Brent A. Strawn - Lies My Preacher Told Me: An Honest Look at the Old Testament

2021 Brent A. Strawn

First edition

Published by Westminster John Knox Press

Louisville, Kentucky

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 3010 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396. Or contact us online at www.wjkbooks.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. Scripture quotations marked CEB are from the Common English Bible, 2011 Common English Bible, and are used by permission.

Book design by Drew Stevens

Cover design by designpointinc.com

Cover illustration: The Fall, after 1479 (oil on panel) (detail of 13000), Hugo van der Goes (c.14401482) / Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria / Gordon Roberton Photography Archive / Bridgeman Images

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Strawn, Brent A., author.

Title: Lies my preacher told me : an honest look at the Old Testament / Brent A. Strawn.

Description: Louisville, Kentucky : Westminster John Knox Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: This concise volume addresses ten common lies or mistruths about the Old Testament, explaining why stories and laws written thousands of years ago, centuries before Christ, are enriching and indispensable for modern Christians. Written by a leading scholar in Old Testament and designed for easy reading and group discussion, this book will expand your thinking about the Old TestamentProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020045342 (print) | LCCN 2020045343 (ebook) | ISBN 9780664265717 (paperback) | ISBN 9781646980109 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Old TestamentCriticism, interpretation, etc.

Classification: LCC BS511.3 .S785 2021 (print) | LCC BS511.3 (ebook) | DDC 221dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045342

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045343

Most Westminster John Knox Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, and special-interest groups. For more information, please email SpecialSales@wjkbooks.com.

With thanks for faithful Sunday School teachers:

Catherine Novinger

Debby Russell

David L. Strawn

Michael Mears Bruner

CONTENTS

A word about the title of this book is in order. I admit that at one point I entertained a different title: Lies My Sunday School Teacher Told Me. Either version, that one or the current one that blames the dishonesty in question on preachers, unabashedly borrows from the well-known book by James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. I seriously doubt that the present volume will, like Loewens, sell nearly 2 million copies as the cover of his revised edition states, but hope springs eternal!

The title isnt the only way the current book echoes Loewens. He makes sure to point out that his book never itself bashes teachers. The Bible is a big book, after all; big and complex. It is easy for people to make a few mistakes (present company included) when the subject matter is that large and complicated, not to mention that significant. We are, after all, talking about Holy Scripture here. But wherever they come from, and however the situation has come to pass, this book is about ten things that many people erroneously believe about the largest and most difficult part of Holy Scripture: the Old Testament. I hope that, as little as it is, this book might nevertheless begin to set the record straight on these matters so that others are not similarly misled.

I am thankful to the good people at Westminster John Knox, especially Jessica Miller Kelley for proposing this volume and her hugely helpful editing, for their patience while I worked on it amidst other projects, and for their excellent work in getting it to press despite the various problems I caused along the way. Im also thankful to friends and family who listened to my ideas about the book, discussed it with me, and/or submitted their own mistruths, which were often better than the ones on my original list. I specifically want to mention Jon Stallsmith, Collin Cornell, Ryan Bonfiglio, Justin Pannkuk, Reese and Beverly Verner, and my four best teachers: my wife, Holly, and our three children, Caleb, Annie, and Micah.

Speaking of quartets of good teachers, I dedicate this volume to four faithful Sunday school teachers, especially because the book is designed for use in educational contexts in churches. Catherine Novinger, now among Gods saints in light, is the earliest Sunday school teacher I can remember. It was in her class, while still a preteen, that I first felt a call to ministry, which I suspect was facilitated in some fashion by her regular insistence that the boys and girls under her tutelage sing Trust and Obey every single Sunday morning in a tiny upstairs room at the University Avenue Church of the Nazarene (now Mid-City Church of the Nazarene) in San Diego, California. Debby Russell taught me not long thereafter, in the same room as I recall, while I was still in elementary school. What I remember to this day is how earnestly she cared about what I, young as I was, thought about the Bible lessons. It seems to me that teachers and preachers who take their students and listeners (and their subject matter) with utmost seriousness are, sadly, in shorter supply than we might think. My dad, David Strawn, has always stood out as bucking that trend. He is easily among the most diligent and conscientious of Sunday school teachers Ive ever seen (may his tribe increase), devoting hours each week to prepare his lessons (he still does). It showed (it still does). Last but not least, Michael Mears Bruner is a dear friend from my seminary days. We co-taught a Sunday school class on heresies, ancient and modern, at Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, New Jersey, more than twenty years ago, and the class remains one of my favorite teaching experiences ever. I learned much from Mears at that time, and that situation has continued ever since, across the miles, whenever we have had the occasion to see each other, simply because he is an unbelievably gifted church teacher (and five times smarter than me, at least, but the latest calculations are revising that figure upward). I am indebted to these four teachers and, no doubt, to many others that I have left unmentioned. In my opinion, all of them are part of that great cloud of witnesses, the communion of saints. As Mark Twain supposedly quipped about believing in infant baptism: I dont just believe in that cloud and communion, Ive seen it!

bas
Durham, NC
Spring 2020

A s noted in the Preface (please take a moment to read it if you havent already), the title of the present book cribs from a well-known book by James W. Loewen: Lies My Teacher Told Me, which is subtitled Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Truth doesnt matter to them; maybe it doesnt even exist for them.