Culture is the foundation of any society, built upon traditions that are weaved into each generation by those who came before. We are not born with an implanted culture. We are taught by our parents, by our educators, by people in other positions of authority, and by our peers—we learn our culture as we grow. And culture is never static. It is a complex fluid perception, parts of which can change from generation to generation. We experience this change as fashion standards evolve, as popular music shifts from one style to another style. Many of the ancient aspects of culture remain, but there is always a slow shift that represses portions of both ancient traditions and the culture of prior generations—the old become overshadowed by the new.
The changing cultural perspectives of each generation have played an important role in the evolution of Christianity. These changes are like what happened to the religion of the Hebrews. What began with Abraham circa the 20th-century B.C.E., and was formalized by Moses in the 15th-century B.C.E., morphed into multiple flavors of Judaism by the 1st-century C.E.. While the Mosaic Law was still the foundation of their formal worship, the generational changes through history made the first century religion of Yahweh a collection of diverse religious interpretations that were similar, but different.
- It cannot be denied that the religion of Israel passed through many changes. It grew and purified and spiritualized itself out of its own inherent strength; but it also suffered many relapses, when hindering and corrupting influence gained the upper hand. Orr, James, Editor, 1929, ISBE, 1980 Edition, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Vol.3, Page 1541.
Alterations to the Christian faith have produced the multi-denominational Christendom of the 21st-century; a conglomerate of diverse interpretations, unrecognizable when compared to the 1st-century original.
Our understanding is influenced by current cultural norms (as when scripture is read with a modern outlook), but also by translations from the original languages of the Bible. Languages are also not static. Words used to translate a specific meaning hundreds of years ago, may imply something entirely different in current vocabulary that was not intended by the original author.
An example of this change in meaning is found in the seventh chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians. Paul discusses principles for marriage. In verses 7 through 9 he discusses the gift of singleness and his preference for the unmarried and widows (my comments in brackets).
- 7. For I would that all men were even as I myself [Paul was not married]. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
- 8. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I [as unmarried Christians].
- 9. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. —1 Corinthians 7:7-9 KJV
There is much we can say about each of these verses, but for now we will focus on verse 9. The Greek word in verse 9 translated “let them marry,” is γαμησάτωσαν (gam-ĕs-áh-tō-sahn), the aorist, active, imperative, third person plural of the root γαμέω (gam-ĕh-oh), “I marry.” The King James translators, because of the imperative nature of the meaning in Greek, translated the word “let them marry” because “let them” is a third person imperative phrase in Early Modern English (1500 C.E. to 1700 C.E.), and thus corresponds to the Greek imperative tense. Many readers today take the phrase “let them” to mean “allow them,” which is not as forceful and removes the imperative intent behind the original word. This has prompted some modern translators to change the English words in this verse to better reflect the original contextual meaning.
- However, if they cannot control themselves, they should get married, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. —1 Corinthians 7:9 ISV
This type of linguistic shifting in English is a minor bump on our path to understanding scripture. Other cultural and linguistic differences between Hebrew and Greek are much more detrimental, and have influenced our understanding so severely that recovering from the corrupt theology can be an impassable hurdle for many Christians; Impassable because the cultural and linguistic misunderstandings have been piling up for almost two thousand years, making that hurdle extremely high.
Repeat a corrupt understanding long enough and it will morph into an accepted truth by the majority, changing forever the author’s original meaning.
The centuries of corruption embedded in modern Christianity is our number one obstacle to worship the Father in spirit and truth.
- But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. —John 4:23, 24 NET
The first step to remove the obstacles to our understanding is to read scripture with the same frame of mind as those to whom it was written. This is easier than one may think, but demands we toss away all modern perspectives and rely on the text to inform us of the intent behind the scripture. To do this successfully, we must:
- 1. Learn to recognize ancient metaphors and idioms used
by the authors.
- 2. Understand the authors of the NT had a perspective built
on a deep foundation of Hebrew literature.
- 3. Allow context to determine meaning.
While it is not essential to have a knowledge of ancient languages, we will examine information from lexicons and other resources to help glean the intended meaning of scripture. The context will shape our understanding, allow us to identify all obstacles, and guide us toward accurate meaning.
