The matter is seldom focused in discussions, that the New Testament is the last word for its divine theme. Everything else on the theme is presumed to be embellishment of the meaning of this Word. Since it is the last word, the reader is informed to consider it, live by it as it relates to life, but, in any event, go on with life as one designs his/her own context for it. (Revelation 22:11) Not only is it the last word, but there are various aspects of the matter worthy of accent and repetition. The words of Scripture are not to be added to. They are not to be subtracted from. So, writes John, Live with that. To add or subtract puts undue burden on mankind, implying that God did not complete his Apostolic redemptive program – so authority is denied.
Mankind has some difficulty in permitting language to do its main purpose – to relay by word symbols the understandings and meanings invisible, about God, our minds, our souls, ourselves and the material world. We have difficulty in believing Scripture when we are informed that the unseen is more important than that which is seen. When we are, as cerebral beings, confronted with a system that puts highest meaning to that which can be verified in a physical world, we are already in some trouble, in confrontation, confliction, as misusing even that which we have perceived to help us to truth and clarity. Adults put away child simplicity, a type of elemental context, for which adults may have some yearning, against complexity of the adult life. The child knows only that mommy is gone, and wants her back. The adult wants to know why she is gone; what she is doing; when will dinner be ready; and, why was that amount of money spent? The questions pile up. Why doesn’t she care? What does she have going on the side? The questions, partly judgmental in their wordings, assume something more, perhaps sinister, than to seek for faithful answers to events. Voice volumes rise, and gestures grow larger.
Let us use the word, fundamental. Everyone is a fundamentalist at heart. There is a lowest common denominator, below which this person feels he or she can’t go. For some, the rock hard belief or set of beliefs can’t be given up, even if torture for change be administered. The person believes it within, but to escape pain, may deny it without. Pain does not change the fundamentals – for now. A person forced against his will, is of the same opinion still. The torture tells how physically strong or weak one might be, not about his/her fundamental beliefs. The word is helpful, if used as it was meant to be used, in clarifying one’s position, in communicating a context, in making clear boundaries, in the search for truth, and change. In a study it was shown that liberal minded persons are more likely to mute permanently programs on television that argue for conservative agendas, than conservatives will mute liberal programs. It was implied that the liberals were more fundamental, especially about government issues, than conservatives. In public debate the conservatives are presumed to be more fundamental than the liberals. Fifty years ago, in a study related to forensic debate, it was shown that conservatives were more likely to listen to and be persuaded to move toward liberal positions than the liberals were to listen to and make change toward the conservative positions. The conclusion was that, given the evidence, the conservatives should be liberals (more amenable to change), and the liberals should be conservatives (less amenable to change). Amenability to change was the relational concept. In religion, we shy away from the word fundamental as it has so great connotation of sternness, of narrow mindedness, of prejudice, of reversion, that we have not only lost the word, but may have lost a means for making clear the irreducible concepts related to basic foundations. These are foundations of character, meaning, law, values, focus – all related to differentials which need some firmness for understanding. Emotions overpower us. This is not permitted in other contexts. Ask a football coach about the first things he wants his players to believe and practice. His answer will always include: That the player understands the fundamentals of the game and puts them into practice. Are basics known in football, but elusive in faith? So it is that a hodge-podge of ideas and practices are tossed into a religious stew in the name of freedom. That may persuade some students that religion is a fairy tale rescued from free air that comforts weak-minded persons. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020