Book of Acts & Interpreting Paul Pt. 4

This week we are going to continue with the question about understanding the Book of Acts and other New Testament Scriptures and we are going to specifically deal with the writings of Paul, but these concepts can be used to understand all of Scripture as well. When interpreting the writings of Paul you must keep in mind that he was a second Temple period Pharisee and an expert in the Torah. He also draws from mystical Hebrew concepts about God. So, a student of the New Testament and especially Paul must realize that he has a Pharisaical understanding of the Scriptures. The student should also know the Hebrew methods of interpretation called "pardes" and the 7 Rules of Hillel. These methods predated Paul and once you know what they are you can see how he utilized them when you study his writings. You must also be familiar with the mystical aspects of his theology, and even though Paul didn't write the Book of Revelation, that book is full of this mystical imagery. Another thing to keep in mind is the concepts Paul tries to convey does not translate well into Greek. For instance the concept of "ergo nomos" or "works of the law" is a term coined in the first century to carry over the idea that works of the law and keeping the commandments is no good without faith. Another concept is "upo nomos" or "not under the law" and this is the system that contains the "ergo nomos" in working for salvation. These terms did not exist in Greek and had to be translated over to carry the idea that one cannot earn salvation but that doesn't mean one abandons the commandments. So when you try to convey Hebrew concepts into Greek and then translate that from the Greek to English or whatever language, well, you can see that information can be lost or distorted. Also, readers today start studying Paul from their own religious training often devoid of the Hebrew roots and from their own biases and that has resulted in some faulty theology. They were already taught that they were not "under the law" before they began to study Pauls writings. We saw last week that Peter wrote that Paul's writings were hard to understand and that was before the problems we just discussed came into being so it is no small wonder why things are so out of context today. Paul's writings are twisted to mean something he never never intended and that is something to keep in mind today. So, in conclusion we have seven basic guidelines to keep in mind when studying Paul or any of the Scriptures for that matter. First, keep in mind the overall biblical context. Then, keep the historical context in mind also. Third, remember Peter's warning in 2 Pet 3.16. Fourth,Yeshua had a warning in Mt 5. 17-19 stating that he did not come to do away with the Torah but to interpret it correctly. Fifth, Paul had many positive statements about the Torah such as Rom 7.12-22,25; 1 Tim 1.8; Rom 3.31; 1 Cor 7.19; Acts 25.8; 28.17. Sixth, Paul's negative statements weren't about Torah but man's heart. And lastly, Paul's example found in Acts 21.24. Hopefully, these series of articles will help you in studying the New Testament and if you need to check these concepts out, the Internet is full of articles and documentation that will assist you. When I first started 30 years ago this was not available and it was hard work chasing down the books and tapes needed to get a better understanding of all these things, But now, if you have a computer and the Internet, they are right at your fingertips and a whole new world will open up for you if you truly want to understand the Word of God.
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Book of Acts & Interpreting Paul Pt. 3

	This week we are going to continue with the question from a few weeks ago as to why the Book of Acts is confusing to some and why there were so many debates found there. This series is attempting to give the "why" all this was happening and how we should look at the book today. So, with a foundation already discussed in last several weeks, let's review some things and then try to piece some things together so that you can understand Acts and understand what was going on. The Book of Acts will bring us up to about 63 A.D. or 7 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The book reveals the condition of the Jewish and non-Jewish believer and the issues and controversies found there. The Basar, or good news, is going out to the Gentiles and its concepts. Gentiles are coming into the faith without becoming Jews and having to be circumcised as part of the conversion process at the time. The Sadducees did not believe in the Messiah-ship of Yeshua or the resurrection and this was a major contention among believers who were Sadducees, who just didn't turn off what they were taught. On the other hand, the Pharisees didn't have a problem with the resurrection but had problems with whether Yeshua was the promised Messiah. Some Pharisees believed it and became believers, others did not. A constant during this time was a long running conflict between these two groups over the minds and hearts of the people. This conflict went back as far as the Maccabean revolt nearly 200 years before and they saw it as a conflict between the Hellenists (more Greek influenced) and the Traditionalists. At the heart of all this was how was a non-Jew supposed to live, how were they to walk before the Lord. This is called Halachah, or "how to walk." Into this mix you have to add all the other sects and what they believed and the misconduct of the Romans. So, with all that going on what you have is a powder-keg ready to explode. When it does, it will have an adverse effect on the Jewish people and all believers in Yeshua. By 70 A.D. Jerusalem will no longer be the ruling authority. Yeshua gave the people warning about this in Matt 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 and believers flee to Pella to escape the coming judgment. When the nation is destroyed, Rome becomes the ruling authority and congregations in the empire and begin to abandon their Jewish roots and foundations. Jewish believers are split, with some adopting new ways and others do not. The non-Jews are faced with the same decisions. This transformation was already taking place when the New Testament scriptures were written but as the nation fell, so did the cohesiveness of the faith. Now, when we read the Scriptures, we must put them in context and you have to ask yourself "How would this be understood by the author and by the people reading them?" This is crucial to properly understanding any old document. You can't read Dickens, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Julius Caesar or anyone without understanding who they were or what was their belief system. You have to understand the idioms and phrases they used and not define them by what we think they are 100's of years later, but by what the writer knew them to be. That is one of the main problems in reading the Scriptures today. We have to understand them from the writers point of view and by what they meant to say, not how we would define their writings after 2000 years through the prevailing culture at the time or by the definitions in the interpreters native language. Hebrew understandings and idioms have been translated into Greek and then through every known language in the Earth today and much is lost through these translations. It isn't because of some conspiracy with the translators, it just happens that way. So, to understand the Book of Acts, or any book of Scripture for that matter, we have to go back and understand what was going on at the time, we have to understand the politics, the religious controversies, the idioms and phrases they used and rightly divide the Word of Truth. So, we need to understand the author and what he believed and how he lived when he wrote the book that bears his name. We need to ask ourselves these questions, to get into his mind and heart to understand his words, which were inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself. So, with that in mind, we will pick-up here next week and deal with the Apostle Paul and give you some insight in how to interpret his writings for example. Even Peter had some difficulty with his writings and he knew him. He writes in 2 Peter 3.15-16 that "just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." So, it was happening in the 1st century so it's not surprising that it is even worse today. So next week we will talk about how to interpret the difficult writings of Paul and what to keep in mind when studying what he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Click Here for Part 4.

Book of Acts & Interpreting Paul Pt. 2

This week we are going to continue with what was going on in the Book of Acts and how to interpret the difficult sayings of Paul. Hopefully this insight will help answer your original question why things were happening as they were in the Book of Acts. The relationship between Jews and Romans were strained at best in the first century. Israel was being oppressed and the people conquered. However, the Jews were allowed to practice their religion freely within the empire due to an edict by Julius Caesar that said that the religion of the Jews predated Rome so therefore they were allowed to practice their religion. But as time went on this freedom was resented by not only the Romans but other conquered peoples. They said "Why should they be allowed to have this freedom and not us" and the Romans themselves didn't like the monotheistic ways and practices of the Jews. They had peculiar food laws and Sabbaths and they just didn't understand their ways, which led to criticism. Paul wrote the Book of Romans with these differences in mind. The congregations in Rome had some of the above issues as major problems. Those congregations were made up of unbelieving Jews, believing Jews and believing Gentiles. The Jews there were looked at by the Gentile Romans with some disgust and animosity developed between the two groups. The believing Romans didn't understand much about the Torah and they had built-in prejudices when they became believers and this contention was coming out and Paul was dealing with them on how to get along with the Jewish members of the congregations there. Well, magnify these problems in an entire nation and you can see why there were so many problems. It became a national issue over the very survival of the nation. You had so many "sects" or denominations at the time and some were very zealous against Rome and some didn't want to upset the status quo. Well, in 66 A.D. there was a Jewish revolt against Rome and the results were devastating. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed, along with the Temple, the people were scattered and the center of worship was no more. A few years later another Jewish revolt happened in 116 A.D. and then again another revolt in 135 A.D. As a result Jews were claimed as enemies of the state, along with their religion and practices. To participate in anything that seemed "Jewish" was seen as "unpatriotic" and as more Gentiles came into the faith, their ways and practices took over and the Jewish voice silenced. The Roman Government did not want anything to do with anything that appeared to be Jewish. So, the epistles of Paul will be used against the Jews and interpreted through Gentile eyes schooled in the paganistic thought of the time. Do a background on the "church fathers" and you will see where they were coming from. As a result, confusion erupts in Gentile Christianity. Heresies and splinter groups emerge because the people aren't studying the Torah concepts as given by the Lord. They devise new festivals and compromise is "ok." Latin is not a biblical language and it cannot define or translate the minute concepts found in Hebrew, and yet it became the language of this new "faith." Until 312 A.D. Gentile Christianity was outlawed and persecutions existed. But, strangely enough, Gentile Christianity was hunting down heretics and killing them at the same time, which meant they were hunting Nazarenes, Ebionites or anyone who was Torah observant. Then Constantine became emperor and forces everyone his way. He was an opportunist who merged Mithraism, Gentile Christianity, Bacchanalia, Roman idolatry, Saturnalia and various other religions together to solidify his empire around one religious faith because the empire was fractured. Up to this time there were many groups not knowing anything and arguing about everything but with Constantine there was a voice. If you agreed with him and his "creeds" you were in the church and if not you were a heretic.The "church" became true Israel, the Jewish faith was now obsolete. The Nazarenes were confusing the issue because they were Torah observant and believed in Yeshua. This went against the foundational teachings of Gentile Christianity. All of this is documented and can be found in encyclopedias, church histories and in the writings of the church fathers themselves. You became a church father because Constantine and the Council of Nicea liked what you had to say because it agreed with them. And they were called "church fathers' because they were the founders of a new "church" otherwise they would not be called "fathers." From the first century to 312 A.D. you have what is called the "Great Apologetic Movement" that put down Jews and their beliefs left and right. A very famous one is between Justin Martyr and Trypho, who is Rabbi Tarphon. By 325 A.D. and after, Constantine and Gentile Christianity become the state religion. With that as a background, next week we will pick with the Apostle Paul and how to interpret his writings with a correct biblical perspective. Click Here for Part 3