Rev. Adam Hamilton - Half Truths: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves and Other Things the Bible Doesnt Say

HALF TRUTHS

Half Truths:

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
and Other Things the Bible Doesnt Say

Half Truths

978-1-5018-1387-0

978-1-5018-1388-7 eBook

978-1-5018-1389-4 Large Print

Half Truths: DVD

978-1-5018-1392-4

Half Truths: Leader Guide

978-1-5018-1390-0

978-1-5018-1391-7 eBook

Half Truths: Youth Study Book

978-1-5018-1398-6

978-1-5018-1399-3 eBook

Half Truths: Youth Leader Guide

978-1-5018-1400-6

978-1-5018-1401-3 eBook

For more information, visit www.AdamHamilton.org .

Also by Adam Hamilton

24 Hours That Changed the World

Christianity and World Religions

Christianitys Family Tree

Confronting the Controversies

Enough

Final Words from the Cross

Forgiveness

John

Leading Beyond the Walls

Love to Stay

Making Sense of the Bible

Not a Silent Night

Revival

Seeing Gray in a
World of Black and White

Selling Swimsuits in the Arctic

Speaking Well

The Call

The Journey

The Way

Unleashing the Word

When Christians Get It Wrong

Why?

HALF TRUTHS:
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES
AND OTHER THINGS THE BIBLE DOESNT SAY

Copyright 2016 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, PO Box 280988, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37228-0988 or e-mailed to .

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data applied for.
ISBN 978-1-5018-1387-0

Scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are from the Common English Bible. Copyright 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.CommonEnglishBible.com .

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com . The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crowns patentee, Cambridge University Press.

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MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedicated to the memory of Harry Emerson Fosdick and Leslie Weatherhead, two of my heroes among pastors for the way they invited their parishioners and readers to engage their intellects as well as their hearts and not to settle for a religion of half truths

Most of us as Christians have things we believe, and tell others, and even count on, that weve not carefully examined. Some of the things we accept and repeat to others sound so true, and weve believed them for so long, that they become what some call sacred cowsthings above question or criticism. When these beliefs are questioned we become defensive or irritated. We may even worry that if the beliefs arent true, the rest of our faith may crumble.

I dont think this book will make your faith crumble. But to the degree that Im questioning something youve held deeply and repeated often, it might unnerve or irritate you. Its okay to say: I think the author gets it wrong in this chapter. Maybe I did. Go on to the next chapter and see what you think. Hopefully I got it right in at least one of the chapters. And remember, Im not suggesting that these statements are entirely untrue, merely that they are half true. (Okay, some may be less than half true, but certainly there is some truth in each of them.)

Heres why its important to examine these particular half truths: I think they can sometimes hurt people. I think they can lead people to conclusions about God that not only are untrue but that may push some people away from God. Some of these half truths are used to avoid careful thinking about complex issues. Some are used to justify our own biases or prejudices. Some, when spoken to others, can bring pain.

All of us occasionally use half truths. In fact, the subtitle of this book may be a half truth! My publisher and I discussed several subtitles and finally settled on this one: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves and Other Things the Bible Doesnt Say. But the truth is that you can find Bible passages to support nearly every one of the half truths well discuss. For that matter, you can find Bible passages to support all kinds of things. People who beat their children can support their practice from Scripture: Those who withhold the rod hate their children (Proverbs 13:24). I was taught as a teen that Christians were not to drink wine, for Wine is a mocker; beer a carouser (Proverbs 20:1). When a young woman is repeatedly abused by her husband, her parents can urge her to stay with him because I hate divorce, says the LORD (Malachi 2:16 NRSV).

Scriptures must be interpreted. Sometimes their meanings seem to conflict, or a particular message given in one context appears to be contradicted in another context. It is important to read any Scripture in the light of its context and the Bibles broader message and themes. It is not enough to find a passage or two or six to support a particular view. We interpret all Scripture in the light of Jesus life and teachings, as well as with the help of the Spirits witness, the wisdom of scholars, and our intellect and life experience.

Because Scriptures must be interpreted, you and I may sometimes disagree about our interpretations and other issues of faith. This was brought home to me recently when I spoke at a conference on one of the topics in this book, Everything Happens for a Reason. I was approached by a lifelong Christian, a man who for years had served on the staff of his church. He said, Your talk tonight really unnerved me at first. Ive always believed that everything happens for a reason. I always tell people this to comfort them when things go wrong. I was expecting him to say, But now that Ive heard your talk on this, I understand that this may not be entirely true. Im going to be more careful in what I say to people enduring suffering. Of course, thats not what he told me. He said, Well, I dont know about all that stuff you talked about tonight. But I do know one thing: everything happens for a reason. So much for the compelling case I had presented!