We looked last
time at Brian Simmons’ version of the story of Photini, the woman
at the well. He drew some pretty peculiar teaching from the text in
John 4 and you might be forgiven for wondering where it came from. It
came from ‘Sod.’
No more than 17
seconds into his talk he says, ‘someone’s going to get into Sod,’
later exclaiming, ‘Come on Sodites,’ as he goes on with his
story. ‘Jesus is speaking out of the Sod realm,’ he tells us. We need to
see this dialogue, ‘in the Sod lens,’ he insists..
He is drawing on a
Hebrew model of Exegesis with the acronym PaRDeS, which postulates
four levels of understanding in Hebrew thought. According to
Wikipedia,
the levels in this 3,000-year-old tradition are:
Peshat – the
surface, straight, or literal meaning.
Remez – ‘hints’
or the deep (allegorical: hidden or symbolic) meaning beyond the
literal sense.
Derash – from
the Hebrew darash: ‘inquire’ (‘seek’) – the comparative
(midrashic) meaning.
Sod –
(pronounced with a long O as in ‘lore’) meaning ‘secret’
(‘mystery’) or the esoteric/mystical, as given through
inspiration or revelation.
Given the choice
between ‘it means what it says’; ‘there is more to this if you
get the hint’; ‘there is more to this but you have to apply
yourself and study’; and ‘there is something else altogether
going on here and only revelation will uncover the meaning,’ Brian
Simmons chooses Sod. Of course he does.
There is much more
to the legitimate PaRDeS model but it is enough for Brian Simmons
that the fourth category is there. After all, it’s not as if he is
qualified, or indeed inclined to include the other three in his
teaching model. Sod gives him all the space he needs to share his
peculiar take on a story best understood through a little study and
background knowledge.
Kabbalah
What is troubling
is the entirely esoteric nature of what he brings. The fourth level
of teaching, the mystical/hidden meaning, derives from Jewish
mysticism-Kabbalah-metaphysics. You can, in his talk, hear gasps of
awe and wonder as people respond to teaching they haven’t heard
before (novelty is always true, right?). They grasp at ‘truths’
they find ‘revelatory’ without being good Bereans and asking
questions (Acts 17:10-15) After all, it’s not as if any plain or
studied meaning can be derived from the Bible any more, not now we
are in Sod.
This is where all
the extra words in his ‘translation’ of Scripture come from –
the land of Sod. No matter that qualified
theologians express deep concerns about The Passion Translation - they no longer qualify to judge. This comes direct from the esoteric
realm of Sod. Analysing God’s word ruins it, so the best thing to
do is ‘get
out of your mind.’ But, surely, we are to be transformed by
the renewing of our minds, not by banishing thought? (Romans 12:2)
The text for
comparison this time is Philippians 3:12-13:
‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already
arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider
myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting
what is behind and straining towards what is ahead,…’
NIV (62 words)
‘Not that I
have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to
make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I
do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies
ahead,..’ ESV (56 words)
‘I admit that
I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing,
but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the
purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to
discover. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this;
however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I
fasten my heart to the future instead.’ TPT
(73 words)
‘I press on
to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me,’ (16
words) becomes,
‘I run with
passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus
Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.’ (27
words)
The thing for
which Paul is striving in this passage is the full and glorious
resurrection of the dead. He wishes to become like Jesus in his death
and suffering so that he may attain resurrection life. The previous
verses tell us as much. All Paul has sacrificed as worthless he gives
up to ‘gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness
of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith
in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on faith – that I
may know him and the power of his resurrection…’ (vv8-10)
Brian Simmons seeks abundance, for Christians Christ is enough.
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