Why Authorial Intent still matters: Utilizing Jesus' command, "Lazarus, come out!" as an LGBTQ metaphor

Examples of the misinterpretation and misapplication of Scripture are legion.  They abound in both the ancient and and modern Church, and are committed by both those from conservative (traditionalist) and liberal (progressive) perspectives.  Some of these errors are fairly benign and others are highly injurious to the health of the Church.

In news stories relating to the Vatican's recent publication of, "Male And Female He Created Them", the most commonly cited critic of the Catholic Church's defense of traditional/biblical definitions of human anthropology (gender, marriage, sexuality, etc.) is New Ways Ministry, a group that advocates for LGBTQ Catholics.  While examining their website (something I often do when pondering stories in the news, i.e. go to the source), I discovered a section entitled, Journeys: A Scriptural Reflection series for LGBT People and Allies.  Curious, I read through the reflection questions written for the respective Scriptural passages.  One such in particular caught my eye: The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11.  This passage is a well known episode in John's Gospel, one that for centuries has highlighted both Jesus's humanity, in weeping at the grief of death affecting himself and his friends, and Jesus' divinity, as he overcomes the power of death with a word.  This passage is an amazing precursor to Jesus' own impending victory over sin and death, as well as a further affirmation of the legitimacy of his claim to be the Son of God.  The potential applications of such a passage highlighting both Jesus' compassion and his unique authority/power are many and reasonably diverse, but is there not a limit to how far afield from the original context and purpose a passage of Scripture ought to be taken?

I am well aware than in many modern literary circles that authorial intent is no longer considered to hold much, if any, value {See: Reader-Response Theory}.  The intentions of the author have been replaced with the experiences of the audience.  "What is the author trying to say?" has been swapped out for, "What does it mean to me?"  Setting that issue aside as it relates to literature in general, we cannot treat Scripture in the same way, as if we are the most important factor in its interpretation/application, for an extremely simple and important reason: It is God's Word.  Behind the examination of human authorial intent, and real and important questions surrounding the Biblical authors, lies the fundamental doctrine of inspiration.  It has been an accepted and celebrated doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, that the sacred texts upon which our religions are founded are more than the writings of mere men.  And while it is true that Islam views the Qur'an as eternal and not the product of Muhammad, and that both Judaism and Christianity affirm the role of real human beings whose viewpoints, experiences, and syntax were utilized by God who spoke through them, all three religions depend upon the article of faith that the Word of God was the end result.  {Recognizing, of course, that while all three can be correct about the divine origin of the Hebrew Scriptures, only one can be correct about the New Testament or the Qur'an}.

Given this emphasis on the human/divine nature of the Scriptures, it is neither respectful to its author, nor helpful to those who would use it as a guide of faith, to treat the Bible as something which can be bent and twisted to fit whichever notion the reader would like it to say.  I know full well that this happens all the time, and am under no illusion that conservatives/traditionalists do this any less than liberals/progressives, but since the criticism of the message from the Vatican concerning the original intent of Scripture regarding human anthropology has been both loud and vehement, the illustration from New Ways Ministry's utilization of the story of Lazarus is a fitting point of comparison.

When Jesus spoke to Lazarus {whether in Aramaic or Greek we cannot be certain, John records it in Koine Greek}, telling him to "come out" (deuro exo), it is a certainty far beyond a reasonable doubt that neither the Apostle John nor his original audience had any inkling that Lazarus "coming out" of the tomb had anything to do, whatsoever, even metaphorically, with anyone revealing a hidden secret to their friends and family; let alone that this phrase would have a meaning in English (a language more than 1,000 years from existing at that point) to generations 2,000 years later about non-traditional sexuality.  Jesus was not speaking about what we hide from other people, John was not writing in any way about sexuality, and making this passage a metaphor for that issue is a massive disservice to the intent of both Jesus, who spoke the words, and John who recorded them.

As New Ways Ministry writes,
In the raising of Lazarus, the Gospel of John exemplifies the decisive power of Jesus over humanity’s last and most dictating enemy – death.

For the LGBTQ community, this resurrection story may well come to symbolize God’s promise of life to those excluded, marginalized or emotionally imprisoned. “Lazarus, come out!” commands Jesus in a loud voice, and to the people around, Jesus further directs, “Unbind him, and let him go!”

People can, and will, utilize Scripture for their own purposes, but to say that the story of Lazarus, "may well come to symbolize" a vindication of "coming out of the closet", is stretching the Gospel of John far beyond the breaking point.  If the story of Lazarus can "come to symbolize" this, it can symbolize anything.  If Scripture can stand for anything, it stands for nothing.

If the LGBTQ community wants to debate the proper translation into English of the Greek phrase, malakoi oute arsenokoitai used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9 (and the similar wording in 1 Timothy 1:10), that's a debate that (at least in theory) respects the Word of God.  If they want to make the argument from silence that Jesus didn't specifically call out non-traditional sexual expressions when he very much emphasized the permanent nature of marriage while he rejected divorce (Matthew 19:3-12, Mark 10:2-12), that's another approach that at least treats what is written as key to the conversation.  And if they want to argue that the Mosaic Law's prohibitions against unions other than marital male-female are akin to the Mosaic Law's Sabbath and Kosher rules and thus no longer valid in the Church Age, while I will disagree and offer a New Testament based counter-argument, I can at least respect the effort to work within the framework of the Scriptures. 

If the Bible can mean anything, even opposite things, based upon its audience, then it loses its value as a bedrock upon which to build individual relationships with God, church communities, and society as a whole.  We cannot afford to jettison the guardrails of authorial intent (along with original audience understanding when that can be determined), no matter which individual or group would like to do so, no matter what motive lies behind the effort, and no matter whether we agree with the causes attempting to make the Scriptures their own, or oppose them.

Sermon Video: Run to get the prize - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

There are few metaphors I feel more at home with in the Bible than when Paul compares our Christian journey to running a race.  What does it take to have a shot to win a race?  Certainly hard work, but also a plentiful measure of God-given talent.  In the spiritual realm, hard work and dedication are also required, but significantly, there can be many "winners" among those willing to serve the kingdom of God.  As a warning to finish out the metaphor, Paul reminds us that we cannot risk being "disqualified" from our race through immorality.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Paul's extra-long sermon - Acts 20:1-12

Of what value is knowledge of God to you?  What are you willing to do to obtain it?  While Paul was teaching at Troas, a young man named Eutychus nearly paid for such knowledge with his life.  If not for the mercy and power of God, which enabled Paul to bring Eutychus back from the dead, that quest for knowledge would have ended in tragedy.  And yet, such knowledge for Christians today, at least in the West, is readily available, even free.  Do those who claim to be disciples of Christ thirst after knowledge of God, do they seek it diligently and guard themselves against error and falsehood?  As God's people, his holy Church, we need to make every effort to educate ourselves and to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Church and its ministers to learn more and more about our Savior and our God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

What is your authority? A historical parallel to the Protestant - Catholic/Orthodox divide

I love the way teaching my two Bible studies each week sometimes causes new ideas or connections to pop into my head in the middle of trying to explain a particular text of Scripture.  That phenomenon happened today allowing me to see for the first time what I think is a useful analogy for understanding the divide between Protestants and Catholic/Orthodox Christians over the issue of authority.

In the first century, Jesus confronted two of the groups of religious leaders within Judaism who had radically different approaches to the way in which they defined authority: The Sadducees and the Pharisees.  The Sadducees believed in the authority of the written text of Scripture alone (minus any oral tradition) and preferred to focus upon the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) within the Tanakh (the 24 books of the Hebrew Scriptures).  The Pharisees, by contrast, accepted the authority of the Tanakh and also that of the Talmud and Midrash (the many generations worth of rabbinic commentary upon, and interpretation of, the Tanakh).

Is the parallel obvious yet?  Protestantism was founded upon the principle of Sola Scriptura (along with Sola Fide and Sola Gratia, "Faith alone" and "Grace alone"), that is the idea that Christian theology must rest solely upon the Scriptures themselves.  The Catholic and Orthodox traditions accept the authority of Scripture, but in conjunction with the teachings developed over time by the Church (through the various councils, synods, etc.)

Is it any wonder that Protestants and Catholics/Orthodox Christians have a hard time finding agreement upon a host of issues?  If the authority to which we must appeal is not the same, how can the answers derived from it be consistent?

That we have a different viewpoint of authority is no new observation, Martin Luther himself realized five hundred years ago that he was rejecting the authority of the Church in favor of that of Scripture alone.  I'm sure somebody has previously noticed the parallel between the Sadducees/Protestants and Pharisees/Catholic/Orthodox in the realm of authority, but the connection was new to my brain today, so I thought I'd share it.

Just as a reminder, Jesus had plenty of criticism for both the Sadducees and the Pharisees, something to keep in mind when we're tempted to climb up onto a high horse.  Both groups appealed to a different authority, and both were wrong in their conclusions/attitudes, both were in need of reform to reclaim the heart which God requires of his people.

Bible Study, Gospel of Mark, audio files

The link below is to the audio file from my Bible study that began this week in the Gospel of Mark.  This is a verse by verse study, not utilizing any outside materials, simply discussing the text and and answering the questions of those attending the study.  Each week a new link will be added until all of the Gospel of Mark is included.  Feel free to post any questions you have regarding the text to this page and I'll try to answer it in a subsequent week's study.

The audio file is hosted on archive.org, let me know if you have any technical problems with listening to and/or downloading it.

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark 1:1-18

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark 1:19-39

**** I've moved the future postings of audio podcasts to its own page, the rest of the segments for Mark and future Bible study podcasts will be placed there; simply scroll up to the top of the blog and click on the tab. ****