The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia

Danger Zone

The danger of using Scripture to make a point that isn't in the text

It is a common fallacy, especially in a culture that is culturally Christian but gives little credence to the actual tenets of Christianity. Politicians do it all the time, especially in the most misrepresented event in the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount. Someone has a point to make, and they draw up from the Bible or religious traditions a rationale for that opinion or point. Perhaps they really believe it, or perhaps it is simple pandering. Most politicans fall into the latter category (see for example Barack Obama arguing that gay civil unions find their support in the Sermon on the Mount. All manner of ill and deviancy has been cast under the umbrella of "tolerance" exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount, even though that is hardly what Christ intended)

An article in National Review by Colleen Carroll Campbell, Faith of the Feminine, is a prime example of that . Now the article itself is an OK article, but about halfway through Ms. Campbell gets carried away and tosses this idea out there:

The Gospels continued on this trajectory. They depicted God taking flesh in the womb of a woman, a woman who was free to accept or reject her role as the mother of Jesus.

I stopped, read it again and my draw kind of dropped. Let me check the Biblical record here for the description of this event:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1: 26-38 ESV)

Doesn't sound much like Gabriel is asking Mary if she wouldn't mind being surrogate mother for the Son of God. Gabriel tells Mary she will be found with child, carrying a Son and she is to name Him Jesus. Mary doesn't negotiate here, she submits to what she has been told. There is no decision making here on her part. That is not to diminish what Mary did, but it is to point out that she is not "deciding" to be the mother of Jesus or not.

Ms. Campbell is trying to make a point, and it is a noble effort, to show that Christianity is far more woman honoring than secular society has ever been, and certainly more so than most other faith systems. But in doing so, she goes too far and makes her point using the Bible where the Bible does not speak. The Bible is not a word jumble, to be molded to suit our needs. Ms. Campbell is hardly alone here. My fellow Calvinists often can be rightly accused of trying to find a TULIP under every verse of Scripture (and I have been guilty of this as well). Social justice types force liberal political programs into he Biblical text concerning love and mercy. But the rule should always be to let the Bible speak for itself on matters it speaks on, and be silent on areas where it is silent. The Bible does not have a specific address on every possible topic, but it does address every necessary topic for a human to recognize their own sin and the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. And that is good enough.