Examining "A More Christlike Word"
by Brad Jersak
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (Paul’s concern from 2 Corinthians 11:4)
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The False Filter |
The Biblical Filter |
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The word OR the Word |
The Word THROUGH the word |
I was doing great for my first 30 days of
this journal journey. But suddenly it feels like that time I got lost in the
woods with some hunting buddies and we discovered that we had just come back to
the exact same spot for the THIRD TIME!!! It was an overcast sky. We forgot to
bring a compass. There were no shadows indicating direction. And for
three-and-a-half hours we could not figure out our way back to the truck until
finally the sun came out, we could use that for our bearings, and in twenty
minutes we were out on the road and heading back to our starting place.
The crazy thing was, even though we finally had
the sun showing us the correct direction to travel (we just had to keep the sun
behind our right shoulders to know that we were still in the right direction
through the forest), we got to a point in the middle where one of the guys was
positive he knew that we had to head to the left even though we had all agreed
on how to stay oriented to the sun to get out to the road. It was also on this
straight-line trek through the woods that we discovered that we crossed three
tiny streams (not just the same one), which explained how we kept getting back
to the same point of lostness every time we tried to do the opposite of the
last time.
Why does this remind me of BJ’s book?
Because he keeps telling us the same things without any evidence that his
issues justify creating “another Jesus” to rewrite the history of the world to
his liking. There is a certain tiredness that comes when realizing we have
returned to the exact same spot of lostness and need to try once again to find
our way home.
Thankfully, I have remembered my compass on
this journey, the Scriptures as the written word of God. They made it clear
right from the beginning that BJ was leading us down the garden path in the
wrong direction if we wanted to know God. But I have people who were positive
BJ’s we’ve-got-to-head-left-to-find-God was true when we had the Son right over
our shoulder pointing us home. And so, I continue trekking through his
repetitious deceptions with the compass of God’s word in the hope that there
are a few who will hear the voice of the true Lord Jesus Christ and follow the
Word back to his word.
As I prepare to take on the next section of
BJ’s book, I realize that, by this point, we are now divided into two groups.
Some readers are still okay that the author has a 100% failure rate at proving
any of his points, and a 100% failure rate in accurately explaining any of the
Scriptures he has used. They need a Bible they can say is corrupted and has no
authority over their lives. They like BJ’s “another Jesus” and no amount of
evidence against him will change their minds.
The others (likely a “few” as Jesus
described) have now seen that BJ has either not used any Scripture to prove his
points, or twisted and distorted any Scriptures he has shared. They understand
that this book fits Jesus and the Apostles’ warnings against false teachers and
want to hold on to the Bible as the true and authoritative word of God.
Because BJ is repeating himself in his
claims even though they have been proven false, I am going to pick up the pace
a bit and give shorter summaries of longer sections of the trail, perhaps
stopping at a few of the viewpoints where his unfounded claims are the most
glaring, and his twisting of Scripture most “ignorant and unstable” (II Peter
3:16).
Ever since my friends first started posting
things that turned out to be from Brad Jersak’s ministry, it is amazing how
just reading the Scriptures has not only discredited his claims but has
constantly affirmed the Bible as the authoritative word of God. This hasn’t
come from looking up passages to prove a point, but just reading the Bible in a
daily way, paying attention to what God is speaking about in the section we are
reading each day, looking for what he is doing in us, and seeking to join him
in his work.
So, the morning after posting Day 30 of my
journal journey, I was looking at what happened in Matthew 11 when John the
Baptist was in prison and sent his disciples to find out if Jesus was “the one”
John was to prepare the way for. Jesus' reply was to list the characteristics
of his ministry that were exactly what was written about him in the Scriptures.
In other words, it was the authority of the Scriptures that were the measure of
whether Jesus truly was the Messiah. I did up a short video on how Jesus used
the Scriptures to assure John of who he was as the Messiah, the “one” who was
to come.[1]
Someone else in our home church shared Hebrews
3:2 with us. It describes Jesus “who was faithful to him who appointed him,”
but then adds, “just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.” Now we
have a problem. BJ has told us that Moses was one of those who didn’t get it
right about Yawheh. This means (in his mind) that people require progressive
illumination since then to clear up Moses’ mistakes. And Moses getting it wrong
brings us to the veils being taken off the Scriptures he wrote (which isn’t
even close to what Paul was talking about in II Corinthians 3!).
But then the writer of Hebrews announces
Moses as “faithful… in all God’s house” in a way that was parallel to Jesus.
So, although Moses was lesser in his place in the house, he was just as
faithful as Jesus was in his greater place. As Jesus in a parable commended one
servant for doubling his five talents and equally commended another servant for
doubling his two talents, their faithfulness was the same even though the
degree of impact was greater with one than the other.
So too, Jesus is clearly greater than Moses,
but the writer of Hebrews says that Moses was “faithful in all God’s house”
parallel to the way Jesus “was faithful to him who appointed him”. That
definitely disagrees with BJ’s “another Jesus”.
The next morning, I continued in Matthew 11,
and I was blown away by how clearly Jesus affirmed the Scriptures. He affirmed
historical events of God’s divine judgment against cities like Tyre, Sidon, and
Sodom. And, he not only did NOT say one thing to correct what Yahweh did to
those cities, but he told “the cities where most of his mighty works were done,
because they did not repent” that it would be more bearable in the coming
judgment for those evil cities than for those in Israel who saw so much of the
work of God and still refused to repent.
You could not ask for a clearer message
denouncing BJ’s claim that historical events in the Scriptures were not
literally true, denouncing his claim that the character of God in expressing
divine judgment against criminal cities needed any kind of correction
whatsoever, denouncing the idea that Yahweh is not as Christlike as Jesus, and
denouncing the fabrication of a Jesus who wouldn’t do such a thing as express
divine judgment against sinners when Jesus said in his own words that he was
pronouncing even greater judgment on some of the people of Israel for their
rebellion against the Messiah. This was so amazing to me that I did a bit
longer video explaining this here.[2]
One of my contentions in going through this
book is that the author is constantly asking us to believe something he says
about the Bible instead of what the Bible claims about itself. So, BJ claims
that, if we look at the Bible through the lens of his “another Jesus”, we will
see Jesus constantly correcting Yahweh and the Old Testament Scriptures in the
list of negative events and characteristics he believes he has found there.
However, if we look at the Old Testament Scriptures, we don’t see any indication
of them presenting God as immoral or unjust, and when we look at the gospels,
we can’t find one instance of Jesus doing so.
A central focus in this is that BJ has
decided that God’s justice against criminals is unjust, and only the love of
his “another Jesus” is the measure of what Yahweh should look like. My
challenge is that, since the Bible is the word of God, and the nature of the
Bible matches the nature of God as holy, righteous, and true, then it is only
what we can read about the Word in the word that tells us what Jesus really
thought about Yahweh and the way he is revealed.
In other words, if Jesus really did correct
the Scriptures (the Old Testament), and he really did correct scriptural
descriptions of Yahweh, his Father, we would need to find the Word saying those
words in the word! And the funny thing when we read what is written is, Jesus
says the EXACT OPPOSITE of what BJ claims! And, I have not had to go looking
for these expressions. They just keep coming up in my daily time with God in
his word!
For example, along with what I shared
earlier from the first part of Matthew 11 where Jesus was using Scripture to
prove to John the Baptist that he was the Messiah, and using Scripture to tell
the people who John the Baptist was in the prophetic plan, and affirming the
historical events of Scripture where his Father poured out judgment on criminal
cities, and showing that his Father was perfectly Christlike in what he did
since Jesus himself declared greater judgment on the cities of Israel (unheard
of!) that had received so much of his ministry but with zero repentance, I can
add to this with the next picture of Jesus in Matthew 11!
Think of BJ’s filter that Jesus as the
Christ was correcting the Scriptures, and correcting the way Yahweh is revealed
in Scripture, and think of the way just here in Mattew 11 Jesus has affirmed
the Scriptures BJ claims Jesus corrected (keep track of how many times BJ has
been wrong about these things!), and showed that he was speaking divine
judgment on cities the same as Yahweh did in the Scriptures, and then listen in
to Jesus delighting in his Father’s will in one of the most difficult
characteristics of God for the prideful heart of sinful men. Here’s what we
find in Matthew 11:25-27,
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Jesus was thanking his Father, or
acknowledging in praise something about his Father, that the Father had hidden
“these things” from those who were considered “wise and understanding”. He is
thoroughly approving of his Father doing this. He considers it his Father’s
“gracious will”, and then speaks directly to BJ in declaring that “no one (BJ
included) knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except
the Son and anyone to whom the SON chooses to reveal him.” In other words,
Jesus knows his Father; BJ knows neither the Father nor the Son.
These examples, just from one chapter of
Matthew, are ways God keeps showing us his word is true and Brad Jersak is
wrong. And that’s what I bring with me into the next section of this book.
As I look and see that the next heading is
“The Reliability of the Gospels”, I need to add one more thing that made
me smile: just that evening of the second day, I was watching a video entitled,
”Are the Gospels Historically Accurate?” with Dr. Peter Williams. I loved
hearing this man explain how historically accurate the gospels are, and now I
wonder how BJ’s look at the same topic will compare (contrast?).[3]
As I am only 29% of the way through BJ’s
book in 30 days of my Journal Journey, I am trying to find ways to pick up my
pace without missing things that need to be corrected. However, since the
author is writing like he has proven points that are actually proven false, I
can’t keep pointing out every infraction to show he is being dishonest.
Instead, I am going to try to refer to things that are taught and simply point
out whether it matches what is in God’s word, and whether any Scriptural
evidence was provided. I may have to adjust that focus if any fightin’-words
statements are made, but here’s to trying to simplify and let the author take
responsibility for proving his points, something he has thus far failed to do.
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BJ’s Claims |
Response |
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That “Paul’s claim regarding the God-breathed
nature of Scripture is not… self-authenticating” (p. 80). |
False: given the two senses of
“authoritative” BJ gave earlier, Scripture is just that, self-authenticating
in its authority |
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“Rather, the apostle posits inspiration as an
experience of Christ if we will search the Scriptures for their witness to
him— (p. 80).” |
False: Paul posits “inspiration” as what the
writers experienced at the time God was breathing out his words through them
into Scripture. |
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“As we incorporate the Bible into our faith practice through study, prayer, and obedience, we will indeed conclude that it is not only useful but also wonderfully and uniquely inspired” (pp. 80-81). |
False: we conclude the Bible is uniquely
inspired by the authority it carries in its sources and by its history of
being recognized to possess authority. When we come to the Bible that way, we
will experience it doing what God has sent it out to do. |
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“For Paul and the Christians many centuries
afterward, Christ—not a rickety theology of the Bible— is the Word of God and
final Authority” (p. 81). |
False equivocation: the author continues his
false claim that we view the word of God (the Bible) as the final authority
over Jesus (the Word) when we are honoring Jesus as the Word in giving us the
Bible as his word that we must use to settle all beliefs and practices while
he is away. There is a “rickety theology of the Bible” expressed in this
book, but not by the biblical writers! |
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“The New Testament narratives form a reliable
record of their experiences from their perspectives” (p. 81). |
False: the New Testament books form an
authoritative record of God’s breathed-out words regarding the history,
beliefs, and practices of Jesus Christ and the church he is building. |
The next focus BJ makes are on what he calls
“discrepancies across accounts”. Instead of responding to each difference
between the biblical witnesses, let me give an illustration of why his claim is
bogus.
I go for a morning walk along our local
truck route a few times a week. Now, picture three old timers passing by me at
different times along my walk all heading to their favorite morning coffee shop
for their traditional start to the day. Imagine their conversation going
something like this:
“Did you guys see that old man walking on
the truck route?” Joe asked.
“I saw a couple of guys, which one do you
mean?” Frank replied.
“The guy with the red backpack with the
hi-viz on it and wearing a green plaid jacket,” Joe explained.
“Hmmm… well, that sounds like the first guy
I saw, because the backpack sounds right, but he was wearing a brown hoodie,”
Frank described.
“I saw both those guys as well, but the one
with the red backpack was wearing a bright blue t-shirt”, Sam clarified.
Now, are these the kind of “discrepancies”
that make two of the coffee shop friends liars?
Actually, no. They simply describe the way
each of the three men saw me at different times along my walk. Joe was always
early, so when he saw me, I was just getting going and still had all my layers
on because the morning was cool. A bit later, Frank came along, and by that
time I had warmed up a bit so I had taken off my outer layer. Sam was always
the straggler, so by the time he went by the sun had warmed the morning, my
walk had warmed me up, and I was now down to my T-shirt.
What’s the point? That the so-called
“discrepancies” BJ is twisting into contradictions are the same kind of issue
where the same events are described from different points of view, perhaps
different times in the event, and sometimes simply a different focus on which
details needed to be included in their account. None of them are the kind of
contradictions that discredit the authority of God’s word as it is written, and
BJ is continuing to be completely dishonest to suggest otherwise. I am
including some links to sources that explain why his discrepancies are not
errors and expose how dishonest BJ is being in his writing.[4]
BJ’s concluding remark in this chapters is
also his concluding bogusness. He says,
“Of course he didn’t. How do we know? Because Christ is the final and only perfect Word of God…just as the Scriptures claim. But it also means we’ll need to learn how to read it again—from scratch” (p. 83).
The “of course he didn’t” refers to a list
of false statements (strawman arguments) that aren’t even a true accounting of
what is written.
However, his question “how do we know?” goes
to another false answer. How do we know God is not unholy, unrighteous, or
unjust in anything he did in history? Because “All Scripture is breathed out by
God” (II Timothy 3:16-17). And because ALL Scripture is breathed out by God,
and because Jesus himself quoted Scripture to tell us that “‘Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew
4:4), and because, as I showed above, Jesus affirmed the literal history of
Scripture, affirmed his Father’s judgment of criminal cities, and declared his
own judgment on some of the cities of Israel, BJ is absolutely bogus to claim
that his “another Jesus” with his “different spirit” and “different gospel”
have any scriptural ground to stand on at all.
After all, if it did, he would show us where
in Scripture Jesus said anything he has claimed.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
A More Christlike Word © 2021 by Bradley Jersak Whitaker House 1030 Hunt
Valley Circle • New Kensington, PA 15068 www.whitakerhouse.com
Jersak, Bradley. A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the
Emmaus Way. Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.
Definitions from the Bible Sense Lexicon (BSL) in Logos Bible
Systems
[1]
A Heart wrenching Question, a Faith building Answer
One of the
most heart-wrenching questions in the Bible is John the Baptist sending his
disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look
for another?” Jesus' answer is exactly what John needed to hear for his faith
to remain strong, and it still building faith in all who will receive Jesus'
answer.
[2]
Jesus (the Word) and the Scriptures (the word)
While I'm continuing to slog through a
poison-in-the-pudding book of false teachings, God keeps speaking to me through
his word about the glory of his word. In Matthew 11, Jesus addresses some of
the things this false teacher claims against the Bible, and in a way that not
only rebukes those claims, but ministers to me through "the word of
Christ" to build up my faith.
[3]
Are the Gospels Historically Accurate? // Dr. Peter Williams
[4]
Bible Contradictions Explained: 4 Reasons the Gospels “Disagree”, ZA Blog,
September 19, 2017
https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/bible-contradictions-explained
Bible
Contradictions? A Response to Bart Ehrman 21/01/2022 |
GLENN HOHNBERG
https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bible-contradictions-a-response-to-bart-ehrman/
Why
Are There So Many Gospel “Contradictions”? ByJimmy Wallace, PublishedOctober
22, 2020
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-are-there-so-many-gospel-contradictions/
Do
Inconsistencies in the Gospels Undermine Scripture’s Inerrancy? AUGUST 27,
2018 |
ROBERT PLUMMER
Difference
or Contradiction? R.C. Sproul
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/difference-or-contradiction
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