Culture   “We must look at the culture of that time.”  Or so the many professors say as they look at interpreting scriptures in the modern age.  This practice has gone on for decades as people try to find some correlation between God’s Word and society in general. For whatever reason, many church leaders have allowed themselves to be led astray by this way of thinking; that culture has the right or authority to be the final word on what Scripture has to say. Granted there are times when culture must clarify what is being written, for example, the book of Revelation or even for some of the practices of the patriarchs of Israel’s past.  But there is a limit upon which culture can be used as an interpretative tool.  For culture is not the last word nor is it the final authority upon which the message of the Bible rests. This is so for the simple reason that if culture were such an authority, then God would not be God and His word would not be authoritative, they would be replaced by whatever culture was dominant at the time.  With God’s word changing meaning and ultimately changing hope as it is dissected by the various scholars of each time period. Who would be right, if this was the case?  Which culture would be closest to the truth?  What would we be left to believe as the many voices of reason would champion their favorite cultural interpretation? This is the main weakness of this type of philosophy.  One cannot be sure if they have found the truth as they look at the myriads of options before them.  Would the Roman cultural interpretation be the one; or the Greek?  What about the Arab, as they controlled much of the Holy land for centuries? Which do we believe and how do we apply it today?  Without some guidance as to which is true, God’s word is left without a voice because it has been subjected to terrestrial thinking which changes as the government’s change. With no voice then the people are left with no firm direction as to what one man thinks is different from another’s and soon instead of clarity there is confusion and anarchy as leaders vie to be the one who declares which path the populace should follow. Another weakness is that it puts man in charge over Jesus and His teachings.  Instead of following passages like the Beatitudes people are left to follow the musings of those who may not like the bluntness of Jesus’ words and feel they must soften the message to what is ‘politically correct’. Or to change the words so people would not be scared. There are many reasons why man would change the meanings, all of which lead people away from the message of Jesus and weaken their faith, their Christian life and so on. Another problem is that culture is not exempt from the sins of the world and those that participate in society are prone to fall when assailed with the right temptation.  To have a sinful, finite nature trying to over-rule an infinite and sinless book spells disaster for the people as a whole. To lean towards such problematic tools opens the door for false teaching to enter.  Something that we see happening  not only today but throughout history.  Even from the first century we have had the roots of cults planted and though the names have changed, they are still in existence today wielding their ‘power’ to deceive.  Thus it is not wise to turn to culture as the definitive tool for it allows for all manner of thinking to manifest itself and cause destructive forces to have a free hand in destroying the faithful. We need to determine what is the meaning of the word ‘truth’.  Is it the words that come closest to what the majority feel is correct?  Is it time honored legends or sayings, which have been adhered to by the general population?  Or is it as scripture says, that which sets men free? To be truth, it must be definitive and not subject to the interpretations of other factors of life.  It needs to lead people away from that which is wrong and cannot change when the times change, no matter what.  It also must define what is ‘wrong’ as compared to what is ‘right’ to be truth. The opposite must be explained and demonstrated or we would not know what we are being freed from or which direction we should take. One thing it cannot be is over-ruled because one society has determined it does not like what it is hearing.  Truth is truth and it cannot be changed.  That is why Jesus said, “He is the way the Truth…” because He does not change nor do His instructions to His followers. Thus to allow for culture to alter the behavior of His followers is not right but wrong.  It leads away from the truth and brings believers closer to following the secular world and its thinking instead of being a light for the non-believer to follow to salvation. This is vital as to stray from God’s words only shows that His followers do not believe what they say they believe and have relegated their Holy book to non-authoritative status, which can be ignored without consequence. It is a dangerous game that is played when a teacher, professor or pastor subjects the Bible to human desires and undermines what it is saying.  All of a sudden the un-churched gets the idea that since the believer doesn’t believe what scriptures says, why should he. This is not to say that one takes a narrow approach to the message of the Bible.  Not at all, as proverbs tells us that we need to get ‘wisdom, knowledge and understanding…’ so that we can know for sure what is the true message of scriptures and what we must do in implementing its words into our lives. One cannot be totally literal nor can they be closed-minded, as they need to listen to the Holy Spirit as it unfolds what we need to know.