In 2 Timothy 3:16, Shaul (Paul) says:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living;
But what was “scripture” when Shaul wrote that?
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If we look up what the Internet says scripture is, we get this:
Scripture refers to the sacred, revered, or holy writings of a religion.
Not very specific, is it?
When Shaul wrote to Timothy, it is generally assumed he wrote that letter around 66-67 A.D. and the Gospels weren’t really written until that time, or later, with John not being written until sometime between 90-100 A.D.!
So, the only scripture when Shaul wrote to Timmy was the Tanakh, also known (mistakenly) as the “Jewish Bible”.
As far as the New Covenant is concerned, the way the panel of Gentiles who put together this part of the Bible considered what was scripture and what wasn’t was by these attributes:
Apostolic authority, orthodox alignment, and widespread corporate acceptance.
In other words, by the end of the Second Century, if something was assumed to be written by an apostle, fit in with what was a Christian view (which was that the Torah wasn’t necessary for Gentiles), and what most people were comfortable hearing was considered scripture.
The gospels were pretty well distributed by 150-200 A.D., and the Synod of Hippo (393 AD) and the Council of Carthage (397 AD) formally approved the 27-book canon we know today as the New Covenant.
What is interesting is that the Gospels and the Epistles were all written by Jews, but when the question came up which of the many writings about Yeshua were scripture, not one Jew was on any of the committees that determined what was scripture and what wasn’t when putting together the New Covenant.
Not only that, but the view of what was God-inspired writings was from a totally Gentile viewpoint, which (as history shows) by the time the New Covenant was being put together, Christianity was totally anti-Torah and anti-Semitic.
The Christian attitude by the beginning of the Third Century was that God rejected Jews for having rejected Yeshua, so Replacement Theology was rampant, along with writers such as Tertullian, whose “An Answer to the Jews”, was one of many writings that depicted Judaism as spiritually blind, obstinate, and spiritually defunct for failing to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
Talk about thanks! That’s not a very favorable view of the ones who brought salvation to them!
So when we hear so many Christians saying that the Epistles and Gospels are God-breathed scripture, quoting 2 Timothy to validate their statement, sorry to say that they are wrong.
The Gospels are a historical narrative of the witness to the life and teachings of Yeshua and the letters that make up most of the New Covenant are not God-breathed (Shaul NEVER said God told him what to write), but managerial directives to those Gentile congregations who were being pressured into circumcision, causing issues with their faith and also having interpersonal power struggles within some of their leadership.
The Epistles are considered scripture because they were written by an apostle (Shaul) and are generally accepted as canon by the “Church”.
But if you read them for what they are, letters trying to get people back onto the proper path of salvation, the only real scripture they have is what the authors quote from the Tanakh.
Now, I am not saying that the New Covenant writings are not good for us to know because even that false gospel of John has some good stuff in it (accidents happen). What I am saying is that they should be read for what they are- historical narratives teaching us about the life and teachings of Yeshua and the problems the neophyte Gentile Believers were having as they tried to make that paradigm shift in lifestyle to be more in line with what God wanted them to do than what their pagan religions had taught them.
I want to be fair about this, so I will say there are things in the Tanakh that I also do not consider to be scripture, but useful historical information. In fact, everything after Deuteronomy is, to me, historical narrative, showing us what happened to the Jewish people over the centuries after God gave us the Torah.
For me, scripture should be what God says, and the only place in the entire Bible where God, himself, tells us how to worship him and how to treat each other is in the Torah. So, nu?– what else does anyone need to know in order to please God?
The Torah is the path to salvation, proven by Yeshua because he lived it perfectly and was resurrected to eternal life in God’s presence, which is- after all- what salvation is all about!
Just because as weak and self-centered human beings we cannot do what Yeshua did, that is no reason we should not do our best to try. God knows we can’t, which is why when he gave us the Torah he also gave us the sacrificial system so that, by means of his Grace we can still be forgiven of sin and thereby continue to try to do as God wants.
We can never be sinless, but we can always sin less.
If you agree that scripture should really be only what God says, even if you just think that makes some sense, then re-read all those Epistles and look for God speaking.
Thank you for being here and please remember to comment and share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for today, so L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!