Directed Study Final Paper_rel 499

Erin C. Devine REL 499 4-25-15 Final Project Humanity is fallible, and therefore, human interpretations of scripture, i.e., church doctrines and dictates, are fallible as well. Comparing faith and human works, in “Freedom of a Christian,” Luther highlighted differences between Catholic doctrine and the word of God, namely, the law of God, realized through human actions and works, and the promises of God, realized through faith. Both belief systems derive from the same text, the Bible, but the interpretations vary significantly. Catholics tend toward material (material meaning physical rather than spiritual or intellectual) interpretations, i.e., physical actions like good works, and Protestants tend toward figurative (figurative meaning spiritual) interpretations, i.e., faith. At the root of interpretation is biblical metaphor, and throughout this experience, I discovered that different interpretations of biblical metaphor could be a source of contention for believers. Describing God with human characteristics and describing humans inspired by God often has complicated implications. Spiritual and material interpretations can be equally problematic, so it is important to understand the intended applications and limitations of each. Catholics experience physical congruence with transcendent themes through church doctrine and good works, i.e., they tend to interpret scripture materially. Protestants experience transcendent congruence with transcendent themes through the spirit rather than the physical experiences of the body, i.e., they tend to interpret scripture figuratively (spiritually). Protestants do not feel obligated to experience physical congruence with transcendent themes—good work is spontaneous, random, and planned by the spirit not the body. However, such freedom was not

fully recognized, or permitted, by God until Jesus came to save humanity and bless with the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus and God blessed humanity with the Holy Spirit, God commanded humanity to abide by holy law after the Exodus from Egypt around 1400 BCE and over time, the Law of God faded from the conscience of the people. In 586 BCE, King Josiah, i.e., the king of Jerusalem, discovered a scroll detailing Moses’ account of the Ten Commandments (today the scroll is recognized as the book of Deuteronomy)—when King Josiah sent the scroll to Huldah, a prophet, she canonized the Ten Commandments. Shortly after discovering the book of Deuteronomy, the second exile and Babylonian captivity transpired. The tribe of Judah survived and, as a result, created a great school of learning to reestablish their covenant with God that emphasized holy law. However, the holy law enabled corruption and influenced human and political law, as the books of Ezra and Nehemiah illustrate. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah took place around 400 BCE. A revolt in Egypt, assisted by Greek city-states, threatened the Persian Empire’s control of the Mediterranean; as a result, Jerusalem suddenly had strategic importance. The practice of intermarriage undermined the empire’s control of Jerusalem since it blurred the definition of who had access to what lands. Therefore, the Persian king commanded Ezra and Nehemiah to strengthen community boundaries by directly attacking the practice of intermarriage. The narratives throughout Ezra and Nehemiah carried out the imperial dictate by providing a theological rationale for the people. Reporting on the widespread intermarriage throughout Israel, officials informed Ezra that the Israelites, priests, and Levites “have not separated themselves from the people of the lands….” (Ezra 9:1, NRSV). In response, Ezra publicly renounced intermarriage and explained that it broke God’s commandments. The people agreed, and Ezra made the Israelites, the leading

priests, and Levites swear to remove the foreign wives from the community’s midst according to the counsel of the Lord. Also commanded by the Persian king to separate Israel from “all those of foreign descent” (Neh 13:1, NRSV), Nehemiah made the people take an oath in the name of God vowing to refrain from intermarriage. To justify such a restriction, he cited the book of Moses and, like Ezra, claimed that intermarriage violated laws set forth by God. To end the perpetual cycle of disobedience, misinterpretation, and corruption, God sent his only Son, Jesus, to atone for human sin and save humanity. The birth narrative in the book of Luke foretells that Jesus’ ministry will fulfill the Law of Moses and his life will demonstrate God’s grace toward the world. The grace shown to humanity through the life of Jesus metaphorically depicts an old era heralding a new era, i.e., New Testament, where God saves humanity and, because of Jesus, God permits all believers to ascend to Heaven. Following Jesus’ crucifixion, “The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many,” (Mt 27:52-53, NRSV). Before the church crucified Jesus, Jesus acknowledged the imperfect faith of his followers. When Jesus and his disciples went to the Mount of Olives before his crucifixion, he revealed that all of his disciples would become deserters, and anticipated his resurrection in Galilee, i.e., Jesus recognized the imperfect and fallible faith of his followers but chose to atone for human sin anyways. After arriving in Gethsemane, Judas led a large crowd, including the chief priest and elders, to Jesus and all of the disciples deserted him and fled. In addition, while the whole council looked for testimony to justify putting Jesus to death, Peter denounced Jesus three times to a servant girl in the courtyard. Despite a lack of credible testimony to condemn Jesus, the council turned him over to the governor Pilate. However, the governor Pilate could not

find any wrong doing on Jesus’ part so he handed Jesus back to the high priests. Under the direction of the high priests, the governor’s soldiers mocked Jesus and led him away for crucifixion at Golgotha. After Jesus’ death, Joseph (a rich man from Arimathea, and a loyal disciple of Jesus) asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Pilate gave Joseph the body of Jesus, and Joseph wrapped the body and put it in his own tomb. On the first day after the Sabbath, an angel of the Lord rolled back the stone that sealed Jesus’ tomb and instructed Mary Magdalene and her companions to tell Jesus’ disciples that Jesus rose from the dead and would reappear in Galilee. The eleven disciples went to a mountain in Galilee to meet Jesus, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” (Mt 28:18-20, NRSV). After the death and resurrection of Christ, different schools of thought emerged. Thomas Aquinas taught that works of love must follow from the gift of faith for individuals to receive salvation. Ockham taught that individuals could not experience grace until they completed good works. Revolutionary at the time, Luther’s teachings eliminated the necessity of good works for salvation. Explaining that material applications of scripture are unnecessary for Christian righteousness, Luther argued that humanity received justification through faith alone, i.e., through a spiritual connection. According to Luther, material application of scripture, i.e., human work, is insufficient because human works are sinful, blameworthy, and deserving of condemnation, and humanity is naturally fallible. Despite human imperfection, God crucified and resurrected his only Son, therefore, believers must have faith and believe that Christ deserves esteem for his atonement, “faith sees the one it trusts as truthful and deserving of this esteem,”

(Luther, 60). The sinful nature of human works necessitated the atonement of Christ because the sinful nature of human works could not justify humanity before God—humanity is fallible but God is not, God is infallible. Recognizing that humanity is fallible and believing that God is infallible is the essence of my faith. Therefore, belief, faith, justification, and salvation are subject to the spiritual act of trusting the promise of God and the immortal actions of his only Son, Jesus Christ. Humanity is fallible, and therefore, material interpretations of scripture, i.e., church doctrines and dictates, are fallible as well. Martin Luther compared faith and human work in “Freedom of a Christian,” and illustrated the key differences between Catholics and Protestants. The source of contention between the two faiths derives from biblical interpretation, namely, spiritual applications of scripture versus material applications of scripture. At the root of interpretation is biblical metaphor. Therefore, different interpretations of biblical metaphor (spiritual versus material) can lead to different understandings of God’s intentions and character.