Holy means Whole: According to the Warning to Be Discerning
A friend of mine recently shared the story of how much they enjoyed their Christian college education, and yet how much they lamented the lack of warnings at their school about reading certain writers who were contrary to the Christian faith. What they were lamenting was how many of their friends naively thought this stuff was harmless and invited these thinking patterns into their lives. The outcome was rather devastating. I experienced much the same thing when I went through college. I still can't believe the naive carnage.
It is not that either of us wants to impose avoidance of all writers outside the Christian faith. Instead, we want to have our eyes open every time we read. It does not matter whether it is non-Christian, Christian or biblical. It is important to discern between good and evil. If everything was good, then we could be totally carefree when we read. I hope some day to enjoy that in eternity, but right now you have got to have your eyes open. There is both good and evil in this life, and you need to be discerning as to good friends and those who would make bad friends. Of course, none of us human beings are all good or all evil, even with the fruit of God's longsuffering, yet we still need to discern what is predominate in someone's life.
Likewise, sometimes you can trust scholarship as good scholarship and sometimes you can't trust scholarship, because it is bad scholarship. I am not a scholar myself, so I have to rely on scholars to help me discern my way in the case of the foreign and biblical languages. Yet I can discern my way and recognize the good guys or the good stuff versus the bad guys or the bad stuff. This is through the basic principles that inform all discerning people. In this very real world, because we should be discerning, we need to hear more than one side of a controversy, because there is good and there is evil. So I need to remind myself of this often.
I struggle with the lack of discernment by Christians and non-Christians regarding the meaning of holy, the most important descriptive word for God's moral character. Sometimes Christians get careless, act without discernment and then get themselves in trouble. I've seen this in my own life more than I want to admit. Sometimes, too, people trust people who are themselves trustworthy, but who made the mistake of trusting someone not trustworthy. So people get taken indirectly rather than directly.
I've tried to be as discerning as I can about the meaning of holy. I've tried to distinguish the good from evil, whether it comes from a good man or good woman or whether it comes from a bad man or a bad woman. There is saying that goes like this: "All truth is God's truth." I would add to this another: "All lies are the devil's lies." While the first saying means we should read other literature outside of just Christian literature in a Christian's education, the second means Christians should read Christian and all literature with eyes open for lies. Why read non-Christian literature with our eyes closed, when we cannot do that even with our own Christian literature? One quick example is that Martin Luther condemned Copernicus' ideas about astronomy as unbiblical, because of the account of the sun stopping in the sky in Joshua. Most Christians know now that this was one of Luther's bad moments, though not characteristic of him. Because of these kinds of exceptions, we must be very discerning. So you have to separate the two things, good and evil.
What has disturbed me is the bad things I have found in researching the meaning of holy. First, was finding meanings for holy that I had not been taught, when I was growing up. My first hint of failure in my Christian education was discovering the meaning "wholly" in Strong's concordance too late in my Christian life. Second, was finding that the meaning of "separation" or "be separate" in some contexts made no sense. For example, "separate the separate" makes little sense in Ezekiel. It is somewhat empty, because it gives no reason for why something is separate. It ends up arbitrary and without purpose. Third, is the failure of lexicons (technical dictionaries) to solve the problem of what this word means, while some lexicons present their findings as though it is not based on a failure of scholarship, but on a great success. The truth is that the etymology is "controversial" according to Norman Snaith, even when he supports the meaning of separation. Many other scholars say the same thing on both sides of the divide over etymology, whether they think it means separate or whole. Fourth is the failure of the historical authorities to solve the problem. You can go back to even Jewish authorities and you will find Rashi (separate) and Rambam (it says something more) disagreeing over what holy means. Likewise, Christian authorities since the time of the Reformation and early Renaissance (I'll read further back when I get time) taught that it meant primarily whole and secondarily separate until the late 1800s, then new authorities taught it meant separate, then another set of authorities taught it meant wholly separate (or other) and finally in the late 1900s there was a small resurgence in favor of whole. So in the end, I go back to looking for what makes sense, because that is how I will discover the good in defining the word holy.
We need to plug both meanings back into biblical contexts. First, we need to put "separate" or "be separate" back into the Bible where we previously used words like "holy, sanctified and saints"; and see if it makes sense. I think we can see already that it is at least plausible or the idea would not have lasted a century. This has been tested for some time. But after this being tried for a long time, there are still plenty of problems. It seems to be tied to a little nonsense. It carries a lot less impact in the text when already the idea of separation or dividing is present in the text through other words with that meaning. Take, for one example, the creation story where God "divides" and then He later "sanctifies." If He is dividing again, why not just use the same word? There are other examples too, like that of the one I mentioned already in Ezekiel. Second, we need to put "whole" or "be whole" or "make whole" into the Bible where we previously used words like "holy, sancified and saints"; and see if it makes sense. I am discovering that it does.
Right now that may seem controversial, because of majority opinion. But the important thing in discernment is observing things. And with words, we have to test to see whether they produce sense or nonsense. It takes time to discern sense, when there is more than one text to observe. But we can start with the important one in Genesis 1-2. I've written on this in earlier blogs, so I won't repeat it here.
At this time, we are also stuck with a set of definitions that at best are a close approximation to what it should be. We still have differences in points of view among good people. But now and in the future, we have the ability to get beyond just a close approximation of what the word means. We have many professional linguists in our midst, where in the past they were few in number. The tools of linguists today go beyond the tools of yesterday. Wycliffe Bible translators has been translating the Scriptures into many more languages than just Latin, German, English, etc. This has meant that our tools are better equipped to identify the universals of language, which is the big breakthrough needed for words like holy. It is like later astronomers finally having the aid of the telescope to confirm Copernicus' views on astronomy. We have the tools now to finish the job.
So join with me. Let's make the careful observations needed to discern the good from the bad. Let's find the defects in what we have been taught, let's fix them and build a better tomorrow for ourselves and for our children. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Holy means Healthy and Whole: According to a Simple and Clear Understanding
There are objections that can be raised to my position that holy means whole. I want to deal with two of those and I will deal with others later (and have in some cases before). The first is the objection of not keeping things simple. The second is the objection that it is unclear what kind of wholeness I mean.
Let's begin with keeping things simple. To be simple rather than complex is what one thing is in contrast to many things. It is very important to keep things simple, as shown in a April 2008 documentary on television called "The Woman who Thinks Like a Cow." The point of view of the woman featured was that due to her autism, she had a better sense of the basics of the brain of animals, because their brains are more basic than the typical humans. She was able to baffle the experts through her ability to see the basics. She didn't deny complexity, she just recognized the basics first.
The concept of a whole is simple, except that it is a general idea for many concrete and specific examples. When we are very young and adults teaching us are very careful to keep things simple, we learn about the tail of the kitty or the ear of the dog. We are then talking concretely and simply about one example of parts and wholes. I confess that the concrete examples are simpler than the abstact idea that comes from many examples. Even in the case of the word translated as holy, the word is most likely abstracted from the simple and concrete example of white light, which is a combination of a few colors like red and yellow. So I need to keep things concrete and singular whenever possible, if I am going to keep things simple.
Another way to keep things simple is to talk in the popular words of the day. Something that is heard over and over again is often simpler in people's minds, because of its repeated use. I must confess that health or healthy is the popular word used in Christian circles for what I am trying to say. It is popularized in the phrase "healthy church."
What is meant by that phrase is that a healthy church is one that balances ministry activities like discipleship and evangelism among the other major activities. That is what I mean by wholeness or whole, yet whole is not a popular word in Christian circles like healthy. So it is helpful to use the more popular word healthy more often, if I am going to keep things simple.
Let's move now to keeping things clear. I think one of the main reasons that healthy is more popular than whole, in Christian circles, is because of the dangers from what I will call weird wholeness or muddy wholeness. I find it hard to separate good wholeness from bad wholeness.
Being whole is often not as clear as distinguishing between the cat versus only its tail. My favorite concrete example of a whole in my junior high years would have been a bike versus only the spokes or only the sprocket or only the handle bars. Philosophy has complicated things, or rather made things less clear rather than more clear, as I advanced beyond junior high to college.
In philosophy or in science, there is a view of wholeness that muddies the water. Some try to separate themselves from it by distinguishing between holistic and wholistic. But most people don't see clearly the difference from just changing spellings.
There are two techical words out there, holistic and mereology, that really muddy the water, because the parts they try to fit together are parts that don't relate to my concrete examples of cat or bike. Instead, they try to make a whole from deep philosophical differences, like joining together opposites like good and evil. This kind of whole curdles my stomach. It also doesn't work for car engines. The goal is not to bring together an ecletic collection of cylinders and then just de-power some versus others to balance them out, but to build a refined engine that by its nature loves balance and harmony. Science too struggles with thinking that holism versus reductionism means uniting conflicting things. That is a long way from where I find myself on the map. This isn't in my Bible. While I love the word whole, it is not as clear sometimes as healthy, because it is loaded down with weird ideas, related to what is sometimes called New Age thinking. This is also why alternative medicine gets a bad rap that makes it hard to separate the good from the evil. This creates then the idea that whole or wholeness is a red flag.
So while I will stick by whole as in its concrete examples of dogs, cats and bikes; I've no choice but to start with healthy to keep things clear of strange or different thinking. I want to be simple and clear. Biblically, I think holy supports the idea of a healthy church that balances all the activities of what makes an active church versus an unenergetic church. A healthy or whole church leaves no part out and it balances the parts equally. That is why it is an active church and not an oppressive church, running out of energy to act.
May you and I unite in this simple and clear health and leave behind any complexity or unclear thinking that divides us. While complexity and lack of clarity are a part of life, its not where we should begin. I hope its mostly simple and clear now.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
There are objections that can be raised to my position that holy means whole. I want to deal with two of those and I will deal with others later (and have in some cases before). The first is the objection of not keeping things simple. The second is the objection that it is unclear what kind of wholeness I mean.
Let's begin with keeping things simple. To be simple rather than complex is what one thing is in contrast to many things. It is very important to keep things simple, as shown in a April 2008 documentary on television called "The Woman who Thinks Like a Cow." The point of view of the woman featured was that due to her autism, she had a better sense of the basics of the brain of animals, because their brains are more basic than the typical humans. She was able to baffle the experts through her ability to see the basics. She didn't deny complexity, she just recognized the basics first.
The concept of a whole is simple, except that it is a general idea for many concrete and specific examples. When we are very young and adults teaching us are very careful to keep things simple, we learn about the tail of the kitty or the ear of the dog. We are then talking concretely and simply about one example of parts and wholes. I confess that the concrete examples are simpler than the abstact idea that comes from many examples. Even in the case of the word translated as holy, the word is most likely abstracted from the simple and concrete example of white light, which is a combination of a few colors like red and yellow. So I need to keep things concrete and singular whenever possible, if I am going to keep things simple.
Another way to keep things simple is to talk in the popular words of the day. Something that is heard over and over again is often simpler in people's minds, because of its repeated use. I must confess that health or healthy is the popular word used in Christian circles for what I am trying to say. It is popularized in the phrase "healthy church."
What is meant by that phrase is that a healthy church is one that balances ministry activities like discipleship and evangelism among the other major activities. That is what I mean by wholeness or whole, yet whole is not a popular word in Christian circles like healthy. So it is helpful to use the more popular word healthy more often, if I am going to keep things simple.
Let's move now to keeping things clear. I think one of the main reasons that healthy is more popular than whole, in Christian circles, is because of the dangers from what I will call weird wholeness or muddy wholeness. I find it hard to separate good wholeness from bad wholeness.
Being whole is often not as clear as distinguishing between the cat versus only its tail. My favorite concrete example of a whole in my junior high years would have been a bike versus only the spokes or only the sprocket or only the handle bars. Philosophy has complicated things, or rather made things less clear rather than more clear, as I advanced beyond junior high to college.
In philosophy or in science, there is a view of wholeness that muddies the water. Some try to separate themselves from it by distinguishing between holistic and wholistic. But most people don't see clearly the difference from just changing spellings.
There are two techical words out there, holistic and mereology, that really muddy the water, because the parts they try to fit together are parts that don't relate to my concrete examples of cat or bike. Instead, they try to make a whole from deep philosophical differences, like joining together opposites like good and evil. This kind of whole curdles my stomach. It also doesn't work for car engines. The goal is not to bring together an ecletic collection of cylinders and then just de-power some versus others to balance them out, but to build a refined engine that by its nature loves balance and harmony. Science too struggles with thinking that holism versus reductionism means uniting conflicting things. That is a long way from where I find myself on the map. This isn't in my Bible. While I love the word whole, it is not as clear sometimes as healthy, because it is loaded down with weird ideas, related to what is sometimes called New Age thinking. This is also why alternative medicine gets a bad rap that makes it hard to separate the good from the evil. This creates then the idea that whole or wholeness is a red flag.
So while I will stick by whole as in its concrete examples of dogs, cats and bikes; I've no choice but to start with healthy to keep things clear of strange or different thinking. I want to be simple and clear. Biblically, I think holy supports the idea of a healthy church that balances all the activities of what makes an active church versus an unenergetic church. A healthy or whole church leaves no part out and it balances the parts equally. That is why it is an active church and not an oppressive church, running out of energy to act.
May you and I unite in this simple and clear health and leave behind any complexity or unclear thinking that divides us. While complexity and lack of clarity are a part of life, its not where we should begin. I hope its mostly simple and clear now.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
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