69 million page views

RESPONSE TO SARA

Reader comment on item: The Bible's Role in American Support for Israel

Submitted by Bart Willruth (United States), Sep 18, 2006 at 10:29

SARA

We are speaking past each other and are certainly not communicating in any meaningful sense. I will take it upon myself that I am not communicating clearly. But let me clarify some things.

You are under a misunderstanding when you speak of me and my fellow Jewish agnostics. I am not Jewish. I am a former Christian theologian, formerly believing in such tenets as the infallibility of scripture, born again, justified by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and associate editor of EVANGELICA magazine. Trust me, I understand your perspective clearly.

I am not making an exact equivalency between Islam and Christianity. Here me clearly, Islam is evil. It has no redeeming values. It has brought ignorance and poverty to its adherants and danger to its foes.

Since the Enlightenment, Christianity has been generally more tolerant than in the 1500 years which preceeded it. It is not in the same category in its effects as Islam.

I don't wish to argue theology. It is an internally contradictory discipline and based upon arbitrary premises.

The similarity between Islam, Judaism, Christianity, animism, Hinduism, et al is not primarily to be found in the content of their teachings. Rather, it is to be found in the foundation of FAITH which underlies them. Is faith a proper means of acquiring knowledge? The two most important questions each of us needs to ask in all things are:

1. What do I know?

2. How do I know it?

If I answer that I know that my great grandfather's spirit inhabits the oak tree outside my hut, and that I know it because the respected members of my tribe told so, you can be sure that I belong to a primitive culture which believes in spirits (whatever they are), that they inhabit natural objects (in some unknown manner) and that I "know" these things by faith. Faith, as a method of "knowing," whether in this simple example or in the example of the truth of the Koran, or of the truth of the doctrine of the trinity, is never removed from its base which is to take the word of the person making an extraordinary claim over the judgment of a rational mind. Faith, as a method of "knowing" requires the suspension of necessary skepticism when confronted with any mystical claims. Faith, by its very nature, is not exercised primarily in its object eg God, spirits, gnomes, or in particular doctrines. Rather, faith is always exercised in the veracity of another human being.

It is useful to keep in mind a word of advice from the philosopher Ayn Rand: "Check your premises."

In your case, your faith has several derivative levels or premises:

1. You believe that there is a god.

2. You believe that god has revealed himself

3. You believe that some particular men in antiquity have been the recipient of that revelation.

4. You further believe that they transmitted that information without error, without human coloring or influence, and that the material they wrote was preserved throughout the many layers of copying so that we know exactly what they wrote originally.

5. You believe that the early church sorted through the various competing writings and infallibly chose the ones which were authentic while discarding the others.

6. You believe that the method of interpretation used by fundamentalists is the correct one.

In brief, here is some food for thought. Item one is an arbitrary statement and is a conclusion rather than an an axiomatic premise upon which to build a line of thought. Item two is arbitrary as well. Neither one nor two has evidence behind them. Premise three is a faith claim. It is unknowable. Many of the men in question are anonymous, made no particular claim to having received any revelation, and cannot be questioned as to their motives or veracity. Premise four is a faith statement which is more than most of the individual documents claim for themselves. It flies in the face of the evidence of historical circumstantial influence which is quite obvious. It requires a belief in magic. And the changes in the ancient texts through various successions of hand copying, whether accidental or deliberate are so numerous as to make certainty as to the content of the original texts impossible. Premise five is a really long shot. Suppression of documents occurred. Documents were argued over and were received or discarded on the basis of political power and through majority vote of committees. Premise six is using an innovative principle of interpretation of scripture only 100 years old. It has no precedent in the entire history of Christianity until 100 years ago. Not in the early church fathers, not in Catholic history, nor in historical Protestantism. It is an American invention. Its late rise to prominence among Evangelicals should give pause to anyone adhering to it. That weakness alone makes the conclusions you reach as to the place of Israel something which can disappear just as quickly as it came into being in the last century.

Check your premises. They aren't quite as defensible as you might think.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

<< Previous Comment      Next Comment >>

Reader comments (73) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
3The Painful But Absolute Truth [100 words]Seamus MacNemiFeb 25, 2007 14:5278844
1Israel and Islam [182 words]Noha A. YousriSep 6, 2007 14:0878844
1Reply to Noha Yousri [90 words]Seamus MacNemiSep 6, 2007 16:5278844
1Reply to Seamus MacNemi [140 words]Noha YousriSep 7, 2007 22:0978844
1Reply to Noha Yousri [192 words]Seamus MacNemiSep 10, 2007 17:5678844
2Our dear Noha and masha'allah! [524 words]dhimmi no moreSep 12, 2007 11:2478844
god [70 words]dr john jolliyoAug 11, 2009 01:4478844
You have a say in what you believe. [238 words]LynnSep 27, 2009 10:1178844
RESPONSE TO SARA [851 words]Bart WillruthSep 18, 2006 10:2956353
3how great a fall, Bart [356 words]saraOct 3, 2006 07:4456353
why the heck do Jews STILL vote Democrat? [110 words]saraSep 11, 2006 15:3755569
1Bible Believers and Israel / Islam [498 words]Major Jeff WhiteSep 5, 2006 14:4654998
Israel is still the same as in Old Testament: Micah [359 words]Noha YousriDec 4, 2006 23:5354998
The God of Abraham and Free Will [129 words]Seamus MacNemiFeb 25, 2007 21:3154998
Our dear Noha ... [60 words]dhimmi no moreSep 10, 2007 18:5954998
A reply to your offense Mr.dhimmi... [78 words]Noha YousriSep 11, 2007 18:0954998
I read this as: and guess what? [22 words]dhimmi no moreSep 12, 2007 16:5754998
1our dear Noha and the debate that is not a debate! Go figure [320 words]dhimmi no moreSep 17, 2007 07:1154998
Do you believe you have a kidney Mr. dhimmi ? [883 words]Noha YousriSep 17, 2007 22:3754998
2Our dear Noha rabina yu3alimuha al-lughat al-3arabiya wa al-kalawi [1564 words]dhimmi no moreSep 18, 2007 20:5054998
Re: origins [20 words]Michele EzellSep 26, 2009 19:4754998
Christian Zionists Down Under. [21 words]GailSep 5, 2006 00:0454929
Apocolyptic exegesis [105 words]RobSep 2, 2006 01:5854666
Staying in line with beliefs [316 words]RWCowboySep 2, 2006 00:1854664
In Reply To Noha Yousri [45 words]Seamus MacMemiSep 7, 2007 09:0354664
Its time to know the history of Palestinians [112 words]Paul RinderleAug 31, 2006 16:0654497
Palestine has a shallow history [93 words]scott brownSep 11, 2006 18:1854497
Are the statistics accurate for European Christians too? [81 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Robert FeigerAug 31, 2006 15:3754496
Recommended Reading Re: Zionist Evangelicals [147 words]MichaelAug 31, 2006 11:2454471
support Israel, not the Bible [326 words]Lewis LoflinAug 31, 2006 10:5854469
Christian Zionists [509 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Bart WillruthAug 31, 2006 10:5154466
Verbum Solum Habemous [329 words]MichaelSep 1, 2006 02:5454466
Christian Zionists follow up [304 words]Bart WillruthSep 1, 2006 08:4754466
Christian Zionism according to former theologians [218 words]RobSep 1, 2006 15:1154466
convoluted interpretation [302 words]Bart WillruthSep 1, 2006 16:3554466
same old lie [33 words]p.Sep 1, 2006 17:1654466
Elitist clap-trap [194 words]Keith R. SnyderSep 1, 2006 22:5854466
Mizpah ! [141 words]MichaelSep 1, 2006 23:2454466
1Religious Superiority And Arrogance [259 words]InfidelSep 2, 2006 00:1054466
1Replacement Theology and Bastardization of the Gospel [628 words]Grateful1Sep 2, 2006 06:1354466
Calumny most egregious [389 words]MichaelSep 2, 2006 12:3654466
Pro-Israel "Supercessionist" speaks. [634 words]Peter J. HerzSep 3, 2006 00:1054466
CHRISTIAN ZIONISM [292 words]Bart WillruthSep 5, 2006 10:1454466
Bart.... [124 words]donvanSep 7, 2006 10:5754466
IRRATIONALITY [240 words]Bart WillruthSep 8, 2006 08:4454466
To Bart Willruth [152 words]saraSep 12, 2006 08:1154466
Bart Willruth [629 words]saraSep 13, 2006 06:1454466
SARA'S OFFENSE [550 words]Bart WillruthSep 14, 2006 09:0454466
You have the wrong enemy [1091 words]saraSep 15, 2006 08:2954466
I AGREE WITH SARA AND MAJOR JEFF WHITE [705 words]JobelOct 1, 2006 18:5554466
1Amorphous Faith? [81 words]Matt R.Oct 16, 2006 18:2254466
I agree [47 words]Bart WillruthOct 23, 2006 13:2054466
25The New is in the Old Concealed, the Old is in the New Revealed [392 words]A ChristianJan 20, 2007 22:0854466
What, Really, Is Faith? [627 words]Seamus MacNemiSep 7, 2007 11:3154466
The "Curse" Of The Law [450 words]Seamus MacNemiSep 7, 2007 13:2154466
what about Micah ??? [71 words]Noha YousriSep 12, 2007 01:0454466
I speak the truth [110 words]MichaelSep 12, 2007 21:4054466
Reply to Michael [377 words]Noha YousriSep 14, 2007 11:4454466
To Noha Yousri [47 words]MichaelSep 15, 2007 10:1754466
1But our Dear Noha is quoting the Bible! [25 words]dhimmi no moreSep 16, 2007 20:1254466
2Noha Yousri [299 words]dhimmi no moreSep 16, 2007 20:2654466
1But our dear Noha the Qur'an really says that jesus is God [48 words]dhimmi no moreSep 16, 2007 20:3154466
Speak to God, He is always there for you [125 words]Noha YousriSep 17, 2007 11:5954466
1dhimmi : Nothing is for you [45 words]Noha YousriSep 18, 2007 14:2854466
1Our dear Noha I read this as: you have no answer [53 words]dhimmi no moreSep 18, 2007 21:0254466
Israel [459 words]KPSep 15, 2009 13:0954466
2Israel the Head of Nations [63 words]KPSep 16, 2009 11:5154466
source of quote? [23 words]Rose ShirkAug 5, 2010 11:1354466
The Church and Israel [64 words]GlenJun 20, 2013 05:3254466
The Nation Israel still has its journey to go till Christ's second coming [164 words]LanqingMay 31, 2015 08:4354466
1It's not all fun and games [61 words]RobAug 30, 2006 07:0954368
It's Not Easy Being Me [147 words]RichardAug 31, 2006 20:4354368
scripture [145 words]buffaloacademySep 10, 2006 00:2454368

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)