Hogwash, Bad Hermeneutics and Psychology (with a bit of poison in the Kool Aid as an added bonus)

Here's a pop quiz for the Bible scholars in our audience:

Identify where this verse talks about your emotional needs . . .

Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

What's wrong? Couldn't do it? You may just need to be less theologically strict in your interpretive methods.

The pastor of a Southern Baptist church in my area can help you. Attendance at his church is around 5,500. In a recent sermon titled "What a Man Needs", this pastor stated the following:

"God has wired a man in such a way that his greatest emotional need is respect."

The preacher builds his thesis on the following logic:

P1 God's primary command to a wife is to respect her husband.

P2 God's primary command to a husband is to love his wife.

C Therefore, a wife's primary emotional need is love. and a husband's primary emotional need is respect.

The implied reasoning: we can define a person's emotional needs by the commands God gives to others.

This sounds sensible enough in our cozy, americanized, pop-psychology-influenced church culture. But there might be a few problems to consider before we drink too much of the Kool Aid . . .

This type of thinking is drawn directly from the "Hierarchy of Human Needs" developed by atheist/humanist Abraham Maslow. This hierarchy is a primary resource that is used extensively by psychologists - including many who call themselves Christians and market their books to the Church.

I'm curious, what exactly is an "emotional need?" Aren't emotions a response of the body-and-mind to internal and external circumstances? Do I need to feel a particular way? What do my emotions have to do with a command from God to my wife?

I'm not saying emotions aren't powerful and important (they certainly are), but I question the very idea that "needs" can be attached to them. Our feelings can't be directly controlled by us, but they can be influenced and eventually changed by our thinking, and by our circumstances (whether relational or incidental). God's commands are meant to teach us how to think and what to do. They're not meant to ascribe needs to our fluctuating emotions.

So what is meant by the idea that I have an "emotional need" for respect that can only be met if my wife behaves a certain way? Does it mean I lack something essential simply because my circumstances aren't ideal? What happened to the teaching that Christ is the One who meets my needs? Why is the burden of my emotional stability placed on my wife's shoulders? Why is she manipulated into obedience by my ever-changing feelings? And where does God say marriage is about meeting each others' emotional needs? I thought it was a picture of Christ and the Church? What need does He have for my respect? Isn't it my role to glorify Him by my obedience and service, without regard to my feelings at any given moment?

Ephesians 5 contains many straightforward commands, but no list or description of anyone's needs. These needs exist only in the mind of the preacher. It's the same kind of self-focused, reverse-logic hermeneutic that drives a preacher who should know better to say, "the command to love your neighbor as yourself means you can't love others until you love yourself." In this way Christ's clear command, "love your neighbor," is turned on its head and made into a murky admonition to "love yourself." May God have mercy on us, and forgive us for sending people on a futile quest for more self-love. It's like looking for water in an ocean. God is calling out to us, saying, "Come up on shore, come out of that briny, turbulent sea of self-love, and draw freely from my refreshing artesian wells. Then share my water with others. Sure, you're going to smell like salt for awhile, and you may even find yourself body surfing in that unsatisfying sea water. But once you've tasted fresh water you'll know the difference and you'll long for what satisfies your thirst. You'll become more like Me and learn to delight in serving others rather than yourself." Meanwhile, culturally blinded pastors are pushing their flocks further out to sea, with promises of fulfillment for those who dive deeper into the illustrious love of self.

There's nothing inherently wrong with emotions. There's nothing inherently wrong with desiring respect or love from others. There's nothing at all wrong with the the kind of self-love that causes one to turn away from evil. But there is something very wrong with twisting the commandments of God into psycho-babble and failing to declare the truth as it is found in the text. There is something desperately wrong when church leaders validate the idolization of desires, the deification of feelings, the shifty blame game of invented emotional "needs" and the manipulation of a spouse through this world's hollow and deceptive philosophy. The Word of God should not be turned into humanistic drivel.

We're all loaded with emotional desires - this is what drives most of my struggles with sin, I think. I want something to happen, I want to be treated a certain

way, I want to have a feeling of significance and pride, I want to be appreciated and esteemed by others - and I'm willing to go against God's directives to get these things. To call these desires "needs" is both dangerous and unbiblical. Normal human desires very quickly turn into idolized demands, and this doesn't qualify them as needs. It makes them SINFUL God-replacements.

Recently, I've had numerous discussions with various people about nouthetic counseling and psychology. Nouthetic counseling isn't perfect. But in my experience, pastors who are influenced by the nouthetic approach don't fall for all of this psychologized Scripture twisting. They teach the commands and promises of God, not the self-focused idolatry of made-up "needs."

I'd suggest the following alternative to eisegetically reading emotional needs into the text.

P1 God's primary command to a wife is to respect her husband.

P2 God's primary command to a husband is to love his wife.

C Therefore, the best way to glorify God in the role of a husband is to love your wife; and the best way to glorify God in the role of a wife is to respect your husband.

After all, this is why we're here, isn't it?

A nice byproduct of glorifying God in this way is . . . your spouse will probably be more emotionally healthy and satisfied in the relationship. Both of you will enjoy marriage more. But let's not ever make this the focal point. Let's keep the focus right where God has it: ON HIS GLORY.

I must love my wife as Christ loved the church - without regard to her respect for me or my feelings about her behavior - because this glorifies God. I must do this out of love for God, and love for her, and in response to His love, and not for my own selfish ends. Isn't this the kind of love that moved Christ to the cross?

The Logic of THEOparadox

What follows is a list of propositions, guidelines and principles which represent a balanced approach to theological paradox. These are the logical reasons for embracing paradox, standing in clear opposition to the assertions of those who exalt man's reasoning abilities beyond proper limits and at the same time minimize divine transcendence. These statements are an attempt to explain how a person can passionately and enthusiastically embrace Biblical paradoxes without in any way abandoning rationality, sound reasoning and common sense.

10 Affirmations of THEOparadox

1. God is perfectly logical, infinitely logical, and eternally logical.
In other words, contradiction and irrationality are not found in Him.
2. God's Word, The Bible, conforms perfectly to God's logic.
I am here affirming the logical coherence of Scripture.
3. Logic is the divinely authorized tool with which human beings must interpret Scripture.
Abandonment of logic is not an acceptable hermeneutic, for it would require the rejection of an essential and praiseworthy aspect of God's nature.
4. Human logic is an attempt to describe and explain divine truth.
Thus, as far as it goes, it is good and useful.
5. Human logic is imperfect, fallen and finite.
It is limited by our creaturehood and suffers from the effects of sin, so it inevitably falls short of its aim.
6. Human logic, no matter how mature or well developed, cannot correspond perfectly to divine truth.
This is nothing more than an affirmation of man's pervasive depravity and God's incomprehensibility. Man's logic is not always God's logic.
7. This lack of correspondence is not due to any irrationality on the part of God or the Bible. It is due entirely to man's creaturely status, his fallen nature and his stubborn dependence upon his own imperfect reason.
In other words, God is NOT the author of confusion. Rather, man is.
8. Where there is a lack of correspondence, there sometimes appears to be a contradiction of logic. This contradiction exists only in the mind of man and in the logic of man, not in God Himself, nor in His perfect Word.
In this I am affirming without equivocation that paradox, or apparent contradiction, is sometimes the furthest man can go in his attempts to explain divine truth. If a paradox cannot be resolved without removing essential aspects of divine revelation, the paradox is to be heartily embraced and affirmed in the face of all human logic - not because it is actually contradictory, but because human logic is insufficient.
9. Man's logic can correspond to divine truth only to the extent that God reveals both His truth and the way in which human logic corresponds to that truth.
To the extent that God describes what human logic cannot explain, there remains unsolvable mystery in man's knowledge.
10. God uses the paradoxes and mysteries which exist in man's mind as a tool for the furtherance of His purposes and the continuing revelation of His divine glory.
He is fully aware of our limitations, and accomplishes His will in His own way and by His own means - means which are comprehensive enough to involve mysteries and paradoxes resulting from the inherent imperfection in the logic of His children.

Let God's great glory be revealed, and man's fallen and finite mind be utterly humbled in consideration of these facts. Let man's pride be brought low as he realizes he is fallible, incapable and totally dependent on God's mercy.

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

PARADOX FILES, VOL. 1

Editor's UPDATE: When I first posted this, I didn't know much about Dr. Bob Utley. As it turns out, he describes himself as a "1 point Calvinist and a 4 part Arminian." He is the first paradox-embracing Arminian I have ever encountered (other than myself in the past), and he seems to be influenced strongly by the idea that Scripture contains dialectical pairs held in tension. Historically, this might indicate a leaning toward Neo-Orthodoxy, but Dr. Utley might simply be striving for balance. In any case, he serves as an interesting example of the application of theological paradox to the science of hermeneutics.

This quote comes from freebiblecommentary.org, where retired hermeneutics professor Dr. Bob Utley has presented some great insights about interpreting the Bible. Here's one that perfectly encapsulates the idea behind Theoparadox:

"Look for a possible paradoxical pair within your subject. Many biblical truths are presented in dialectical pairs; many denominational conflicts come from proof-texting half of a biblical tension. All of the Bible is inspired, and we must seek out its complete message in order to provide a Scriptural balance to our interpretation."

Amen to that!

Interpreting Biblical Paradoxes

Okay, here we go . . . a few thoughts on hermeneutics (the art & science of Biblical interpretation). Future posts will give examples of how to do this. But let's start by laying out a few principles for dealing with the challenges of Biblical paradox:

1. When you find yourself confronted with two clear teachings in the Bible that seem to contradict one another, it's often helpful to view the two teachings as the extreme ends on a spectrum of truth. Settle it in your mind that you will affirm both because both are taught in God's Word. Whatever conclusions you draw from that point on must fall somewhere between the two ends. You cannot deny either of them.

2. Start from what's clear and work from there into what's not clear.

3. Prayerfully and carefully, study your Bible to find out if either side is emphasized more strongly or consistently than the other.

4. Pay close attention to the ways in which the two teachings relate to one another in Scripture. For example, there is a paradox concerning faith and works, to the extent that some have said we are saved by faith AND works. But Scripture as a whole is very clear on this point. It teaches us that good works grow out of faith, that faith comes first and is the ground from which good works spring. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. Works are an evidence of this salvation, not the way to it. This approach upholds the balance of Scripture without denying any of the Biblical teaching on the subject.

5. Note what the Bible DOES NOT SAY about these truths. Be wary of thinking dogmatically in areas where God has not spoken. Biblical silence speaks loudly.

6. Weigh both sides and be diligent to keep them in balance. This will take time and prayerful study, but keep working at it. If you don't, you may end up believing and saying things about God that are just plain wrong.

Here's a great illustration of the need for balance and the value of paradox:

"The element sodium is a silver-colored metal that reacts so violently with water that flames are produced when sodium gets wet. The element chlorine is a greenish-colored gas that is so poisonous that it was used as a weapon in World War I. When chemically bonded together, these two dangerous substances form the compound sodium chloride, a compound so safe that we eat it every day - common table salt!"
Thanks to visionlearning.com for this information.

We can think of Biblical truth in the same way. If we affirm that Jesus is only God and not man, we perpetuate a poisonous heresy. If we say He is only man, we betray the faith. But if we defy our own logic and believe what the Bible says - namely that He is the God-Man Who shares both complete humanity and complete divinity - we enjoy the salt of a balanced Biblical orthodoxy.

Biblical Foundations of Paradox, Mystery, & Irony

Following are some of the Scripture verses and passages that form the Biblical basis for a theology that deliberately and gratefully embraces Biblical paradox, mystery & irony. Note that there is much here of the sovereignty and greatness of God, and much of the weak, helpless state of fallen man. Throughout Scripture, God's knowledge is consistently presented as complete and limitless, while man's knowledge is always viewed as limited in both scope and depth.

Known & Unknown, Revealed & Hidden

From these passages, it is clear that there are some divine matters that can be known, and some that cannot be known, either because God has hidden them or because man is incapable of discovering, explaining or understanding them. It is also evident that some matters which are hidden to unbelievers are revealed to believers. They are understood only by faith. The Scriptures are remarkably candid in what they place beyond the reach of human intellect - and in what they maintain as absolutely certain and knowable for believers.

Paradoxical Irony & Paradoxical Mystery

To define the terms a little further, some Biblical paradoxes fall into the category of paradoxical irony, while others are deep paradoxical mysteries. The ironies are meant to be understood and resolved, but the mysteries cannot be fully explained. For example, Jesus ironically declares: "He who loses his life for My sake will find it." To the world this is utter foolishness, but believers who have surrendered their lives to the Lord find it both sensible and encouraging. Christ's teachings and Paul's writings are brimming with incredible statements like this. The words often seem impossible on the surface, but they point to deeper, underlying truths. These sayings are not ultimately mysterious. On the other hand, there are facts which the Scriptures clearly state but do not fully explain. These mysterious teachings will always remain partially incomprehensible to our fallen minds, no matter how much effort we put into explaining them. The incarnation and the two natures of Christ fit squarely in this category, along with many other key doctrines of the Word of God (if you doubt this, try to explain the virgin birth using human logic alone). Those of us who happily embrace Reformed theology are accustomed to wrestling with very mysterious matters such as the relation between God's hidden will (the "will of decree") and His revealed will (the "will of command"). Historically, there have been endless attempts to reconcile sovereign election and human responsibility, divine causality and the origin of sin, divine goodness and the existence of evil, universal love and limited salvation, etc. Some very worthy possible explanations have been offered, but none of them are complete. It is a grave mistake to stop wrestling with these mysteries, as God has ordained them with the intention that they should continually amaze, overwhelm and conquer us. We should not be surprised that our mental capabilities are too small to fully explain these matters. Rather, we ought to be shocked that God's wisdom and grace have allowed sinful human beings to understand SO MUCH of them. In view of our creaturehood and inherent depravity, it's a miracle that we can understand ANY of God's truth.

Skepticism & Apparent Contradictions

Skeptics have filled their books with supposed contradictions from the Scriptures. Many of these "contradictions" are the result of grasping at straws and failing to understand the context or content of the Bible. Some simply require historical or archeological clarification, or possibly a better understanding of Biblical cultures and customs. Some apparent contradictions result from overlooking the vocabulary used in the original languages, when two different words in the original are translated into the same English word. A small amount of study can easily resolve these. However, we must acknowledge the existence of a few verbal contradictions that call us to meditate on the words of Scripture and discover why the Holy Spirit inspired the words to be written as they were. See this series of posts for an example of this. There is not a single apparent contradiction in the Bible that cannot be resolved to a satisfactory extent by a thoughtful, prayerful Christian.

Christ's Teaching

The words of Christ are of special importance, as much for what they leave unsaid as for the things they reveal. They are filled with what is commonly called "rhetorical paradox" (a literary device which is designed to make the hearer think, and usually makes sense after a bit of contemplation - I like to call it "paradoxical irony"). This is a somewhat different matter than the wider logical paradox inherent in doctrines such as the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, and the relation of divine sovereignty to human choice. But one amazing fact about Christ's teaching is this: the Only One Who could explain the divine mysteries never did so. Instead He spoke in paradoxes and parables, to such an extent that in John 16:29 His disciples said, "Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech."

Paul & Mystery

Paul's use of the term "mystery" (Greek MUSTERION) is worth mentioning, but we will not deal with it extensively here. Suffice it to say, the oft-repeated and classic definition for MUSTERION as "something once hidden, now revealed" does not fit every use of the word in the New Testament. There may be more "mystery" in MUSTERION than some scholars are willing to admit. With 27 occurrences in the New Testament - and describing such important subjects as the faith, Christ, the Church, the Gospel, and God's will - this concept is worthy of further study.

Test Everything, Hold onto the Good

The following verses are offered without further commentary, in the hope that you will study them in context and in the original languages. A sincere effort has been made to use only those passages that can be properly applied to the discussion of Biblical paradox. However, if you find that I have misinterpreted something or misconstrued the intent of a verse, please use the comments to let me know.

SOLA SCRIPTURA
SOLA FIDE
SOLI DEO GLORIA

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

Job 9:10 [Job speaking of God] Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.

Job 36:26 [Elihu speaking] Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable.

Job 37:5 [Elihu speaking] God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend.

Job 42:1-5 Then Job answered the LORD and said, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted . . . Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know . . . I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes."

Psalm 131:1 O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me.

Psalm 139:1-6 O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.

Proverbs 20:24 Man’s steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night), and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, "I know," he cannot discover.

Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

Isaiah 55:8-11 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.

Matthew 13:10-17 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Mark 8:17 And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?

Mark 10:23-27 And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?" Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

I Corinthians 2:1-16 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE SHOULD INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

II Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Eph 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.