, perhaps most intriguingly, they are in awe of the fresh new approach these leaders offer to interpreting the Bible—something new and different! Excited by this pseudo-spirituality, they gradually bring these ideas into congregations through Bible classes, sermons, devotionals, and social media. The result is always division and it is blamed on the members who oppose this world mentality.

Some members of the church at Corinth listened so much to intelligent professors of their day that they ended up denying one of the clearest and most fundamental doctrines of Christianity—the resurrection of the dead (I Cor. 15:12). They went down this road because they listened to the brilliant minds of the day. But Paul warned that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (I Cor. 3:19). We must not conform to the world (Rom. 12:2). We must study the Bible for ourselves (Acts 17:11).

Kerry

West End church of Christ • January 12, 2025