Part 26. Fundamentalism and Literalism. How not to read and understand the bible (2)

The Old Testament sets out the relationship between God and his chosen people Israel. It is story, history, testimony and prophecy. It states  supposedly divinely inspired commands and rules (the law) God demands his people follow and are contained in the first five books of the bible known as the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch).  The problem with sets of rules is they have to be interpreted and applied to new situations. The Jewish interpretation is a huge body of work known as the Talmud. The Talmud is still used and interpreted in Orthodox Jewish religious courts. One of its leading authorities in the UK, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu, died recently.

In appropriating Torah laws fundamentalist  Christians do not refer to the Talmud.  Christian understanding of Torah should be determined by the interpretation put on it by Jesus, not by delving into the Torah and wrenching specific rules out of context and using them to justify a particular stance, whilst at the same time choosing to ignore other rules.

The sad truth is that bible literalists and fundamentalists distort the distinction between the old and new covenants and instead of embracing the good news of Jesus for all humanity fall back on narrow,  legalistic interpretation. It needs to be called out for what it is: a deliberate distortion of the message of the love by grace we are given and the love we give in return to God and all humanity. In loving others we are called to be fully inclusive and not expend energy on erecting barriers to exclude anyone.  To be continued......

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