The Curiosity of Faith When Confronting the Ancients

It is rather curious to me that I like to study the Ancients, I admit it took me by surprise. It is interesting to hear (read) what they believed and how it is so different from mine, and yet in some ways very similar. I know that these beliefs are perpetuated today as some of these ancient religions still are active, albeit in relative obscurity.

I pray God allows me this study, adding to my faith, not putting it at risk. It is interesting to see from where some of the pre-Christian traditional beliefs came. It is interesting to see that some of the ideas that Paul had were similar to gnostic theology, but how he always goes back to Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. This is such an incredible key.

One of the pegs on the rack of which I hang my proverbial faith hat on is 1 Cor 15: 1 – 8:

15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

It is said that David had first hand faith, while Solomon grew up with second hand faith, that is the faith that came from his father was, if you will – borrowed, rather than felt, it was believed out of obedience. Here is the reference:

1Kings 3

Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. 3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

I know this is a long reference to cite here, but we need to keep in context all that was going on. I do not really know when I received my firsthand faith, I was raised with the idea that Jesus is the Son of God, He came and died for the forgiveness of my sins, and I always believed that. But it was more because that was what my mom told me, than it was from any experience. That came when I was in South Carolina at the age of 15, almost 16. The incident itself is rather mundane, but to me it was spurred the first time in my memory that I reached out and said “If you’re really there, then…” Short answer was that indeed, God answered my prayer in a way in which I could not deny. Since then He has proven over and over through countless specific times and perpetual presence His efficacy.

I suppose this is why I can study many spiritual systematic “near misses”, and maintain the gift of faith that God has granted me, without engaging in too much syncretic thought.

There was a time, however, that I pad a price for my arrogance in the great faith that God has bestowed, blessed with and otherwise granted me. I was having a Saturday morning breakfast with a long time, good friend who is also a believer. He made the statement, “Dan, I think you have the strongest faith of anyone I know”. My response was “yes, I have great faith”.  Now, on the surface that might not sound so bad, but I knew I was taking the credit for a gift that God had given me, and it caught in my spirit for a second, but I gave it no more real thought for the rest of the day. When I woke the next morning, my first thought was from God and He said, “Satan is going to sift you like wheat”.  I got one of the most sunken feelings in my spirit that I have ever experienced. I knew I had been arrogant, spiritually, and that I was going to pay a price. For the next 3 months I struggled, embarrassed before God because of my arrogance. And, at the time, I was the head of Christian Program that was serving almost 200 homeless men, with a staff of 25, including 8 chaplains. When I finally came out of that penance, I can promise you I am very careful about giving God credit for my spiritual gifts. But I also believe that is why I am able to study and not be tainted, not like I was when I went to a very liberal seminary in Berkeley, California. I almost lost my faith there because I was not prepared to hear anything but the basics. I would probably now find it interesting, but then, I was very vulnerable. This why the verse Proverb 4:23 is one to which we should pay attention:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

There are a couple of scriptures I should have remembered here, one is Ephesians 2: 8 & 9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (emphasis mine)

So, back to the Ancients. When you read them, their reports are as matter-of-factly reported as the writings in the canonized Bible. I don’t think any of them were written for the purpose of being included in the “Authorized Version”. There was no such thing at the time, and I cannot find anywhere the idea that there would be, so the writings were done as a matter of obedience, not for profit, or even influence. The writers were reporting what they experienced. Now, some those writings are “way out there”, to be sure. And some of the Gnostic beliefs are simply not in line with what we know from when Christ was here teaching. But to study many of them such as the Pistis Sophia (Faith Wisdom) . We will be writing or reporting on much of these in the following blogs. For now, read some, pray some and marvel a lot at God’s