A sermon by the Rev. Daniel Charles Davis

for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

February 5, 2006

(All Bible quotes are from the Revised Standard Version.)

Who wrote the Bible? Some say God. I could say that, and this sermon would be over. I could sit down and rest. But there are some problems. The Bible has contradictions. Any God I imagine should at least be consistent.

There are two Creation stories, three versions of the Ten Commandments [see Appendix One], two versions of the birth of Jesus and four versions of his death. These are not minor points of theology. One would think that if they were written by God, they would agree with each other. Clearly they are human attempts to understand God. When approaching the Bible authorship, you have basically two choices: Either humans are flawed or God is flawed.

Who wants a God who tells contradictory stories about the same events. That type of God would hardly seem worth worshiping. But what if different people had different perspectives about God? What if these different perspectives were collected over the centuries and put together as a collection of books to give the readers some perspective on their history?

Think about the history of the United States. You may have noticed that there is more than one perspective on the Civil War, or, as some would call it, the War Between the States. Often the same battle has different names. What the North calls Bull Run the South calls Manassas. It does not take long when reading a Civil War history to discover the perspective of the author.

The text itself gives clues.

That is what happens when scholars read the Bible. Tradition has it that Moses wrote the Torah, or first five books in the Bible. But this is problematic since he describes his own death in the Book of Deuteronomy. Plus, the style of writing changes from one part to the next.

Scholars who have looked at the Old Testament propose the following authors: J,E,P,D, and R.

Before I tell you more about these authors it will be helpful to do a brief outline of the history of the Hebrews.

A man called Abraham moves from what is now Iraq to what is now Israel. His grandson, Jacob, wrestles with an angel, after which he is called Israel, which means “he who struggles with God.” Jacob has 12 sons, who become the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. The second youngest, Joseph, is sold into slavery in Egypt because his brothers are jealous of his coat of many colors. Joseph rises to power in Egypt and saves his brothers when they move to Egypt because of famine in Israel. Four hundred years pass and all 12 tribes are slaves in Egypt. Moses and his brother, Aaron, the priest, lead them back to the land of Israel. After the Jews wander in the desert for 40 years, they are led by Joshua into the Promised Land, which is divided amongst the 12 tribes.

There arises a king named David. He and his son Solomon expand the kingdom from the Euphrates to Egypt. Solomon dies. His two sons have a civil war. The ten tribes to the north are known as Israel. The two tribes to the south are known as Judah.

In 722 B.C.E. the northern kingdom is conquered by Assyria. The first part of the Book of Isaiah refers to this period. King Josiah in the southern kingdom finds a new scroll in the Temple in Jerusalem in 622. In 587 the southern kingdom is destroyed by Babylon. Jeremiah is writing during this period. Some people flee to Egypt and some are in exile in Babylon. Ezekiel and Daniel write about the Exile. In 538 Persia conquers Babylon. A different part of Isaiah describes this time. Because it is unlikely that one writer lived during this entire period, which spans 184 years, we think that the one Book of Isaiah was written by several people. At any rate, now the Jews are allowed back into Jerusalem, led by Ezra, who also restores the Torah.

This history gives us clues about who wrote what. Writers in the north tended to refer to God as Elohim. Writers in the south tended to refer to God as Yahweh. Writers in the north tended to emphasize the priesthood of Aaron’s tribe, the Levites. Writers in the south argued for the centrality of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Now I can outline who the different writers are. E, or Elohist, is an early writer who referred to God as Elohim. Elohim is usually translated to English in the Old Testament as God.

J, or Yawist, is an early writer who referred to God as Yahweh. Yahweh is usually translated to English in the Old Testament as Lord.

P, or Priestly, is a later writer who also refers to Elohim and emphasizes the role of Aaron. He probably combined the earlier stories of J and E.

When Moses is standing before the Burning Bush, God identifies himself as Yahweh, the Elohim of Jacob and Abraham.

P is concerned with the minutia of the Law. Whenever you read the Bible, and get bogged down in measurements, numbers, rituals and family trees, you are probably reading P. He probably wrote most of Leviticus and Numbers. His history of Israel and Judah are found in 1 and 2 Chronicles.

D is known as a Deuteronomical writer. He is responsible for the Book of Deuteronomy and also the history of Israel found in Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. His general theme is that when the king worshiped God in the Temple, Israel prospered, but when he worshiped in the hills like the Levites of the north, Israel did not prosper.

There are some stylistic similarities to the prophet Jeremiah, who was writing during the time of King Josiah. He emphasized the primacy of Jerusalem in the history. His list of kings does not always agree with the list in Chronicles.

P was interested in maintaining a list, whereas D was emphasizing that the history meant that Israel should worship Yahweh, the one true God, In Jerusalem

R stands for Redactor.

This may have been Ezra, who is said to have restored the Torah after the Exile. He took these disparate resources and wove them together. The various strains were kept. That is why the stories appear more than once.

The Creation contains two stories. Genesis 1-2:4 refers to God as Elohim, and the rigid writing style leads one to think it was compiled by the Priestly writer. The days are ordered. The order that life is created is as follows: plants, sea animals, land animals, humans. This order is similar to that outlined by Darwin.

But the second Creation story, starting at Genesis 2:5, refers to God as Yahweh, and it all happens on one day and the order that life is created is different: First, man from the dust, then plants, then animals, then – and separately – woman.

The second story reads more like a fable, with Yahweh being intimately involved in molding human life and breathing life into the nostrils – and shaping woman from a rib.

In the first version, the Priestly version, God does things by decree: Let there be light and there is light.

Take the Ten Commandments. The Priestly version, which we are most familiar with, is found in Exodus 20. It says to rest on the Sabbath because God rested on the seventh day of Creation in the Priestly version of the story.

The version of the Ten Commandments in the Book of Deuteronomy is similar, but special emphasis is placed on letting servants have the Sabbath because they were slaves in the land of Egypt.

There is a second version of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 34. It is the only passage of the three where the phrase “ten commandments” is used. But only three of the commandments are similar: You should worship no other gods but Yahweh (v.14), you should not make any molten images (v. 17), and resting on the seventh day (v. 21). The rest have to do with agricultural practices and festivals.

Fast forward to the New Testament. Jesus asks a rich, young ruler if he has kept the commandments. There are three versions of this story.

In Matthew 19:18-19 Jesus lists "`You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother’ and `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" – five of the ten found in Exodus 20 and “Love your neighbor,” which is from Leviticus 19:18.

In Mark 10:19 Jesus lists “`Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" – only five of the Ten Commandments plus an original, Do not defraud.

In Luke 19:20 Jesus lists “`Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother'" – five out of ten with no additions.

Paul in his letter to the Romans summarizes the Law in 13:9: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this one rule: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"

All of these New Testament references to the Commandments list fewer than 10 and leave out the Commandments about God and the Sabbath.

If the Bible were written by God, it seems that God would be more consistent in listing his Commandments, and it seems unlikely that God would forget about listing those Commandments that say honor God.

When looking at the Old Testament, we infer that the books have been edited because we compare the different content and styles within the stories. With the New Testament, we have more manuscripts, and what is more important is that these manuscripts differ from each other. We have no originals. What we have are copies written at least 150 years after the originals. Many of the differences are minor, perhaps just a scribal error, but other differences may be due to choices made by scribes reflecting theology.

After Jesus is baptized, Luke (3:22) and Mark (1:11) report God’s voice from heaven saying, “You are my Beloved Son In whom I am well Pleased.” But some manuscripts read, “You are my son, Today I have Begotten you.”

The second reading suggests that Jesus became divine at the point of baptism rather than at birth. This is an important theological distinction. The first is the orthodox view and is in the most manuscripts, but the second is often quoted by other early Christian writers in letters older than the existing manuscripts.

Was the text changed to conform with the doctrine of the Trinity that was decided 200 years after the text was written? Also, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke often tell different versions of the same stories. And John tells stories that are not found in any other gospel.

Mark is presumed to be the oldest because it refers to the destruction of the Temple vividly, thus is assumed to be written closer to the time of its destruction in 70 A.D.

Matthew and Luke seem to use Mark. In fact, Luke says at the very beginning of his gospel (v. 1-4):

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.

Basically, he is saying that there are a lot of versions of what happened out there, but I am editing and producing an accurate version.

The gospels are placed first in the New Testament, but they are not the earliest records. Those would be the letters of Paul. He writes about visiting Christians who were still worshiping at the Temple in Jerusalem. Paul writes very little about the life and teachings of Jesus. He may have been quoting Jesus in his summary of the Law I read earlier. He quotes Jesus only in reference to communion, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, “and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, `This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, `This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’" (v. 24-25)

Similar words are in Mark (14:22-23), Matthew(26:26-29) and Luke (22:19-20). But the Gospel of John – (13:1-30) Jesus washes the feet of his disciples at the supper where he is betrayed – makes no mention of bread and wine. So even on this point there is inconsistency.

Paul focuses on the resurrection of Christ, which he insists is a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44), but all the gospels insist that the physical corpse of Jesus was raised (Matt. 28:10, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:43, John 20:27).

If the Bible were written by God, you would think God would be consistent about the Resurrection. But the Bible was written by people who had agendas. When people try to prove that the Bible is infallible, they are placing a burden on the text that the writers never intended.

It borders on idolatry, reducing the infinite possibility of God to words on the page. But if we approach the Bible as a human document, a chronicle of human being longing to understand and be understood by God, we can forgive their confusion for it is part of the human condition.

Why does the universe sometimes seem forgiving and other times without mercy? How do we recognize what it holy? And what shall we call it? Where did we come from? And what will be out fate? Does what we believe matter, or are our deeds more important? These are the questions that live eternally in scripture.

Various witnesses disagree on these matters, but there is one saying of the priestly writer in Leviticus that is echoed in the New Testament: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Though Matthew, Mark and Luke disagreed about the details of Jesus’ life, they all say love your neighbor as yourself. Though the gospel writers disagree with Paul about the Resurrection, they all agree: Love your neighbor as yourself. Though Paul writes that we are saved by Grace, and James says we are saved by works, they both agree: Love your neighbor as yourself. [See Appendix Two.]

We may disagree with others about what the meaning of scripture is. We may even dispute the names of the supposed authors; but if we love, we can overcome all disagreement.

Universalist Hosea Ballou said, “If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us any injury, but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good.” (Singing the Living Tradition, 705)

So the next time someone is quoting scripture at me, I will be tempted to quote a contradicting scripture back. Given the nature of scripture, that should be easy to do. But what if instead, I pause, and ask, What about love?

How do I love this person who is in front of me right now? What if we forgot about who is right and who is wrong and tried to figure out how to love each other? What would that look like?

The Bible, the Koran, the Rig Veda, the Dhammapada, and all holy books are less that love.

May love be the sacred story of our lives.

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Resources

Friedman, Richard Elliot, Who Wrote the Bible?, Harper & Row, New York, 1989.

Ehrman, Bart, Misquoting Jesus, HarperSanFranscico, 2005.

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APPENDIX ONE

There are three versions of the Ten Commandments:

[Exodus 20: 2-17] “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's."

[Exodus 34:11-28] “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you. You shall tear down their altars, and break their pillars, and cut down their Ashe'rim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and one invites you, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods and make your sons play the harlot after their gods. You shall make for yourself no molten gods. The feast of unleavened bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. All that opens the womb is mine, all your male cattle, the firstlings of cow and sheep. The firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the first-born of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. And you shall observe the feast of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out nations before you, and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left until the morning. The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." And the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

[Deuteronomy 5:2-21] "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you. You shall not kill. Neither shall you commit adultery. Neither shall you steal. Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

APPENDIX TWO

Lev. 19:18 - You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Matt. 5:43 - You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'”

Matt. 19:19 – Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Matt. 22:39 – And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Mark 12:31 – The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Luke 10:27 – And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

Rom.13:9 – The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Gal. 5:14 – For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

James 2:8 – If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.