Monday, July 29, 2024

It is the 29th of July 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A very happy Monday to you- we are deep into the summer, rounding into August and as it is Monday we head to the mailbag…. It’s just a little different.

A shout out to the folks of Community Lutheran Church in Escondido- I was with them over the weekend for their conference, and I ran into a fan of the show- Mike from San Diego- a constant asker of questions and sender of puns- he asked about a question he had added to the mailbag about the composition of the Old Testament- so, I’ve got some stuff for him today. Also, Mike would like it if I mentioned hockey more. I’m a Paul Kariya-era Ducks guy with roots in the old Gretzky Kings, so I’ll see what I can do.  

  And a shout out to the nice couple from nearby Valley Center- this is all North San Diego County- the Wikipedia page for Valley Center is a little ambitious in naming celebrities with tangential relationships to the census-designated place that DID, however, give us the grizzly bears that would become our state animal before we chased ‘em all away.

So- I told Mike, there on the patio in Escondido, that the Old Testament is a tricky beast when it comes to “how it came to us.” The New Testament can be its own beast, but consider that all of those were written within a century. 

The Old Testament is a collection of dozens of books by dozens of hands- and yes, editors and people who did things to texts that they were allowed, and God in his providence allowed. And this has led to boatloads of controversy- but let me start to straighten it all out with a basic question:  

When compiling a Bible, which “Hebrew Bible” or “Old Testament” should we use?

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered just decades ago, confirmed that different Jewish communities used different “bibles,” as it were.

 

For our sake, the two most important would be the Septuagint, which is the Old Testament, and other collected works translated into Greek. This is the Old Testament of the New Testament authors. However, there was also a Hebrew cannon written in Hebrew and Aramaic that contained only the texts found in the modern Protestant bible. 

Both the Septuagint and Hebrew Canon fought for supremacy by way of fanciful stories about these supposed “magic books”. The Septuagint means “70” as there were supposedly 72 different scholars brought to King Ptolemy II who had each translated the Old Testament into Greek. The story goes that the 72 texts came out identical.  

Ah, but the Hebrew Canon- favored by Protestants because it doesn’t have those extra books- a story circulated in the 1800s that THIS was the official Hebrew bible and should be used when we put our Bibles together. The claim was that at the Council Of Jamnia in 90AD the reconstituted Jewish leadership (recently exiled with the destruction of the temple) had a council- Nicea style- to authorize the Hebrew Canon as the official Jewish scriptures.

The council did exist, kinda… but it was regional and asked questions of a few texts- not necessarily the whole canon, nor did it have the authority to set a canon for all jews everywhere.

Both texts were used by Jewish communities and those who used the “Deuterocanonical” books- Tobit, Esdras…. Always saw them as secondary- important but maybe on the JV team or with an asterisk.

But Protestant/Catholic infighting has led to the entrenchment of stories to “verify” their choice text.

If I may, a word about the construction of texts- either when Protestants and Catholics are arguing or so-called “liberals” and “conservatives.”

I believe a historical and faithful approach to the scriptures is a belief that the God of the universe, were he to decide to speak to me through a text, would arrange the text to come to me in a suitable form. It’s his word- his inspiration- it’s just the muckety-muck of actual transmission and editing that can confuse us- but I promise, even if it isn’t wildly miraculous- even the most diverse “canons” or “lists of scriptural works” share remarkable uniformity over any supposedly damaging discrepancies.

It’s a big story, one to come back to- but I think starting with the two major Hebrew text traditions helps us to start to straighten it out.

Thanks for the question, Mike and it was good seeing you and the other saints out at Community.  

You can send me your question at Danv@1517.org.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and a good word from Philippians 4 in context.

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 29th of July 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man not on anyone’s JV squad- he is the strong capable and handsome Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man chided for being rough on Christopher and thus, this week will get nothing but effusive praise, maybe.. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.