Heart of the Matter

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology., where we do all we can to try and worship God in Spirit and in Truth. And I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion. your host.

Show 26 452 Sola Scriptura Part VII
July 7th 2015

I had a person tell me Sunday how her Christian friends tell her not to watch or listen to me. This woman came out of Mormonism and she asks them, “How come?” There are an assortment of reasons I have heard of late – Some say I am a cult leader – so easy to say about another, so easy to assassinate another person, so easy to cause irreparable damage to them and their efforts to serve the King. Some say I am a heretic – in the truest sense of the word this is true – I do NOT teach many orthodox points of view.

This specific woman was told by her Christian friends to stay away from me and the reason given was the most hurtful to me personally – because I would lead her astray. I understand the opinion and where it comes from. But this woman, who had come OUT of Mormonism, said back to these warnings and the people who made them: “When I was LDS you told me to really seek and search out everything – something I did. So I want to take that advice and tell you now to do the same – don’t accept traditions of men but test ALL things, challenge your traditions, and apply the same advice you gave me to where you have been as a Christian.” I thought this was really strong advice – and it is hilarious how much Christians are not one bit different than Latter-Day Saints in this regard – they are terrified by information that challenges their pet beliefs.

Discussion on Preterism

On Friday Sept 11 and Saturday morning September 12 we are bringing in an expert to address one area that I am called dangerous and a heretic and a cult leader – that of PreterismThe belief that all biblical prophecy—especially “end times”—was fulfilled by 70 A.D. More. His name is Dr. Don Preston – and we invite, encourage, and challenge any and all to come and hear what the man has to say – he knows his stuff. Tell your friends – and invite those who say that the Preterist view is evil to attend.

A Moment from the Word

And with that, how about a moment from the Word.

In the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus Christ uttered an absolutely wonderful summary of what we as Christians ought to be known by, saying: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Paul said in Ephesians 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

In his epistle John wrote (1st John 3:11) “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” We say it often but it really cannot be said enough, but the importance and the PRIORITY of this Christian love caused Paul to write: “though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

Christian Love and Challenges

I have heard Christian love mocked a bit in recent weeks – especially in the face of homosexuals wanting to get married and Isis wanting to destroy good things. Some Christians are mocking other Christians for loving too much, for letting love get in the way of what they say is reason, truth, justice, and virtue – and the Christian obligation to uphold these in Jesus name.

Is it possible to love too much in this world? It’s an interesting question because genuine love is expressed in a number of ways, isn’t it? I mean it IS loving to speak and teach the truth, right, no matter what the cost? And it is loving to warn people of dangers that lie ahead right? What are we to do, in the face of all of these challenging and difficult issues surrounding us? What stance should we take?

(beat)

Let’s step back and ask a few other questions before we answer this.

First

The Role of Love in Overcoming Fear

Of all, we might first ask: "What is motivating us?" If it's love, if it's for those who are reading to better know Jesus, we have already made great strides in our approach to the solution. If it's judgment, or anger, or revenge, or just our flesh, we have to reevaluate our course of action. How can we tell? Scripture tells us. And we look to see if there are elements of the Spirit driving our attitudes and opinions and approach.

Remember, the Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE (manifested in) joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Ephesians 5:9-10) When these are present with us in our engagements with others—either face to face or in social media—we know we are operating from God’s method of operation—and not our own. Finally, we remember that we are not at war against flesh and blood—we are to love others. Our wars are against spiritual darknesses that dwell in high places—and these are beaten down, overcome, and thwarted by Him and . . . HIS LOVE.

A Personal Example

Look at how God overcame the world—by sending us love. What does this love look like? I had the opportunity to see love in action last Saturday as I waited to catch a flight out of Long Beach to come to Salt Lake. I was inside with a hundred other people but out on the hot tarmac a scene was unfolding. A father was making every attempt to get his teenage son on the plane—something this boy was absolutely terrified to do. I mean, every step this boy made up the ramp was frightening to him. But the father was with him—encouraging, showing him that it was safe, proving to him that he could make it. The two would make it up halfway to the plane and the boy would then break free and run back down to the bottom of the ramp.

Over, and over, and over again. In time a crowd of people quietly observed this tug of war of wills from inside the terminal—myself included. As the father was able to get the boy way up the ramp people were cheering him on—“Come on, you're almost there—just a few more steps and you will be inside,” I heard people say. And then we would all sigh exhaustedly when the boy would turn tail and walk hurriedly back toward the tarmac. This father was utterly amazing in his love, in his patience, in his tender mercy for a boy full of fear. He did not seem to care that people were trying to get by, that the plane had to load, that we all had agendas that ought to make him get frustrated with his boy.

The two must have gone up and down that ramp 15 to 20 times. But the Father NEVER lost patience, never gave up, never screamed, never called the boy names, but continued to work and hope that his son would get on board. After what must have been a full hour, they had to give up—the boy refusing to get on the plane. But again, I was amazed at two distinct features of this event. First, that the Father, smiling and his arm around the boy, walked away from the scene encouraging his son, and loving him. Secondly, that from within the terminal, most people were encouraging (or praying quietly) for the Father’s success but there were some who were cold-hearted toward the scene, suggesting out loud that “someone ought to kick that kid's ass,” that if they were standing out there they’d pick him up and force him inside.”

An Invitation

I couldn’t help but see Jesus in this situation—walking step by step up this ramp with all of us—encouraging us to get on board—to put our trust in the living God and His capable hands to transport us to another place. When He walked the earth His message was inviting, open to all, and longsuffering. It still is. And the victories, large and small, performed by us who follow Him, are all had by and through . . . LOVE.

And with that, how about a moment of Prayer.

PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER

We left off (ON APRIL 7th) with a discussion about religious institutions claims on Apostolic authority—remember? We talked about the Catholic view of authority, about the Protestant view, and the Restorationist.

Authority and Interpretation

We showed that each of these groups:

• Demand conformity to their respective views;
• That they all claim to have the ability to “prove” to actually get their authority from one historical legend or another.
• That they all appeal to the same Bible (and claim to be in harmony with its tenets), and that they all
• Resist, refuse, and/or even mock the views and approaches that the others maintain.

And yet in the midst of all the appeals to authority (using the Bible and biblical history to justify themselves and their efforts at controlling people) – the reality is only God has been in control of His church and believers by His Spirit – not the written manual and not men in control the interpretation of the written manual. Quite frankly I think we have to seriously ask ourselves:

Has our use of the written manual done more to unit believers or divide us?

Think about this seriously for a moment and let me ask it again – Has OUR use – our interpretation and application – of the written manual provided to us by God done more to unite or divide believers? Again, the problem is NOT the written manual. It is the most profound book ever compiled and reading it by the Spirit transforms lives. But it is our understanding of its place and purpose – that lends to it being seen and used improperly.

The Power of Context

Let me turn to a map to continue to show you what I mean. (REVIEW MAP ON OVERHEAD CAM HERE)

So before we open the phone lines I want to give you a really quick run through of some dates and how they relate to the Bible and its construction and influence on believers in the early church. Point 1 – when the new testament writers spoke of scripture they were speaking of the Old Testament books – not the letters that were being sent to believers alive at the time. The only exception to this is Peter considered Paul’s writings to be scripture, so admittedly, it didn’t take long for some of the letters to have an influence – but not all of them and certainly not all of them on all people who believed. What did believers have? The Holy Spirit, apostolic direction, elders in the faith elected to oversee the church.

The POINT BLANK QUESTION WE HAVE TO ASK IS WHEN WAS THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Agreed upon in terms of content.
• And available to the majority of believers who came out of the Apostolic church and beyond.

These two points are VERY important because today we use the entirety of the Bible content to establish ourselves and if the entirely was not available then what was available was inferior – I mean we take the whole word of God, and not just some or parts. Anyone who argues that the Epistle to Ephesus would have been sufficient does so to win an argument but ignores the fact that today we would not allow a believer to say they only subscribe to Ephesians but no other book. We can’t have it both ways – either the Bible must be taken as a whole or it doesn’t.

Purpose and Guidance

So if we are going to claim that it is God’s guide to believers we need to know when it’s contents were agreed upon and when those contents were made available to Christians. Then we take the date of the deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. of the last living apostle (John) and we mark the date the Bible contents were BOTH agreed upon and available AS A COMPLETE SET to believers, and we ask: What guided believers in Jesus between those two dates?

My purpose is to show that all the claims of Sola Scriptura are fallacious. That we are NOT under the letter but live according to the Spirit and appeal to letters available to supplement our insights and understanding. So, as a means to kind of highlight some facts taken from church history, let me rattle the following off for your consideration.

• Around 80 a book called the Didache was written. It was included in what are called the Apostolic Fathers. It contained heresy.
• Ever hear of Clement, the fourth Bishop of Rome? He wrote the “Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians” also of the Apostolic Fathers.
• Around 100 AD came the Epistle of Barnabas (Apostolic Fathers) and at the same time the Epistle of Jude was rejected by some early Christians because it quotes the apocryphal Book of Enoch (v14)
• Between 100-150 we got the “Apocryphon of James,” “Gospel of Mary Magdalene,” “Gospel of James,” “Infancy Gospel of

The Development of Early Christian Texts

Thomas, “Secret Gospel of Mark” (books that the Jesus Seminar people today call the Complete Gospels)

110-130? Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis, wrote "Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord" which is widely quoted by the Apostolic Fathers. Why? Why not quote the New Testament itself?

110-160? Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, wrote his “Letter to the Philippians,” (also quoted by the Apostolic Fathers – again why? Why weren’t the Apostolic Fathers quoting Paul and Peter and James) In 150 the Shepherd of Hermas, was also written in Rome and heavily quoted by Apostolic Fathers AND contained crazy stuff – again, why?)

150-200? Three other books were composed, the “Unknown Berlin Gospel,” “Gospel of Peter,” “Oxyrhynchus Gospels,” and “Dialogue of the Saviour”

Issues of Authenticity and Canon

As early as 170? Dionysius, the bishop of Corinth claimed that Christians were changing and faking his letters as he also claimed they had changed the Gospels. 170 a guy named Tatian blended the Gospels into one. It was called the “Diatessaron" (means Harmony) By 185-through 350, Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 3 John was excluded from what was considered the inspired writings of the New Testament BUT the “Wisdom of Solomon,” and “Apocalypse of Peter” was included.

199-217? Caius, presbyter of Rome, rejected Revelation, said it was written by Gnostic Cerinthus. 218-258 Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, claimed Christians were freely forging his letters to discredit him.

223? Tertullian became known as the "father of the Latin Church." Why? Because he coined “trinitas,” “tresPersonae,” “una Substantia,” “VetusTestamentum,” “NovumTestamentum” Then around 250 Origen said that Jesus and God were one substance, (which was accepted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325) – by the way Eusibius claimed that Origen castrated himself for Jesus based on his understanding of Matthew 19:12. Now think about this – the man cut his penis off due to his misguided interpretation of one verse and we accept his views on the ontology of God?

Major Milestones and Council Decisions

312 Vision of Constantine: while gazing into the sun he sees a cross with the words by this sign conquer, see also Labarum, he was later called the 13th Apostle and Equal-to-apostles

313 Edict of Milan: Constantine establishes toleration of Christianity 313 Lateran Palace given to Pope Miltiades for residence by Constantine 321 Constantine decrees Sunday as state "day of rest" (CJ3.12.2), 325 The First Council of Nicaea 325 Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, ordered built by Constantine

And then around 330 AD Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, is the first to cite the 27 books of our modern New Testament as canonical. If the last apostle (John) died at 100AD that leaves 230 years of Christian believers not knowing which books were acceptable and which were not.

But then in 363-364 Council of Laodicea decided Revelation was not inspired and limited the NT to 26 books. Then in 400 AD Jerome's Vulgate (his Latin edition of the Bible is published) But if you were a Syrian Christian your New Testament (written in Aramaic) would have only included 22 books – and would have excluded 2nd Peter, 2-3rd John, Jude, and Revelation. By 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, the 4th ecumenical declared that Jesus is a Hypostatic Union: both human and divine in one (which is known as the Chalcedonian Creed) and then I’m gonna stop tonight with this highlight –

Around 500 AD incense was first introduced in Christian church service. Next week we’ll pick the history up when the Protestants said, among other things, “no more incense.”

801

While the operators are clearing your calls let’s take a look at this –

Emails