Church Voices

I could give you a lot of reason why I believe the scriptures are true and authoritative. The reasons range greatly but many of them deal with the historical reliability of the documents, that means examining other historical documents, archeological digs, ancient languages and other areas of knowledge. However, as I’ve studied the Old Testament another reason that has convinced me of the truth of the scriptures is their subversive nature.

The scriptures favor the powerless over the powerful. The scriptures condemn the use of debt as a weapon to enslave the poor, demands justice for the alien, provides for the material needs of widows and the poor, and in general skews the rules of society towards those lacking the power and influence to get things done.

“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.
-Deuteronomy 15.7

If your neighbor is poor and gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the cloak overnight.
-Deuteronomy 24.12

“You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
-Exodus 22.21

“Every third year you must offer a special tithe of your crops. In this year of the special tithe you must give your tithes to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that they will have enough to eat in your towns.
-Deuteronomy 26.12

Now, its fair to say that people have been concerned with the welfare of the poor and powerless outside of Judeo-Christian traditions. And that’s true. However, the thing to keep in mind is the scriptures you read above weren’t the platitudes of a moralist, or the ruminations of a teacher, nor were they the urgings of a do-gooder community organization. They were the law of the land.

Have you considered who it is that makes the laws of a country? Kings, Presidents, Senators, Heads of State, and other dignitaries that wield great power by definition, and in fact attained their positions by using the power they already had, whether through a democratic process or by birth-right, and so the laws that define our society tend to favor those making the laws. In fact, even today the scriptures I posted, while their core meaning is encouraged in our society through tax breaks and public pressure, are not mandated the way they were in ancient Israel.

And so, part of the reason why I believe the scriptures are of divine origin is precisely because they are both subversive and authoritative, a combination that requires divine inspiration.