Mark Roncace - Raw Revelation: The Bible They Never Tell You About

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Copyright 2012 Mark Roncace

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1479214183

ISBN 13: 9781479214181

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62347-660-1

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To Rachel and Zachary

Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Your words were found, and I ate them.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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I should probably start with some sort of story to catch your attention. I could begin with an entertaining narrative about me as a little boy in Sunday school, or an account of an experience I had in Bible class in junior high or in those wonderful weekly chapel services in the un-air-conditioned gymnasium (in Florida). I could perhaps hook you with reflections about how my mothers faithful work with families of medically fragile children shaped and molded me. Or I could relate the unlikely sequence of events that landed me in the Introduction to Bible class in college that would change everything. Or a funny anecdote about how a devout nonbelieverwho just happened to be a pretty girl in my apartment complex in graduate schoolprompted me to ponder some of lifes big questions. I could tell about my work as a professor and some of the compelling interactions I have had with young people who are on journeys of their own. A cute story about the theological questions my little daughter or son has asked me, and how I muddled through a completely inadequate response, might do the trick.

But I wont begin that way. I cant. First impressions are crucial, and I want to make the right one. This book is not about me. Its about the Bible. This book is not about entertaining stories like the ones preachers tell to prevent us from nodding off. Its about dealing with hard truths. Its about being straight up and honest with ourselves, each other, and the Word of God. Thus, I want to be candid and forthright from the beginning.

Its the same with my students. On the first day of class, I consciously set the right tone for the whole term. I dont want to give them the idea that I will entertain, that they will sit passively and watch as I perform. So I dont start with some song and danceits not going to be like watching primetime on Fox. Nor do I want to convey the sense that it will be a boring class filled with long, dry lectures. Thus, I avoid commencing with the predictable distribution of the syllabus followed by a review of its even more predictable contents.

Rather, the impression I hope to give is that it will be a stimulating and engaging course. Its also going to be a lot of hard mental work. Its going to be a challenge. To that end, I walk in on the first day and immediately distribute a copy of Genesis 38 or Judges 19 or Song of Songs 5 with the verse numbers and other tell-tale markings eliminated. (Go ahead and take a peek at those texts and youll see why I use them. Yes, I am pandering to my students interest in sex and violence, but come on, coitus interruptus or the maiden declaring, I had taken off my robe and my fingers dripped with liquid myrrh on the handle of the bolt is far better than Hi, welcome to our class.) Students read the text and then I pose a series of questions; they write their responses before sharing their thoughts with a partner. This initial exercise sets the table in the same way that Id like to do so for you, the reader. There are three main points: (1) the Bible is full of fascinating and sometimes downright disturbing stuff which we dont hear much about; (2) we must read carefully, ask good questions, and think for ourselves; and (3) conversing with others should be an important part of the process.

The ultimate purpose of this book, then, is to encourage you to read another book, the Bible, in its entirety. Okay, maybe not the whole Bible, but good portions of itat least more than the famous passages or favorite verses that we already know. So, if you have limited time (and who doesnt?), put down this book and find a Bible. The last thing this world needs is another commentary about the Bible when hardly anyone reads the Scripture itself. Seriously, go ahead and close this book and pick up a Bible. If you peruse not one more word of this book and instead study the Scripture for yourself and think openly and honestly about it, I will have succeeded. Conversely, if you read only this book and trust what I say, I will have failed miserably. If you intend to continue with this book, please locate a Bible to follow along as we explore the unfiltered, uncensored Word of God. Really, please, go find a Bible. Any translation will doeven The Message. There are a ton of Bibles online, so you can get them on your phone in which case its like getting one long, long text message directly from God. And God doesnt like it when his texts are censored.

The raw Bible is just too hard to swallow, or at least that is what preachers think. So they cook the Good Book. They butter it up and water it down to suit our tastes. They distill the Scripture, filtering out the unsightly and unpalatable passages. Just as processed and packaged foods are barely reminiscent of what first comes out of the ground or from the animal (think mac and cheese or hot dogs), so too the clean, attractive Bible that they present in church is a far cry from the real thing. Like parents who dont feed their children peas and carrots because they fear the kids wont like the vegetables, or worse, wont like mom and dad, so too preachers give us, the children of God, a candy and cookie Scripture because they want us to be happy and them to be liked. Consequently we arent properly nourished. The body of Christ, the Church, has been deprived of the nutrition necessary to grow and develop healthily. But enough is enough. Its time for us to be fed the organic, all natural Bible. Its time for all of us to know the truth, the whole truth, about whats in our Scripture. We need Gods raw Revelation.

Generally speaking, priests and pastors are good, caring, and honorablegenerally speaking. Their job, in part, is to minister to people spiritually, emotionally, and materially, to encourage, inspire, support, and love the members of their congregations. Most clergy carry out these tasks with diligence and integrity. There is certainly more to being a preacher than preaching the Bible. Nevertheless, helping people to read, study, and understand the Scripture should be a significant part of the work of a responsible Christian leader. Likewise, there is more to being a Christian than knowing the Bible, but, still, knowledge of the Word should be one aspect of a deep, meaningful life of faith.

Make no mistake about it, raw Revelation is tough stuffits not tender and juicy. Preachers know how hard it is. They know what the Bible says. They know the truth. But, for them, its just as well that we dont. They select short passages to preach on, isolated excerpts for Bible study, and individual verses to serve as popular sound bites. The Bible is a big book, so they can pick and choose what they wish to put on display. They do little to facilitate a genuine encounter with the Scripture. Why? Because preachers recognize that if they presented the Bible openly, honestly, and completely, if they encouraged us to read and think for ourselves, people would raise a lot of questionsdifficult questions, ones for which they would not have nice, neat answers. This makes pastors uncomfortable; they have little to gain from this scenario and much to lose. They know that people desire definite answers, decisive responses, unhesitating replies which settle issues conclusively. Ambiguity and uncertainty are not popular. Doubts and questions do not fill pews, or pocket books. Thus, preachers continue to dole out a tasty and seasoned Scripture week after week.