Bible Reading’s Negative Results

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central Good Evening everyone. It is Tuesday, July the ninth, twenty twenty four. It is currently nine twenty three pm Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, if you've ever been around Christians, which I'm assuming you have, and I'm assuming most of the people listening to this will be professing Christians. If you've ever been around Christians, if you've ever been to church, if you've ever listened to Christian broadcasting, if you've ever listening listened to Christian radio, Christian podcast, if you've ever listened to preachers or sermons, you know that there's kind of a basic idea, and that is, if you will take the Bible, and if you will read the Bible, it's going to bring nothing but positive results into your life. It's gonna bring a sense of peace, it's gonna bring a sense of calm, it's going to bring joy, it's going to bring happiness, it's going to make everything better. The more time you spend in God's word, the better off you're going to be. It will improve your mental health, it will improve your emotional health. It will make your life better. It will improve your behavior, it will make you better, will make you more godly, it will it will make you stronger. It's just benefit after benefit after benefit

1:34 after benefit. In fact, sometimes it may sound like you're listening to an infocommercial. If you will read your Bible, you will get this and this and this. But wait, there's more. If you will continue to read, you will get this, and you will get this, and you're gonna have blessings and peace and joy and happiness and tranquility and life is going to be so much better. Oh, there may be difficulties in your life. There may be there may be trials, But if you'll stay in the word of God, it will be your refuge, it will be your shield, will it will be everything. Okay, maybe people don't go exactly that far, but you get the idea. That's a common way of understanding. But what if, hypothetically speaking, what if what if people read the Bible and it made them experience stress. It made them experience anxiety, It led to trauma, it led to worry. In fact, it started making things worse.

2:38 It was worse for their mental health. It was worse for their emotional health. What if that was true? What would your thinking be? Now? What some people say, No, no, no, no, no, no, no no no, that cannot be true. Because the Bible is the word of God, and the Bible is true, it must only produce positive results. But what if if it produced negative results? Now, I think we would have to at least conceive this and consider this. This, this is my own personal opinions. Even if it brought about negative emotions, negative feelings, even if it brought about something negative, that would not, in any way, shape or form disprove it, you know, disprove its truth claims. In other words, the Bible would not be untrue because it produced anxiety, worry, and stress. Because I think our concept is well, if the Bible is true, it's only going to produce these positive things. But I don't think truth always produces positive feelings and positive results in a certain way. I think I think truth sometimes can be very traumatizing, can create anxiety and worry. Right if I knock on your door at three o'clock in the morning, Hey, Hey, there's a fire, it's about to engulf your entire house. If you stay in it, you're all going to die. You need to get out. Now. That's not going to produce a feeling of peace and calm and tranquility. But those words would be

4:10 true just because they create panic, fear, anxiety. Would not make my warning untrue. Okay, the truth of what I say it would be based on whether the fire is actually there, not on how it makes you feel truth. You cannot determine truth based on how you feel. You cannot base truth on its how it impacts your emotions. Sometimes truth will make you angry, Sometimes truth will hurt you. Sometimes truth will make you worry and make you be filled with anxiety. So I think just even if it produced negative results, that would not call into question the truthfulness of God's word. I think that we have to just establish that as a starting point here. But I'm curious, why is it that Christians seem to always sell it as it's all going to be positive. Should our reading of the Bible always produce positive or should it produce actually a wide range of emotions, and some of those emotions maybe should not be so pleasant. Is that a possibility? Is it?

5:34 I mean, what do you think? Well, I'm asking all of these questions because early this morning I received an email. The subject line of that email read like, this study shows Bible readers experience higher levels of stress and trauma. Study shows Bible readers experience higher levels of stress and trauma. It had my attention. I was like, oh, this looks interesting.

6:15 Now this the email took me to Medium dot com. Now. I have had a subscription to medium dot com in the past because I used it as a great resource for podcast topics, right because basically anyone can write for Medium, but they put most of the content behind a paywall. I've subscribed to it one to try to support those who are writing, because these are just like you know, everyday people writing articles. Some people with great you know, lots of education and experience, some people maybe not so much, but they can write about any topic. And it's kind of like just trying to support independent writers. And as they post their concepts, their ideas, they whatever they may post. So I love the concept. But of course, you know, when I started cutting back on things related to the podcast, that was one of the things I cut out to try to save some money.

7:05 The subscription is not that much. I think today they've got a is it four dollars for something I can't remember. They were doing some kind of special today. I think that's why I got the email. But the author of this particular article, his name is Dan Foster. Dan Foster, and he's one of the ones I followed on a regular basis on medium because I think he used to be maybe a pastor, maybe he used to be an evangelical. I can't remember his full story, but let's just say he's now very negative towards many things in Christianity. So I always like to hear someone who maybe who was inside of Christianity, who's now maybe a little bit more outside of Christianity, offering their criticism of it, because it kind of I like hearing that kind of criticism and trying to see it from a different perspective, because sometimes when you're in Christianity, you may not perceive how people who've walked away from it, or people are outside of it, how may how they may perceive it, And so I like hearing those perspectives. So this one, this this article definitely caught my attention. Now, the the article here I didn't pay for, so I only have like the preview part.

8:18 But the preview part gives us the basic thesis. But then I tracked down where they were getting this from. Now, I don't think he states this at the beginning, which I'm a little disappointed in because the way, this is the way his entire you know, heading is for his article study shows Bible readers experience higher levels of stress and trauma. Okay, that's that's the hook, all right, that's the hook. That that that that that pulled me in, right, that immediately pulled me in, or maybe we could call it the bait, whatever the case. It pulled me in, all right, That that hooked me. That that that pulled me in. Underneath that, it says the remarkable findings of a new survey, and then underneath that it says posted sixteen hours ago. Well, I've got major problems here.

9:11 This is not a new study. In fact, he quotes from Christianity Today. So of course I went to Christianity Today to pull up the original article. The original article finds that this was posted July the fourteenth, twenty twenty one. So that's not a new study twenty twenty one. It's twenty twenty four. So I don't know why his heading has remarkable remarkable findings of a new survey, because unless there's been a new one published. But it seems that this is taking me to the twenty twenty one study, So we may do a little bit more research to ensure that we that have they been continuing to do this study and are they continuing to find the same facts?

9:54 Now, that would be very remarkable, right if they did this study in twenty twenty one, and if they did a study in twenty twenty two, and if they did a study in twenty twenty three, and if they've done the study in twenty twenty four, and every year the study reveals that Bible readers experience higher levels of stress and trauma. All right, we need to talk. That's significant now for me. Again, let me make it very clear, even if this is one thousand percent accurate, that does not prove the Bible to be untrue, because truth doesn't can lead to stress and trauma, all right, so let's make sure. And second, what it would do though is maybe cause some Christians to pause. And the infocommercial version of Christianity. Remember I stated all the time, there is the infocommercial version of Christianity. Then there's the type of Christianity that everyone pretends to be experiencing even if they know deep down they're not really experiencing it. They talk a big game, they put on a good game face, but it may not be.

11:03 And then I call it. There's the reality of Christianity, and the reality of Christianity is messy and it's ugly. It's filled with professing Christians committing all kinds of horrible sins. It's filled with Christian marriages that end and divorce. It's filled with Christian men addicted to pornography. It's deal It's filled with churches where there is sexual abuse, child molestation, it is filled with I just read the story a little while ago a pastor got arrested on a flight I don't know where they were flying to because he got in a fight with his wife because the wife had a seat upgrade and he wanted her to sit with him and not go to her seat upgrade, and he ended up hitting her in the head and she has epilepsy, and I guess he was trying to trigger a seizure. He ends up getting arrested after the end the fly.

11:54 He is a pastor. Okay, we know the things going on with Robert Morris I mean, it's just Christianity is filled with that. Now I know what many Christians do. Well, anything that these people do, they're not Christians. And then that makes them feel better because they can just throw everyone out of the Kingdom of God that does something wrong. But that's not the way it works. Okay. The point is real. The reality of Christianity does not look anything like the infocommercial, and it doesn't look like the Christianity everyone's pretending to be experiencing while sitting in the pew, because when they leave that pew and they go home, it's a In fact, many cases, if you really want to know what's going on behind closed doors, ministered to teenagers are ministered to kids raised in a Christian home who may, if they feel comfortable, tell you what's going on behind those closed doors. And it may be uncomfortable for everyone to hear. And we should not be shocked by that, because that's the reality. We are all messed up, broken people with and maybe some people are more messed up than other people, but all people are messed up because we're all sinners, even though Christianity doesn't want to present that. So maybe an article like this, maybe slap in the face and make us go maybe we should stop selling Christianity and be more honest about the reality. So is this true? How did this this study come to this conclusion. Let's dig in and just have a little bit of a conversation here, all right, are you ready? Here we go first underneath

13:26 and again you can go to medium dot com look up Dan Foster and look up the article that was published sixteen hours ago. I think if you think if you sign up you get one free article, maybe it's behind the paywall. Really, you should probably do a subscription and just spend a couple of weeks looking at all the articles on Medium, and maybe you'll find it, as you know, an interesting thing you know to have. All right, so but I digress. Here we go. Headline again reads a study shows Bible readers experience higher levels of stress and trauma. It says, the remarkable findings of a new survey. I feel that this is referring to the one from twenty twenty one. I don't know if it's been repeated, but maybe later on in this article he says, like I said, I did not pay, but I'm going to read what is available to me. Okay, Underneath that we have one hundred and twenty three like high fives or applause.

14:18 It's like a I think it's like a little high five or applause symbol. So one hundred and twenty three people have liked it. I don't. It doesn't appear to have any comments. Then underneath that, there's a man got his hand on his forehead like almost like oh man, oh no no, and he's got a Bible open in front of him. Obviously, it's supposed to capture the idea. It's supposed to capture the idea that he's reading the Bible and he's being filled with stress and trauma. All right. Underneath that, here's how it reads new research. Now again, I don't think this is new research. Is this a hyperlink? Yeah? Okay, I see this drives me crazy. It says new research, and it takes me to the study state of the Bible twenty twenty one. So I don't know.

15:09 I do not like this at all. To me, this is a little disingenuous. Don't say this is a new study. It's from twenty twenty one, right, so already, so I thought I am correct. This is from the twenty twenty one study is what he's borrowing from. This is not new, all right. Let me just get that out of the way. This is not new. I don't know if this study has been repeated in any way, shape or form, and I don't even know if this article and medium is actually is accurately representing the study. What I want to do is use his presentation of the study to just kind of then deal with a hypothetical reality about how should the Bible really impact us? How should it because I think in many cases it should have a much more what we would classify a negative impact than anyone wants it to. We always believe it's a source of encouragement and strength, and I've been bothered by that mentality within the church because I think any reasonable person reading the Bible may not come out going this was encouraging and great. I think they may come out going this is some of the most disturbing things I've ever read in my entire life. That's my own personal feelings. But we'll get into that as we see this, all right, So the article continues. New research from the American Bible Society has revealed that regular Bible readers are more likely to report experiencing high levels of stress

16:45 and if I can read it correctly, higher levels of stress and anxiety than those who do not read the Bible. So let me read that again. According to the American Bible Society, not coming from like you know, their American Bible Society. You mean, you can question their motives, but according to their findings, regular Bible readers, those who read the Bible on a regular basis, are more likely to report experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety. See see I can actually read than those who do not read the Bible. So the argument is, if you read the Bible, you're going to have higher level levels of stress and anxiety, and if you don't read the Bible, you won't. Now this gets into cause and effect, right, So let me because I want to be fair about it. I want to.

17:41 I want to make sure that we are fair with the information. I don't want to I don't want anyone to walk away with a wrong impression. So I'm going to challenge the way this is being presented, because you would have to really dig into this to know cause and effect. Maybe the people who are experiencing high anxiety and stress, maybe the anxiety and stress is caused by something outside of the Bible, and that's why they're reading it so much. The anxiety and stress has driven them to the Bible. And when asked do you read the Bible all the time, yes, do you have high levels of stress and anxiety? Yes. That doesn't mean the reading of the Bible cause the anxiety and the stress. It may mean that the anxiety and stress is the thing that led them to the Bible. They may be reading the Bible to try to combat the anxiety and the stress. So people play weird games with that, those kinds of that's why surveys and statistics can be so misleading. Now, for my purpose, I want to ask, well, maybe the Bible should be causing much more anxiety and stress than it actually does, because I think if we actually believed what it said, I think we would probably all be, I don't know, filled with a lot of anxiety and stress. That's my own opinion. But we'll see, all right, let's continue reading. In fact, the lead researcher at the American Bible Society told Christianity Today, see I told you Christianity Today. That's the twenty

19:14 twenty one article. He told Christianity Today that Christians who regularly read their Bible experience more stress and often higher levels of trauma. The survey found that one quarter of Americans are experiencing moderately moderate levels of stress, and ten percent are experiencing extreme high levels. Nearly half of respondents said they had trouble sleeping, forty four percent reported feelings tense, forty four percent said they were lonely and cut off from others, and thirty seven percent said they felt numb or detached. The surprising thing is is that those who read the Bible on a regular basis reported higher results in all categories then those who do not read the Bible.

20:06 And it says, who would have thought? Then it says some possible explanations, and well then guess what now I have to pay to be able to see the rest? All right? In fact, hang on, actually you know why? Hang on? Let me go back, hang on, let me I'm not gonna, I'm gonna. I'm gonna look here really quick to see because I did try to sign in, and I thought maybe if I signed in, it would give me access here. Hang on, let me look here for my They sent me a link earlier today. Let me see here. I still may have to pay. I think what it did is send me to a pay window, is what it did. Hang on, let me look here. I get so many emails. Let me see here. I think it's not gonna I don't think it's going to help me any but I'm trying. If I can get to the rest, I would love to see what he says about it. Okay, let me see here.

21:11 I think it's what it's going to do. Yeah, here we go. Here's a had to do the signing. The signing thing is frustrating. Here okay, yeah, that did that did not I don't think that helped me in any way, shape or form. Hang on, I'm gonna copy this. I don't know why. Let me look here. I just want to make sure I don't I don't have access because sometimes they give you like a free article a day, and that's not currently working. Let me see here. Yeah, it does not want to work. I was hoping we would be able to get the access to the whole. Okay, wait, wait wait wait, oh no, yep, I have to upgrade to see the rest. All right, so they try to offer some possible explanations.

21:57 Sorry about that. I know that kind of ruined the flow I was in, But that's okay, because I thought, oh, it'd be great to be able to see the whole article. But you can go read the entire article now if I go to Christianity Today, they try to offer some explanation for this, right, And one of the explanations they offer is one that I've already presented, that maybe the people are already feeling the stress and that's what's leading them to the Bible. And then they're saying, hey, I have all this level of stress. Now. The Christianity Today, though, does try they try to present it in a more positive spin. Listen to the Christianity Today headline study, regular Bible readers experience more stress in twenty twenty.

22:37 Right now, that's kind of what the headline on Medium went with, right, But here's where Christianity Today tries to then put a positive kind of layer of paint on it. They say, but also more hope. So they say, hey, people who read the Bible all the time may have more stress, anxiety, and trauma, but they also have more hope. So this leads Christianity Today to argue, well, wait a minute, they're coming to the Bible with their stress and anxiety, and they're leaving with more hope. That's how Christianity today tries to present it a little bit. They go on to say. The survey found that one quarter of Americans are experiencing moderate levels of stress and ten percent are experiencing extremely high levels. Nearly half of the respondents said they had trouble sleeping, forty four percent reported feeling tense, forty four percent said they were feeling lonely and cut off from others, and thirty seven percent said they felt numb or detached. Every measure of anxiety increased a bit between twenty twenty and January twenty twenty one. I don't know, maybe there's some things going on in the world at the time that may have led to that, But okay, I digress. Christians who regularly turned to the Bible were not immune. In fact, the opposite was true.

23:56 We actually found that more scripture engaged people experienced more stress and often higher levels of trauma. According to the study, a strong relationship with the Bible often coexist with and could even be compelled by, the hardships of life. See so they're trying to argue, well, maybe and I think there's some truth to it. Times of great stress and anxiety, people may turn to the Bible where normally they will not, so maybe that's why they're experiencing it right, and so they kind of offer that kind of explanation. They do offer that some of these people, though, seem to report having more hope, So maybe you could find the positive and negative in it. But you can see why Medium that that person seeming to have much more of a negative approach, at least at the beginning of the article, put a more negative spin on it. Now maybe later in the article he gives a more balanced view, but the the beginning of the article definitely has a negative spin. So here's what I want to do. Here's what I want to do. And again, if you want to find that article at Christianity Today, look for study regular Bible readers experience more stress and twenty twenty but also more hope, and that will take you to an article from July the fourteenth, twenty twenty one, and it was posted at six a m. If you want to look for the article on Medium, goo to medium dot com do a search for study shows Bible readers experience higher levels of stress and trauma, and you

25:30 can find it there, all right, So that will get you all of the actual sources and all of that material. Now, what I want to do is turn off my iPad and I want to talk. I want to go with the hypotheses. I want to just go with the theory. I want to go along with the idea that those who read the Bible more experience more stress, more anxiety, and more trauma. And I'm going to go with the idea that the Bible causes it. That's the argument I'm going to make. Now, I'm not saying that's factually true, because again cause an effect here, and the way the study was done, I could call it into question. But I'm going to put forth the concept, or I'm going to at least put forth. So I'm gonna kind of go along with that hypothesis, but I'm gonna put forth my own hypothesies, my own theory.

26:30 You're ready. My theory is any serious minded person who reads the Bible on a regular, consistent basis and actually cares about what it's saying and about the context, and actually willing to face what it says and how unpleasant it may be, will and should, if they're being even remotely honest, with what they're reading, filled with a lot of anxiet, a lot of trauma, a lot of stress, maybe even sleepless nights. Now you may disagree with me, and that's okay, but I'm going to start first with a one scripture to support it. Then I'm just gonna look at a number of scriptural ideas that should just keep you up all night, every night and bother you incessantly. All right, here's the scripture. Here's here's the concept. All right, I'm gonna read it. It's from the Book of Isaiah, chapter fifty five, verse eight. You probably know what I'm about to read.

27:32 Where we hear this concept for my thoughts speaking of God. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, Saith the Lord. For as the heaven are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. God's ways and God's thoughts are higher than us. They are beyond our even ability to really grasp. And when we are confronted with God's ways and God's thoughts, ladies and gentlemen, you should be immediately confronted and feel some anxiety, worry, stress. You should be bothered when people like I read the Bible and I find such comfort. Usually the next words out of their mouth they quote some scripture so far out of any reasonable context, like, well, you're finding comfort because you're actually making it up. That's not what that verse says.

28:30 Hey, hey, Christians do this all the time. Oh you're going through difficult times. Well, let me read you this verse in Jeremiah that says God, No, you don't know the plans that God has for you. He has plans to prosper you and to bless you. And the people say, we'll see the Bible brought comfort. No, no, you're misreading of the Bible brought comfort because that first has nothing to do with you. That's about people coming out of Babylonian captivity. I'm sorry. I've told the story a million times about someone I worked with and her and her husband kept trying to have a baby and it wasn't working. It wasn't working, and then she was having her morning devotional and she read where God promised you know, Abram and Sarah a son, and she's like, that gave me so much peace, And I'm claiming that promise for me. I'm like, you're your name's not Sarah, and your husband's name's not Abram. That's promise has nothing to do with you. You're finding peace and comfort and your misreading of the Bible stop it. I didn't say it exactly like that, but it's like, you know what, what are you doing? You're gonna be utterly destroyed and devastated all right, over and over and over that. Sometimes when people say the Bible is so comforting and it brings so much peace, it's because you're just literally making it say whatever you want it to say. And if you make it say whatever you want it to say, I guess it will always be comforting. But if you're reading it as it is, Oh ladies and gentlemen, we got some sleepless nights and store are you ready? Where do all the anxiety, worry, and trauma arises from? Well, for me, it begins with this verse. You're ready me read it directly from

30:04 the scripture. I was going to quote it. You may read it. Do you want me to read it? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Immediately I got trauma. You know why because I know what comes after. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. You know what comes after. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Here's what comes after, sin, death, starvation, horrible diseases, rape, murder, war, do I child molestation, on and on and on and on and on. I know everything that's coming after. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. I know what's coming after. And so then I have a hard time. Wait, So the God who created everything, did he not know what was going to happen? Did he not know? Did he? Is he just oblivious to the fact? Is he powerless to stop it? And he said, well he didn't know. He's not the one who caused it. The fall caused it. Yeah, But who created the being who was responsible for tempting Adam and Eve? Oh? God created Satan. Oh, now that even more. That's gonna keep me up all night. Now wait a minute.

31:22 Now, Once Satan fell, God could have wiped him off the face of the earth, heaven, and eternity, and then Adam and Eve would have had no one to come into the garden to tempt them. But he led him in the garden. Now, when God created Adam and Eve, he knew that they were going to send. Why create them knowing they were going to send? Now, don't tell me he needed people, because there was he was, He's complete and perfect in himself. There was perfect harmony within the trinity, one God, three distinct persons, equal co eternal. So he didn't need them. So why would he create them knowing what's going to happen? And then once they fell into sind then why not just wipe them off the face of the earth and stop? But no, he lets them produce children who then are born with a sinful nature. And then what happens from Genesis three on sin murder, death, rape, deceit just horrible.

32:12 It gets so bad that he almost wipes He wipes almost everyone off the face of the earth other than the eight people in the arc. But he knows that those eight people in the ark are carrying the very same problem that was present before the flood, and that is their sinful nature. They get off the arc boom sin sin, sin, sin, death, destruction, sin, pain, rape, murder, deceit, adultery, fornication, incest. You just everysing on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. If that verse in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth has never bothered you. Disturbed you cause you sleepless nights. Ladies and gentlemen. I don't know what you're reading. You can come up with all your little, you know, so called philological answers to make you feel better. But you're just playing, You're you're you're just playing games.

32:59 You're just you're just trying to put a nice paint, a layer of paint over a very complexing and difficult problem. The eternal, all knowing, all present, God, all powerful, knew exactly what was going to happen. And you could even go a step further. Did he decree everything to happen? Some say yes, some say no. Either way, you either have to say God didn't know. Now you're open theism and you've basically destroyed the attributes of God. He's powerless. Now you've destroyed his omnipotence. Okay, you're gonna run it. And guess what Christians have been trying to figure out the answers to this forever forever That should keep you up at night. Then all the things that happened in the Bible. How about the concept of I don't know hell there's a place that if you don't believe the right things, you will burn for all eternity that does not bother you, doesn't keep you up at night. Now I know the game Christians play. See all the people we don't like, and all the people we disagree with, and all the people we hate, that their actions they go to hell. But it's amazing we always find a way to make sure our loved ones get in.

34:34 Now you can say, well, well, God, God never intended. If God never intended, then God is the most defeated disappointed God in the history of gods. Because the Bible says the way to destruction is brought and many find it. The way that life is few is narrow, and few find it. So that would seem to indicate that God's got in a perpetual state of disappointment because what he wanted is not happening. Why can't the eternal God get what he wants? He knew when he created the world exactly what was going to happen. Again, you just run into all these massive philosophical problems. But a place where people are burning right now as you're sitting there, someone is burning, not just what some person, millions of people are that doesn't like, I don't know, create some kind of I don't know trauma. I think that creates trauma. The idea that there's a spiritual entity roaming about seeking to devour you by the name of Satan. Does that not bother you a little bit? Does it not bother you that the Bible seems to indicate that someone could take the Lord's Supper wrong and die. Now we all say we believe the Bibles are had Eric inspired word of God, and they look at how churches handle the Lord's Supper. I'm like, if that stuff could kill people, I think everyone should be gravely concerned and try to figure out how should we understand what could get you killed and taking it the wrong way? And maybe just maybe we were like, hey, we stop this open communion stuff, in this close close union stuff. Maybe we go full closed and we fence the table because I don't want to be responsible for

36:04 anyone dying. But do we really take it serious? If you read the Bible, you know what you're going to be confronted with. This is the thing that should cause you the most. All those other things are more philosophical, but on a much more practical level. If you read the Bible, page after page after page after page after page, you are confronted not only with the holiness of God, but you're confronted with the holiness of God in the form of his commands. Thou shalt do this, Thou shalt not do this. You are confronted with his law, page after page after page after page. Do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this.

36:57 If you do this this, don't do do don't do don't don't do this. Do this, don't do this, don't do this. Do this, don't do this, don't do this over page after page after page after page after page, and as you read the Bible, the one thing that's going to be somewhat disturbing is you realize nobody in the Bible can keep it. Everyone fails, godly people, ungodly people. Everyone fails, believing people, unbelieving people. They're guilty in front of God's law. They're guilty in front of God's law. They fail, they fail, they fail, they fail. They felt nobody can keep it. Every time you open up the pages of Scripture, you should see a law which you do not keep. And let me state it. I know Christians will argue, because Christians love that infocommercial Christianity than actually anything real. Nobody can keep it. You will never keep it. I don't care. You can stop doing this. You can stop doing this. You can stop doing this. You can pat yourself on the back. You can act like you're so godly and you're so perfect and you're so holy. But let me tell you, you're a sinner and you cannot keep God's law. God's law dems that you are perfect. That's why the Bible says be holy as he is holy. You can't do that.

38:06 That should keep. That should create the greatest sense of trauma and fear in your life than anything. It should bother you. Now, what many Christians do is try to teach this concept well see see if you get saved, now you can keep it. So now this even creates more trauma because you're like, okay, now I can do it, and then you're like, wait a minute, I keep sinning, and I keep sinning. Or you have to start pretending to be that which you're not. And once you start pretending to be that which you're not, you almost have an you know, you're just being an impostor you're pretending you have to live a fake life. You have to cover yourself in robes of self righteousness, and who knows how many leaves of you know, fig leaves. You have to cover your your sin and shame. You got to pretend. And the church is filled with everyone pretending to be so godly and so righteous, and over and over and over you see you like, sorry, your fig leaves just fell off, and yeah, you're exposed, all of us, see anyone reading the Bible. We should feel the sting of the law. We should feel the shame and the guilt and the humiliation that comes from the law. We should actually feel that we should stop all of this pretending that we do it.

39:25 The church would be better off if we would all admit we're broken, messed up failures. We are the dumpster fire of humanity. We are broken, vile people. It's not Lord, I thank THEE that I'm not like these people. It's Lord, I am unworthy to even look up. I am unworthy of anything. I'm a sinner. I have violated your word and thought. I have violated your word and word and deed and action and desire and feelings. Perpetual state of disobedience to your command to be holy as you are holy. I am in a perpetual state of disobedience to your command to love you with all your heart and mind, body and soul. I'm in a perpetual state of disobedience to love my neighbor as myself. I am a selfish, narcissistic jerk who only wants my own way. I serve myself, worship myself, and love myself. That is what I am. Internally. Oh externally, I've cleaned up the outside of that tomb, and I look really, really, really good, and I've got everybody full. But when I lay down at night, I know what a piece of trash I am.

40:32 That should cause a little bit of trauma. Now, this is where the proper distinction of long Gospel is so important. Instead of trying to pretend that now we have the ability to keep it, what we should do is realize the only way to get rid of that trauma, the only way to get rid of that anxiety, the only way to get rid of that worry and that fear, is to embrace the sternness of the law. It's it's sour, it's it's pain that it brings, so that we can then run to the absolute, full, unfiltered, uncensored sweetness of the Gospel, which is not that we are made better, but that Christ is perfect and His perfection is given to me, so that I stand before God perfect. In my position in Christ, I'm a new creature, not in practice. In Christ.

41:35 In my position, I'm a new creature, the oldest past away. All things have become new in Christ. In my position, I am perfect, I'm holy, and I'm righteous. That's the only way to get rid of the drama or the trauma and the well and the drama. That's the way to get rid of everything. That's the only way you can lay your head down at night and rest is because you know, Hey, today, I know I failed. I know I sin I know I sinned and thought desire. I know I messed up a million ways. For every way I didn't mess up, there were ten ways I did. But you know what, I can go to bed not because I'm gonna do better tomorrow, not because I'm even gonna try to do better tomorrow. I may even do worse tomorrow, but because I know I am perfect in Christ. I think the Bible should be causing far more trauma, far more anxiety than Christians wanted to say that we wanted to just always be positive. But no reasonable person can read this and not come away going, man, this is some disturbing stuff.

42:43 Where why would God? Where was God here? Why why would God do that? Where is God? God? So? God does this, but he doesn't do this. So he helps here, but he doesn't help here. He provides here, but he doesn't provide there. Well, what is going on? God dep sin in a miraculous way to stop this from happening. But then in another way, he's like, I'm not gonna help here. I'm not gonna help, not gonna. I'm not gonna intervene. You go ahead, you murder a man, commit adultery. I'm not gonna intervene. Oh I'll intervene after it's all said and done and send someone to tell you how bad you are. But I'm not gonna do anything to step in to stop you beforehand. But in other situations, God intervenes, dunt du da, I'm gonna stop this from happening, or I'm gonna I'm gonna change the whole course of history. And you're kind of like, well, could you parted the Red Sea? But you couldn't just I don't know, just do one little thing to stop David from having a man killed. I just just like one little thing, these kinds of things. But the most disturbing thing is God's law, God's law, God's law, God's law God.

43:55 Every day. You know what I learn? Then I'm an idolater. You know what I learn every day. That I'm a murderer, That I'm an adulterer, that I that I'm a I covet, that I do this and that I do that, that you name it, That I'm a fool. I'm prideful, I'm arrogant, I'm conceited, i am unloving, i am unforgiving, I'm definitely unholy. Now I'm not excusing any sin. Please don't don't. Someone will misinterpret what I'm saying is we have to just be willing to face and feel that shame and humiliation because we're confronted with it every day. It can lead you to trauma. They can lead you to real trauma. And what's so frustrating is if you seek counsel, maybe from a pastor or from you know, maybe some some Christian counselors, they're going to be like no, no, no, no, no no no, no, no, See, the Bible should bring it should be all positive.

44:58 And you're like, no, I think, if I really read it, I have to be How do I it's not that the Bible shouldn't cause this trauma and anxiety. I think it should. Now, how what can I do with it? And I think, then if we read the Bible correctly, then we know that the Law is supposed to do that. God's holiness is supposed to absolutely destroy us and disintegrate us and fill us with shame and humiliation and fear. And though we run to the sweetness of the Gospel and we hear Christ did it all for you, It's all taken care of in Christ. His righteousness is imputed, not infused to your account. You stand in Him perfect. Then you can have some peace. Now, you say, but that peace should be permanent. In some ways it's permanent, but in another way, every time you open the Word, you're going to be confronted again with the Law and you're going to have to run to Christ again for that peace. It's kind of a cycle. The Law should constantly break you and the Gospel should constantly comfort you. But at the same time, let's be honest, all this other stuff in the Bible. It's if it's not bothering you. I don't know how people people will read the Bible, And I'm like, how are you not utterly disturbed at this point? I don't know it's the Bible, God does whatever. And I'm like, what do you mean whatever? Any reasonable person right now would be having a nervous breakdown, going what is this? I don't understand this, how this story is so troubling? And the average Christian sitting of the view like I don't know why, what's the problem? Amen? Raise God? It's all good

46:30 to me, And it's like, what are you talking about? Are you not reading? You should be bothered greatly, but no, because they've just been so trained that it's just all supposed to be positive. It's all supposed to be rainbows, puppies, kittens, roses, skittles, I don't know, unicorns. Everything's supposed to be the praise God. You know it's so good? How come no one's like I was reading my devotionals today and I am disturbed beyond all comprehension. I am broken, I'm humiliated, I feel shame, and I just don't understand God. No, no, no, No, you're not supposed to say that. You're not supposed to say that someone's car alarm is going off, right, probably because I was talking so loud, all right, and they're probably now yelling out the front door.

47:15 Be quiet. You're disturbing me and causing anxiety. Okay, But I look, the study showed in twenty twenty one that those who read the Bible more experienced greater levels of trauma, stress, and anxiety. I don't think the I don't think there's a cause and effect. I don't think you can say reading the Bible causes this. I think in most cases those people were already experiencing high levels of stress and trauma because what was going on in the world, and they were picking up and reading the Bible trying to find hope. The Christianity Today article seems to argue that the people did also have a greater sense of hope from reading the Bible. So I think that that clearly proves that people came to the Bible with their hope, with their anxiety, fear, worry, and trauma, and found some sense of hope. Now, my concern is they may have found a sense of hope from a complete misreading of scripture and a misapplying scripture. But that's a whole different subject. I wanted to take it and just kind of argue, as if it's true.

48:16 What if it's true, Well, it doesn't change the truthfulness of the Bible, because truth, in many cases induces worry, anxiety, fear, and trauma. At the same time, I wanted to put forth the argument that maybe, just maybe we should be more bothered by what we read, maybe we should actually act like we believe it. Look, I've been in churches. They'll start reading from First Corinthians eleven before they do the Lord's Supper, and then I'll watch them just hand it out like it's candy. And I'm looking around the church, going they don't even know half of these people what is happening here? Or they're just like, if if you're here today, you're invited to partake. I'm like, you don't even know who I am.

49:02 You can be handed me something that could kill me, Like, I come on, now, we gotta do bad. We don't. So when I when I see that, I'm like, people don't really believe it. I've told you before in one of the Bible institutes, I attended. We were reading in the Gospel of Matthew, and we were reading some other verses about marriage, divorce, and remarriage, and the pastor who was the head teacher, he's like, you could just open your bibles and rip those verses out of your bible, because if any church actually tried to apply these scriptures first, that would be calling most of the people in their congregation possible adulterers because they're married, divorced, and remarried. And even if you believe the Bible allows it in some cases and many in many cases, they wouldn't even meet the supposed reason offered here, even if you believe that there's a reason.

49:55 So he would be like, so, you're not going to do anything about it, because you'd be like looking at all these people, going you're living in adultery, So stop having physical intimacy with one another. They're going to look at you like you're out of your mind. You're not going to stop them from, in many cases, serving in the church. You're not going to stop them from partaking of the Lord's supper. So just rip that. Nobody really believes it, because if they really believed it, it would be a it would disrupt the entire church, because most churches are made up of large numbers of people who are divorced and remarried. But nobody wants to go away a minute, I could I actually be in an adulterous relationship? Well, if I am, what am I supposed to do? See, nobody wants to have that conversation because that leads to trauma and anxiety. Now, some people will say, well, I'm in Christ, I'm forgiven, so okay, Well, then by that logic, hey, those two teenagers over there are committing premardal sex. They're in Christ, they are forgiven, so just keep committing the premartal sex. Because those people up front, they're divorce married, they were married, divorced and remarried. They're committing adultery.

51:02 Hey, hey, but they can keep having physical relations so because they're forgiven. Well okay, Well then the homosexuals come in. Well, I mean, they're in Christ, they're forgiven, so why tell anyone to stop anything. So now you start applying it that way, people get mad and get angry. I understand it, because that's a just Look, I don't have any easy answers. I don't. That's a difficult passage because it's mentioned numerous times. We have the Matthew passage. Some people call the Matthew passage the exemption clause. Now we could argue the exemption there is what would happen in the betrothal stage, because that's the very gospel that talks about hey, before they were, you know, fully married. Joseph is like, I'm going to put away Mary, you know, because well she's been found pregnant.

51:49 But that was in the betrothal stage, right. So many people would say, well, then, if we're really going to apply this to our modern thing, this would be breaking up an engagement because of a section and morality, not once you're married, because what God has joined together, no man should put us under till death. Do you part? Now? Typically, even in our vowels, we don't say I'm marrying you unless we make these vowels supposedly we make them before God. And guess what's left out of the vows I married you? Unless you do ABCD, then I'm free to put you away. We don't because nobody wants to say that in their wedding because it would make everyone uncomfortable. Well, then that's why I say do away with vowels right. That's why I always say, just say, do you take this man to be your husband? Yes? Do you take this woman to be your wife? Yes? The end. Don't add anything else to it. Don't add anything else to it, because that you can keep that vowel I promised to be here. You don't talk about for how long.

52:47 You just that's the best. I know that destroys the fantasy of it, but I think that's then then nobody can violate that. But again, that's a part of the Bible that nobody, nobody wants to deal with because it's so uncomfortable. It's what do we do? What do we? I don't know. I don't know what we What do you do? I don't have any easy answers, because on one hand, I believe that no matter what sin you've committed, there's absolute forgiveness, and you know that it's all forgiven and it's been removed as far as the east is from the west, and we move forward. I completely believe that. But if we understand the Bible correctly, if you're in a relationship now that's considered adulterous, then you just keep committing adultery over and over and over and over. And over and over and over. Do you just then say, well, it's all good because I'm in Christ and I'm forgiven, so I don't need to stop the behavior.

53:39 But then if you stop the behavior, well then what are you doing? Now you're in a marriage relationship and you have no physical intimacy? Well, the Bible also warns against that. So then like, ah, I'm ah, which one trumps the other? Does the Bible's call for physical intimacy within marriage trump the call trump the scripture about well, now if you're married in divorce and remarried, you could be committing adultery. Which one trump's the other? Obviously no one knows. And guess what everyone's gone with, Well, the one that is just like, hey, now you're married, the other is forgiven and you just move on, okay. And I understand why. I do understand why. By no means am I'm trying to be critical.

54:22 What I'm trying to say is, these are the things that should disturb you and cause trauma to you as a Christian. But what we have we always find an easy way around it, so everyone just feels comfortable. But it's weird. We find an easy way around some things and then other things, we make no allowance, no finding a way around it, and we want absolute total annihilation and destruction and finish them and crucify them, and they should never speak again. And it's like, well, I'm a little confused, and I've talked about this dilemma many times. It's so weird. In a church, you can be like, this person is getting church disciplined for this. You're like, but you got five people in the church. You're divorced, married or was married, divorced and remarried. There's a possibility even if you believe in an exemption for that, there's an exception clause for in some cases for divorce. Even some of them are not going to meet it.

55:21 So that means they're in adultery. Why are we not doing anything about them? Well that's different. Oh okay, all right, okay, Well that's good to know. So sometimes what you want to counsel is like, hey, here's the deal. Here's the deal. What you need to do is you just get divorced, go get remarried, and then come back to the church, and then you're good to go. That's the way you're in. Just go get a divorce boom, get married, then come back and then everyone will think you're great. Now, I'm not saying, Look, I'm not saying there's any easy answers here. I'm not I'm not saying in any way, shape or from Please, no one misunderstands. I am not saying what's right here. I'm not saying what's wrong here. I'm not making any condemnation at all. What I'm saying is when you confront things in the Bible that times, they can be very traumatic and unsettling and cause you sleepless nights and cause a lot of stress because in many cases I don't know if we have good answers. Now. What I do know is, no matter where you find yourself, no matter what sin you find yourself, you know what your only hope is. Is some cases there is no good human answer.

56:30 But I know you can run to Christ, and you know what, no matter what your situation is, no matter what it was, no matter what it will continue to be. I do know this though in Christ there is absolute forgiveness because He has died and paid for all of your sin, past, present, future, all paid for and in him. Even though positionally you may be in a situation where who knows how to even define it. But guess what in Christ you are. You're perfect and holy and righteous. But I can see where it's going to cause a little trauma. So I know, on one hand, we don't want to say the Bible should cause any trauma, but I think the Bible is actually designed to cause a lot of trauma. You know why because sinful people are being confronted by a holy God, and there's always going to be trauma and difficulty, and we are being confronted with thoughts that are not our thoughts, ways that are not our ways because they're too high for us. No, I know, I just dealt with the divorce issue, and now people are going to be all mad at me. Look, don't be mad at me. The scriptures talk about it in a number of places. God's feelings about divorce and this, and hey, if you marry a woman to put her away and she marries another, she's now an adulter. All these verses, right, Like, it's not me, you got to deal with the don't get mad at me,

58:00 because I'm not saying one way or the other. What I'm saying is that that even in Bible College, they were kind of like there's no way you're going to be able to do anything with this in your church. You're just not. If you try, it's going to be a total and utter mess. Well, well, how are you even going to work this? And and so they even acknowledged the difficulty, and I'm like, what it's now. At the time, I was young, going whatever, whatever, I'll show you. And then you become a pastor and you're kind of like, wait a minute, how many people here are divorced and remarried? Oh? No, what do I do? What do I do? What do we do? What do we do? What we do? What do we do? How do I handle this? What's the answer? I don't know the answer? Okay, in church history was this is the answer some gave, but others didn't like that answer. I don't know what the answer.

58:50 You know what? I don't know, But you know the one thing I do know is I can take all of our drama and all of our trauma, and all of our stress, and all of our anxiety, and all of our sin, and all of us can find peace in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And trust me, I got so much sin in my own life. I don't even know what to do with it ninety five percent of the time. But I do, well, you know what, I don't know what to do with it one hundred percent of the time other than I can only do one thing, and that's run to Christ. That doesn't excuse anything, doesn't excuse, but it's the only hope. Does Bible reading lead to more anxiety, worry, and stress? M I'm skeptical of the study. Should it lead to more worry, anxiety, and stress? I think it should because I think that demonstrates the more you're bothered by what you read, the more you're troubled, the more you're you are just don't know what to do. I think that indicates someone who's really trying to read the biok as it is and facing it, no matter how ugly it may be.

1:00:06 I think people who don't have that problem, I don't think they're really reading it now. And I know that's kind of a dogmatic assertion, so maybe that's just my hypotheses. You can tell me what you think. You can email me at news i F at yahoo dot com. That's news I F at yahoo dot com. Thank you for listening. Now go read your Bible, experience that trauma and run straight to Christ because I don't have any other answer for you. God bless