Theology and Identity

In the final petition of the Lord's Prayer, should we pray ‘deliver us from evil’? Or is it ‘deliver us from the evil one’? In popular culture, there are generally 2 ways that evil is portrayed.  On the one hand, evil is presented as a faceless, disembodied power that floats all around us. Think about the Dark Side of the Force in Star Wars. It’s out there. It mysteriously draws people in.  But it doesn’t have any shape or form. Even though there are people who are entirely sold out to the Dark Side, there is no Satan or demons or evil spirits behind it.  On the other hand, evil is often portrayed as something that is personified. This is to say, its not just a force that's out there trying to draw us in. Rather, there’s a spiritual being who is by nature evil - and his very existence threatens our well being.  In Western pop culture, one of the classic examples of this kind of person is Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  The question that we consider in this episode is: which expression of evil is best reflected in the teachings of Jesus?  When Jesus taught his followers to pray for deliverance from evil, was he thinking of evil as a faceless power in the world, a disembodied dark force? Or was he thinking of evil as personified in a bad spiritual being like Satan? 

Does God tempt people or doesn’t he?James 1:13 says, ‘Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.’ But then we have this very tricky petition in the Lord’s Prayer where Jesus taught his followers to pray: 'lead us not into temptation'. Why would Christians pray ‘don’t bring into temptation' if this is something that God categorically doesn’t do? Over the past 2000 years, no phrase in the Bible has been subject to more debate, more re-translation, and more re-interpretation than ‘lead us not into temptation’. In this episode, we begin with a brief look at this history of the debate. Then, we offer a new angle. What changes in our understanding of this prayer if, instead of 'temptation', we think about the idea of 'testing'?

Every major religion teaches on the importance of forgiving those who have sinned against us. But no other religion provides the same rationale for forgiveness that we find in the teachings of Jesus. What Jesus taught is unique in history. And as we look closely at what he had to say, we find that its very radical. The consequences for not forgiving others are catastrophic. The reward for forgiving others is something that surpasses imagination. In this episode we look at the 5th petition of the Lord’s Prayer: ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.’ On the surface, it seems like a basic request. We’re acknowledging that we have sinned. We’re asking God for forgiveness. And as a corollary, we’re making a commitment to God that we will forgive others. Beneath the surface of this seemingly simple petition, however, lies a very rich and challenging theology that many Christians have never deeply explored. Today we are going to look at 2 elements of Jesus’ radical teaching on the importance of forgiving others. The first point is that among the followers of Jesus a person’s eligibility to be forgiven by the father is dependent on his willingness to forgive others. That is to say that a Christian who does not forgive others is not eligible to receive forgiveness from God. No other teacher, either in the Hebrew tradition of the Old Testament, or any other major world religion, ever taught that our forgiveness from God depends on our choice to forgive others. The second point is that in biblical and Christian teaching, the choice to forgive others is at the very heart of transformation into the image of God, and the union of heaven and earth that is envisioned in the Lord's Prayer.

As we continue in our series on the Lord's Prayer, we arrive at the petition 'give us this day our daily bread.' We here find that the followers of Jesus are taught not only pray for their own personal needs, but for the needs of their community. This prayer does not say ‘give me this day my daily bread,’ but rather 'give us today our daily bread.' In the Western, individualistic capitalistic mindset – our primary concern is often individual prosperity. We all want to gather to ourselves as much as we can possibly accumulate. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus is not challenging the right of an individual to have wealth. But he is challenging the heart of the wealthy person who fails to pay attention the needs of those in his community.

As we continue our series on the Lord's Prayer, we arrive at the crucial phrase, 'on earth as it is in heaven' which only appears in Matthew. No other biblical author talks about Heaven more than Matthew. But what he has to say may come as a surprise.

We continue working our way through the Lord’s Prayer, line by line, to see if we can decode the meanings that are hidden in the original text. Jesus taught his followers to pray, 'let your kingdom come'. He didn’t come with the intention of setting the Jewish free from the rule of foreign oppressors. He didn’t come to re-establish the political independence of Israel and to rule from Jerusalem. He came to change peoples hearts and their way of thinking. The kingdom that Jeus proclaimed was a characterized by righteous living, victory over Satan, and the restoration of the human heart. He taught that when Israel’s love for the Father and for one another was restored, then God would be their king once again. This was the kingdom for which they were to pray. He also taught them to pray, 'let your will be done.' This is not a declaration that somehow God's will is always accomplished on the earth. As it is constructed, this petition does not say “God is sovereign, he will do what he will do,” as if the role of the person praying is merely to recognize his supremacy. Rather, “let your will be done” is a petition asking God to act. The person who prays in this way is inviting him to bring about the doing of his will on earth.

Has the meaning of the LP been deliberately hidden? Was the author of this text trying to limit the understanding of this prayer only to those who could decipher his secret symbols? My answer to these questions is No. However, the Lord's Prayer is full of hidden meanings. This was a prayer first formulated about 2000 years ago. We hear the words, and we can explain what they mean today. But that doesn’t mean that we’ve discerned what they meant when first spoken. If we want to unlock the full meaning of the Lord's Prayer, we have to decipher what the codes meant within the historical context of early Judaism.

Christian prayer begins with the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is 100% an early Jewish prayer.  And so it is that in order to understand the roots of Christian prayer, we need to look at prayer within early Judaism. In this episode, we explore how exactly ancient Judaic communities prayed, and how these prayers contributed to their sense of identity. Texts are taken from multiple biblical and early Judaic sources: the Psalms, the prophets, Tobit, Enoch, Sibylline oracles, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the prayers of the synagogue.  A common theme throughout is the idea universality and particularity. The prayers of early Judaism convey the idea that Israel is the one nation chosen by the one true God. This is understood as particularity. But their prayers also express the belief that through them, YHWH would reveal Himself to the nations. This is the idea of universality. Universality and Particularity form the foundation and ancient Jewish identity, and the foundation of early Christian identity as taught by Jesus.

In the wake of the Temple’s destruction in 70 AD, Rabbi Issac would declare, ‘At this time we have neither prophet nor priest, neither sacrifice, nor Temple, nor altar — what is it that can make atonement for us, even though the Temple is destroyed? The only thing that we have left is prayer!’ Long before the Roman attack, a monumental shift had been taking place in Jewish faith and practice. For hundreds of years, Jews had already been discovering how to worship and encounter the presence of God independently of the temple and its sacrifices. And this was happening through the practice of prayer. During-the era of the 2nd Temple, it certainly would have appeared that the building in Jerusalem was the indispensable heart of Judaism.  But the reality was actually something quite different. The real soul of Jewish faith was not to be found in the Temple. It was to be found in the home, and in a new community institution called the synagogue.  In these places, prayer was becoming the spiritual equivalent of animal sacrifice.

In this second season, we’re going to focusing on the topic of prayer. Specifically, I want to explore how prayer – with the Judaic and Christian traditions – has been essential to the formation of community identity. I am convinced that prayer  - even more than doctrine  - is what holds communities together.  It shapes their understanding of God. It tells them how to relate to one another. It defines their sense of purpose and calling. It makes sense of their past, and sets the direction for their future.  Prayer is what carries communities through times of crisis and change.  Every community that has ever worshipped the God of the Bible has had its signature prayers. Whether it be the Psalms of ancient Israel, the prayer texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Lord’s Prayer, the rabbinic prayers or early Christian liturgy – it easy to see that a community’s self-understanding  - the way they define who they are – is expressed through their prayers.

In the earliest traditions of the OT, it very much appears that the Hebrew people believed that death was the end.  Nowhere in the book of Genesis or the Law of Moses do we see any specific indications that there is life after death. As we read through the wisdom and poetic literature, in some places there are hints that there may be life after death, but in other places the authors seem to clearly affirm that death is the end. It's not until the era after the Babylonian exile, what is known as ‘2nd Temple Judaism', that very clear notions of resurrection, final judgment, and eternal reward or punishment start to appear in the text. Our aim is to better understand how belief in the afterlife developed among the people of Israel, and how this shaped their identity.  

There are different dimensions of OT messianic theology. One aspect of Messianic theology is eschatological. The Messiah comes in the last days to conquer evil, to reward the righteous, and to establish eternal peace on earth. Another aspect of Messianic theology is soteriological. Many passages talk about the Messiah as the one who makes atonement for the sins of Israel, and the sins of the nations – and thus opens the way for a new level of relationship with God. And then a third aspect of messianic theology is missional. But how exactly does the Messiah help Israel fulfil her mission to bring healing, restoration and blessing to all families of the earth?

The God of the Hebrew Scriptures is a God of pathos. His emotional world is very real. Unfortunately, many Christians read the Old Testament through a doctrinal lens that ultimately denies this idea.  In this episode, we engage with Jewish scholar Abraham Heschel to better understand God’s nature and character as presented by the Hebrew prophets.     

Ezekiel wrote a prophetic allegory which describes Israel’s betrayal of God in graphic and disturbing terms.  Generation after generation of faithlessness have left YHWH in a state of frustration and exhaustion. He’s verbally lashing out at the people of Israel because he’s angry, and above all, because his heart is broken.

From a literary perspective, the character of YHWH is presented as someone who does not exert absolute control over human affairs. He is not presented in the text as being a chess player who moves people as pawns on the board of human history. Time and time again we’ve seen how he set his hope on individuals and communities, and how he was let down. When the people that he was counting upon to accomplish his plans let him down, where can he turn? 

There is no better example of  how someone could be so blessed, and yet become so evil – than the character of King Solomon. On one hand, he is presented as the wisest, richest, most internationally influential king that Israel ever had.  On the other hand, he worshipped idols, he practiced human sacrifice, he was a sex addict and he implemented a race-based system of enslavement in his kingdom. Our task for today is to look more closely at this character to see what theological conclusions can be drawn.

Ancient Hebrew can be a very difficult language to translate. Sometimes, very important messages are lost in translation. In this episode we look at one of the greatest promises ever spoken to a human being, and consider how a fuller understanding of this promise may be affected by poor translation.

Ancient Near Eastern kings worshipped gods such as Amun, Marduk and Nabu becuase they expected to get something in return; things like wealth, power, and victory in battle. In contrast, for the Judaic people, worship wasn’t supposed to be a transactional, quid pro quo arrangement. The spirituality of the Hebrew Scriptures is not driven by what people can get from God. Rather, the texts assert that the most satisfying, deeply gratifying expression of worship is one in which a person lives in love relationship with YHWH. The purest worship is one that expresses love and gratitude for the things that YHWH has already done.

At this place in the OT narrative, being 'saved' wasn’t about going to heaven and it wasn’t about following certain steps for conversion. So what did it mean? Was the emphasis just on keeping the rules of the Torah, or was there something more? What we’ll discover is that there are beautiful nuances and subtleties in Hebrew religious thought.  And the story of Saul really provides some fascinating insights.

YHWH does not want the people of Israel to build their identity on their possessions, on their achievements, on their power, and especially he does not want to build their identity on their leaders. The role of leaders is simply to help the people of Israel fulfil the covenant that they had made with YHWH. Their identity and their purpose is to be grounded only in their relationship with YHWH, and to be nourished by the leadership that he himself exercises over their lives.

Human sacrifice, gang rape, dismemberment, leaders sleeping with prostitutes: what is going on in the book of Judges? Is the explanation simply human depravity - or is the real problem more nuanced and complex? In this episode we explore Israel's crisis of identity was at the root of her spiritual confusion.

The essence of God’s plan is to make a covenant with the descendants of Abraham. The primary purpose of this covenant is relational: God lives in love relationship with the people of Israel, and he gives them commands to follow in order to maintain that relationship.  But the commandments also speak to Israel’s mission or purpose in the world. As Israel obeys this law they experience the abundant life that God had promised to Abraham. They thrive and prosper. And this does not go unnoticed. All of the families of the earth see how Israel has right relationship with their God, how Israel has right relationships with one another, and how the people of Israel live in harmony with the creation. Through this example the nations of the earth will recognise that the God of Israel is the one and only true God. They then forsake their idols and YWWH. When they turn from their sin and rebellion, they then become partakers of the promise given to Abraham.

Think of the Old Testament as a connect the dots puzzle.  The problem that so many people face when reading the text is that they don’t know how the different people and events and writings all fit together.  What’s the relationship between Moses and Jeremiah, between Abraham and King Solomon, between David and Noah?  You can’t see the big picture of the Old Testament if you don’t know how to draw these connections, and the key to drawing these connections is to read everything with reference to the single, overarching plotline of the text.

We begin with an brief exploration of the relationship between Theology – which is the study of God – and identity, which refers to the way we see ourselves both as individuals and communities. I then introduce the theme of the first series, which involves a narrative theological exploration of the Old Testament.