An American Myth That Hinders Bible Study and Christian Growth

 "The Bible says..." God's Word," etc.

Tautology is "using different words to say the same thing even if the repetition does not provide clarity."

Tautology also means "a series of self-reinforcing statements that cannot be disproved because the statements depend on the assumption that they are already correct."

Even for those who claim to "use the Bible to interpret the Bible" tautology is involved because the "other verses" that are used are assumed to have a "self-evident" meaning, too.

Why is this important for Americans to understand?

In an excerpt well worth your time found here, Richard Hughes exposes five myths America lives by. One of the five myths is the myth of "Nature's Nation." I have included a quote from Hughes below as an illustration that I apply to how a part of our particular worldview influences our interpretation of the Bible.

I believe that the myth of Nature's Nation hinders insightful and edifying Bible study, and therefore, it hinders commanded Christian maturity (2 Pet. 3:18).

There Are 5 Major Myths

Hughes writes:

"The myth of Nature’s Nation is rooted squarely in the principles of the American Creed. The creed proclaims that among all the truths one might encounter in a lifetime, there are certain truths that are simply “self-evident,” and require no formal proof...."

"Those truths are “self-evident,” the creed contends, because they are rooted in “Nature and Nature’s God” and therefore reflect the way things are meant to be.... the notion of Nature’s Nation has often annulled America’s debt to history, tradition, and culture and led Americans to believe that the contours of American civilization—the way things actually are—simply reflect “the way things are meant to be..." 

We're The Only Ones Going to Heaven!

"In other words, the sort of government America had erected was the very kind of government God had ordained from the foundations of the world, and the kind of government God would create if He were here in person. Here one finds no debt whatsoever to history, culture, or tradition... Americans as children of nature were innocents who did not act in the world of historical conflict..."

"Their responsibility was to keep pure and undefiled this New World Garden of Eden. In this context, America’s colonizing efforts simply reflect “self-evident truth,” grounded in “natural law.” From this perspective it is completely logical to subjugate other nations under America’s “superior way of life.” Because the principles they were bound to find were the very ones with which they began, Americans fold into the myth of Nature’s Nation virtually all significant contents of their culture."

—Richard T. Hughes, edited

The Almighty Worship Hour

"The primary distinction that led...to silencing women was the view that any public speech by women was forbidden or indecent. Consequently, it was not simply that it was 'leadership' but rather that it was 'public leadership.'"

"And 'public' may have received more stress than leadership originally. For example, Lipscomb and Harding both thought women should participate in small, family or home settings but that it was different when the assembly was 'public.'"--J. M. Hicks

In addition to a host of other misunderstandings about first century Christianity like the collection for the saints, the assumption of dualism that leads to hierarchy/oligarchy--clergy/laity behaviors, the origins of the public building and modern sermon, institutional Christianity also exalts specific periods or 'hours' of life over others in order to control the masses.

One glaring inconsistency is "the Bible class hour" versus the "worship hour." Literally, women are allowed to speak in one assembly of Christians, but at the strike of the, evidently, 'almighty' clock and--even though they may have never left their seat--they are immediately forbidden to speak! It is similar to how we view the Lord's Supper. One may eat a 'common' meal only minutes after previously being forbidden to do so in a 'spiritual' meal during the 'worship hour.'

The Origin and History of the Modern Gospel Sermon

Frank Viola writes,

"The same person...giving an oration to the same group of people week after week, month after month, and year after year is not only un-biblical, it is counterproductive."1

"Is preaching and teaching the Word of God scriptural? Yes, absolutely. But the contemporary pulpit sermon is not the equivalent of the preaching and teaching that is found in the Scriptures...."2

For example, notice how the following translations of Acts 20:7 properly translate the biblical concept of "preaching" as a dialogue--not a monologue.

"On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them..." (ESV).

"Now on the first day of the week, the disciples being assembled to break bread, Paul was discussing with them..." (English Majority Text Version, EMTV).

Notice also from the larger contexts of Acts 8 and Acts 2 how "preaching" is conducted by more than one Christian and dialogue is also found to be the "preaching" style of Philip and Peter:

Using Emotional Intelligence in the Church

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"It’s frightening to be in a place you’re not familiar with and be completely in the dark. Case in point—have you ever planned to go camping but got to the site in the dark? It’s hard to get your bearings, you’re setting up a tent in the dark, and because you’re in the wilderness, it’s just eerily quiet and black. You go to bed with one eye open and hope for the best."

"The next day, you wake up tired and unzip your tent, and you’re amazed at the beauty around you: water, mountains, tree-lined trails, and cute little animals abound. There’s nothing to be afraid of—you soon forget last night’s anxieties, and you move about your day. What were you so worried about, anyway?"