Do Bible Teachers Cut the Mustard?
Who is qualified to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Jesus commands His disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations . . . teaching them to follow all that I commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20, NASB). James writes, “Let not many of you become teachers” (James 3:1, NASB). Jesus also says, “One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters” (Matt. 23:8, NASB). Which instructions should we follow? Is every believer commissioned to teach, are few to teach, or is Jesus the only true teacher? The answer is yes!
We are to have only one teaching authority, and that authority is Jesus. Whatever is taught by His followers needs to be pure and not of their own authority or supplemental doctrine. Indeed, Jesus certainly commissions those who serve Him to teach all of His commands, but we cannot ignore the level of scrutiny to which He held His disciples; rebuking them (us) in the four gospels more often than He praised them (us). This leads us to Paul’s warning that not many believers should become teachers; not that many teachers is a dangerous scenario. On the contrary, the more teachers of Jesus’ commands, the better represented He is and the more accountable His church is held. Paul is concerned that believers may be quick to become teachers without being grounded in their understanding of their faith. This is why an unknown apostle writes, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food" (Heb. 5:12, NASB).
It is with this backdrop that I introduce one of the best writings I have ever read on holding teachers of the New Testament (NT) to a respectable theological standard. Ben Witherington III (Ph.D. Durham) is Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. In his book, The Problem with Evangelical Theology (2005), he writes twelve “prerequisites” for anyone “doing theological work on the New Testament.” He entitles this section, “Calling All Armchair Theologians.” Although the entire section is highly worth reading, I will paraphrase his list.
1. Be able to read the text in its original language.
2. Study the text in its original context.
3. Evangelicals, interact with non-evangelicals persons and writings about the text.
4. Apply the whole of yourself for a long period of study.
5. Do not water down the text, instead raise the level of understanding.
6. NT theology should be done in a community context, not in isolation.
7. Western theologians (Americans) need to understand the collectivist biblical culture.
8. Understand NT theology by listening to the voices of the oppressed.
9. NT theology needs never rely on dialogue with other theologians for inventing doctrine, but only rely upon the Bible as the basis for systematic theology.
10. Theologizing needs to be done across denominational lines.
11. NT theology requires humility and not the Evangelical lust for certainty.
12. It is time to redraw boundaries and stop appreciating our differences.
Click here to view the online pdf version of The Problem with Evangelical Theology. The section, “Calling All Armchair Theologians” can be found on pages 245-248.
Dr. Witherington’s list caught me like a smack in the face. I felt personally challenged regarding my own study methods. Some of his prerequisites were not even afterthoughts for me. This was a much-needed wake-up call for me, and I hope it challenges you as well. He explains why he feels the need for greater awareness.
“This section of our discussion is a call to realize that we are active readers of these texts, that we bring our own training and education and biases with us when we read them, and frequently we are guilty of anachronism, of reading things into the text, especially when we start trying to systematize and order the theological content we find in these documents. I am not suggesting that we should not try, for example, to figure out what Lukan theology or Pauline theology is all about, which requires comparison and synthesis. I am simply saying that we need to do it with more critical awareness and self-awareness.”
Do you have questions or concerns about the contents of this post or other questions about the Bible? Feel welcomed to email me here.
1 November 2017
