"Binding and Losing" in Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis

Hi,

Some of the quotes from Velvet Elvis have already been discussed [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=23626&forum=35&14]here[/url]. And I felt afterwards that for some reason I should read the book. Reluctantly, I've trawled through a part of it.

Whilst I disagree with Rob Bell's conclusion of this passage about binding and loosing, I wondered if anyone knew if there was any background in the origins of binding and loosing that he mentioned.

Please also feel free to comment on the passage as a whole; I'll write it out in full so that I don't mis-quote.

[Moderators: Sorry if this should be in Doctrine not Articles.]

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Velvet Elvis - pp. 49-50

RABBIS

Now imagine if a rabbi who had a new perspective on the Torah was coming to town. This rabbi who was making new interpretations of the Torah was said to have authority. The Hebrew word for "authority" is [i]shmikah[/i]. This might not even happen in your lifetime. You would hike for miles to hear him.

A rabbi who taught with [i]shmikah[/i] would say things like, "You have it said..., but I tell you..."

What he was saying is, "You have heard people interpret that verse this way, but I tell you that this is what God really means in that verse."

Now the rabbis had techincal terms for this endless proces of forbidding and permitting and making interpretations. They called it "binding and loosing". To "bind" something was to forbid it. To "loose" something was to allow it.

So a rabbi would bind certain practices and loose other practices. And when he gave his disciples the authority to bind and loose, it was called "giving the keys of the kingdom".

Notice when Jesus says in the book of Matthew: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

What he is doing here is significant. He is giving his followers the authority to make [i]new[/i] interpretations of the Bible. He is giving them permission to say, "Hey, we think we missed it before on that verse, and we've recently come to the conclusion that this is what it actually means."

And not only is he giving them authority, but he is saying that when they do debate and discuss and pray and wrestle and then make decisions about the Bible, somehow God in heaven will be involved.

OUR TURN

Jesus expects his followers to be engaged in the endless process of deciding what it means to actually live the Scriptures.

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Is this what Jesus meant by binding and loosing? Is this just common sense or a very dangerous way to live out or Christianity, with us having the authority to 're-define' scripture at will.

Thoughts?

To "bind" something was to forbid it. To "loose" something was to allow it.

Sorry, I should point out that there is a footnote after this which says:

See [i]Anchor bible Dictionary[/i] 1.743-45 (New York: Doubleday, 1992) and Walter Bauer et al. [i]A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature[/i], 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 222.

Also, according to Josephus, "The power of binding and loosing was always calimed by the Pharisees. Under Queen Alexandra, the Pharisees became the administrators of public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and readmit those whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind" ([i]Wars of the Jews[/i], 1.5.2. in [i]The Complete Works of Josephus[/i], trans. by William Whitson [Grand Rapids: Kregal, 1960).

To read more about binding and loosing, go to the Jerusalem Perspective Website:...

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I haven't pasted the link as I haven't checked it out enough yet.

adamdawkins wrote:

Is this just common sense or a very dangerous way to live out or Christianity, with us having the authority to 're-define' scripture at will.

Thoughts?

This is beyond dangerous. What ammount of pride do people have to think that the Bible is some how wrong and they are right, and that they can change scripture into what they want it to mean.

I remember hearing something about people raising up teachers that will tickle their ears...

Ignorance is not even the word to describe interpreting scripture this way.

If you follow this filth, you may follow it all the way to the firery pit. :-o