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Tuesday, 27 June 2006 16:21 |
| | Donald L. O??Dell |
By JOHN NORTH
FLETCHER ?? A theologian-author explained how a collection of scrolls, laws, songs, poems, narratives and letters ?®somehow all got put together, declared sacred and called the Holy Bible?∆ during a program last Wednesday night at Unity Center.
Donald L. O??Dell addressed about 50 people during a 45-minute talk titled ?®How the Bible Became the Bible,?∆ based on his recently published book of the same title. Afterward, he fielded questions from the audience for 45 minutes.
O??Dell
repeatedly took to task Christian fundamentalists, asserting that human
beings always have sought a simplistic, black-and-white religion,
stemming from a desire to know one is ?®right.?∆
This tendency,
which he said had its roots in the Old Testament, quells doubt and is
fear-based ?? and resulted in abuses in Israel??s temple-state system.
This, in turn, influenced the documents that eventually were included
and excluded from the New Testament, he contended.
He then warned
of what he termed ?®Bibliolatry?∆ ?? an idolization of the Bible as an
inerrant document by fundamentalists who emphasize formal rules and
miss the spiritual message.
O??Dell, who
holds a master??s degree in divinity from Princeton Theological
Seminary, is an ordained United Presbyterian minister who served as a
street-gang minister in Trenton, N.J. O??Dell later had two pastorates
in Oklahoma.
Semi-retired, he
now lives in Florida, where has a consulting business and is active in
a New Thought congregation. O??Dell, a self-proclaimed ?®recovering
alcoholic,?∆ said he has not had a drink in 20 years.
As he began his
address, O??Dell noted that he would give an overview of his book and
then discuss ?®the tension between religion and spirituality.?∆
He asserted that his book, ?®How the Bible Became the Bible,?∆ presents ?®a high-level discussion for the non-scholar.?∆
O??Dell added, ?®Most of us don??t read the Bible very much ?? maybe a few verses here and there.?∆
He then asked, ?®Why??s the Bible important??∆
?®It??s important because it??s something you need to decide in your life?∆ how much influence you give it, O??Dell said.
Secondly, he
said the Bible is important because ?®20 to 25 percent of our population
?? the Christian Right ?? has made the Bible a major issue ... They sound
bigger than they are ... The important thing is that politicians and
marketers listen to them ... Maybe we (in the Christian Left) shouldn??t
be as quiet as we??ve been.
?®If you??ve been
quiet?∆ around fundamentalists because of a lack of confidence based on
a lack of knowledge of the Bible??s evolution, O??Dell said he hoped his
talk ?? and a reading of his book ?? might change that stance for his
audience in Fletcher.
He then reviewed four sub-themes of his book on how the Bible ?®came to be?∆ as follows
- The tension
between the spiritual and the religious, the latter of which he defined
as ?®fear-driven, explicit and codified.?∆ O??Dell said he feels
?®spiritual?∆ means ?®intuitive knowing.?∆
- The inherent
dangers of ?®Bibliolatry,?∆ a practice of believing in the Bible
literally and placing adherance to its rules above everything. ?®It??s
very frightening to me ... It??s very judgmental ?? and, very often,
non-loving.?∆
- The need to
humanize the writers of the Bible to make their messages ?®come alive?∆
to today??s audience. ?®The writers of the Bible were people just like
us,?∆ O??Dell asserted, although they constituted ?®different voices in
different times in different cultures.?∆
- The need for
an alternative doctrine of salvation, answering the questions of: ?®Who
was Jesus??∆ and ?®Why did he die??∆ This would offset the fundamentalist
Christian view, which he characterized as: ?®Jesus saved us to prevent
the wrath of God.?∆
In writing his
book, O??Dell said he sought to unify his knowledge about the Bible and
his ideas of spirituality. Specifically, he noted that he believes ?®the
only thing I could change is my attitude ... When I got into that,
things went better for me.?∆
O??Dell then
expressed some ideas he shares with the New Thought movement, which
includes Unity, such as, ?®Thoughts are things and, if you change your
thoughts, your life changes.?∆ He also noted his belief in ?®the
universal spirit of love,?∆ which he wanted to integrate into his formal
life by writing the book.
His book
originally was going to be titled ?®The Visible Johan,?∆ but a focus
group with which he met persuaded O??Dell to change the title to ?®How
the Bible Became the Bible.?∆
O??Dell then devoted the remainder of his talk to his concerns about the tension between religion and spirituality.
?®It??s said that
?¥religion?? is for those who don??t want to go to Hell, while
?¥spirituality?? is for those who have been to Hell ?? and they don??t want
to go back again,?∆ he said, triggering laughter from the audience.
He praised
Albert Einstein for having said, ?®The most significant question most
people have to decide for themselves is whether they believe the
universe is a friendly or unfriendly place.?∆
O??Dell said, ?®If
people believe it (the universe) to be unfriendly, they have to spend
their lives shielding themselves from it. Therefore, they use ritual,
custom, doctrine and creed to protect themselves ?? and they call it
?¥religion.???∆
The problem, he asserted, is that ?®God??s guidelines for our lives were always a little fuzzy.?∆
For example,
O??Dell cited Jesus?? admonition: ?®?¥Love your neighbor as yourself.?? When
asked who a neighbor is, he (Jesus) told the story of the Good
Samaritan. It??s fuzzy. It??s relative.?∆
O??Dell added that, ?®actually, the Bible doesn??t talk at all about Original Sin. That was added about 250 years later.?∆
What??s more,
O??Dell contended that ?®Jesus never preached that he came here to ?¥save??
people. He said he came to transform people.?∆ To that end, he cited the
sayings, ?®You have ears, hear. You have eyes, see.?∆
From his studies
of the Bible, O??Dell said he sees the universe ?®as a place of love and
support ?? and not as an enemy.?∆ With that worldview, he said, ?®what??s
important changes?∆ for an individual.
However, in
referring to most people, he said, ?®We don??t like fuzzy guidelines ...
We want assurances. We want teachers to tell us if we do A, B and C,
we??ll get a certain outcome.?∆
In turning to
the Old Testament, O??Dell noted that much of it is based on ?®the tribal
system of purification and sacrifice?∆ of nomadic people from the late
Bronze Age. ?®To them, God was an external being who needed to be
placated, lest he become angry?∆ and wreak havoc.
From its Old Testament roots, early Christianity evolved into ?®a formal, explicit set of rules and rituals,?∆ he said.
Instead of the
love, justice and humility that God wanted, Christianity and the
message from the Bible became a matter of obedience, according to
O??Dell.
As for Jesus,
?®His kingdom of heaven began to get institutionalized,?∆ he said.
?®Paul??s message became more and more misunderstood,?∆ as people
emphasized his writings on order over what O??Dell termed, other, more
important, topics.
?®By 250 A.D.,
the readings of Jesus had morphed into rules...?∆ by ?®the same people
who disliked the Gnostics.?∆ (Gnosticism is defined as the knowledge of
transcendence arrived at by way of interior, intuitive means.)
Christianity had changed from a faith in the word of God, O??Dell said, to ?®what matters is belief?∆ in Bibliolatry.
The aforemention belief ?®will ?¥save?? you ?? from what? I guess from the evil universe that is out there.?∆
Therefore,
Jesus?? ultimate message of ?®being transformed as a person has pretty
much been forgotten,?∆ as has the realization ?®that the world is a
friendly, supportive place,?∆ O??Dell noted,
After a pause,
he asserted, ?®With all due respect, the Bible is not a religious
instruction manual,?∆ as O??Dell said President George Bush perceives it.
In O??Dell??s
view, the overriding message of the Bible is ?®eat together, heal
together,?∆ he said. ?®The wonder of the spiritual has always been at
odds with?∆ institutionalized religion in a manner that pits grace
versus the law ?? and ?®I think we need to hear that message today.?∆
After his talk,
O??Dell was asked what he thought of the assertion that ?®The Da Vinci
Code?∆ film ?? and book from which it is based ?? has generated fear among
conservative Christian leaders that it will ?®shake people??s faith.?∆
?®I couldn??t
agree more,?∆ O??Dell said. Moreover, from a scholarly perspective, ?®they
note up front that it??s a novel ... There??s no evidedence that he
(Jesus) was married ?? and none that he wasn??t.?∆ However, O??Dell pointed
out, ?®It would have been very unusual for Jesus not to be married,?∆
given his circumstances and the customs of the time.
Another
questioner asserted, ?®?¥The Da Vinci Code?? is based on an idea that runs
counter to the idea that Jesus was God ?? that??s why Christians feel
fear.?∆
In response,
O??Dell said many ideas promulgated by Christian conservatives are the
result of changes made after Jesus?? death, such as ?®the whole story of
the virgin birth ?? all of this was done from 50 to 250 A.D. Some of
this was nitpicking ....
?®When Jesus
spoke, he spoke as a Jew to Jews in Palestine in their words and time.
They were ?¥religious?? Jews ... Paul would never have believed that
Jesus was God ?? that was a pagan thing ... A lot of this was
misunderstanding.?∆
An audience member asked how anti-Semitism arose.
?®I don??t see it
that much during the timeframe of the New Testament,?∆ O??Dell replied.
?®The Jews were highly regarded during the Roman Empire ... So, when
Christianity began as a Jewish sect, it was only until 70 A.D., when
the Jews were rebelling (against the Romans), that the ?¥Christian Jews??
began separating from the ?®Jewish Jews?∆ ?? to stay out of harm??s way.
He added, ?®Jews
did not like Christians because they felt there were stealing members,
which they were, and Christians felt Jews ostracized them ... Not until
800 or 900 A.D. did anti-Semitism arise. A lot of it was social ?? Jews
tended to help and support one another. And they were successful and
stayed apart ?? and others resented that.?∆
As for the
Bible, O??Dell said, ?®Most of what was written was about 90 years after
Jesus?? crucifixion.?∆ In an obvious slap at the view of President Bush,
he added, ?®I can??t imagine Jesus saying words like, ?¥If you??re not for
me, you??re against me.???∆
Regarding the
choice of the works to include in the Bible at the Council of Niceae
around 310 A.D., O??Dell said it was prompted by Constantine??s quest to
hold together his empire. He also noted that there had been previous ??
unsuccessful attempts ?? to compose a Christian Bible. The idea was to
?®get all the bishops together and get some kind of creed we call can
agree on and some book?∆ on which everyone could concur.
Twenty-seven
books were approved for inclusion in the Bible at the council, O??Dell
said. ?®We don??t know exactly why some books were included and others
excluded. There??s no documented evidence ... Certainly, politics,
church order, a certain amount of orderliness?∆ influenced the
decision-making.
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