Five Mind-Blowing Facts I Learned In My First Two Weeks Of Seminary

Fear. Doubt. Anger. Joy. Gratitude. Openness. Curiosity. Inadequacy. Excitement. Peace.

These are just a few of the words I would use to describe the way I’ve felt upon embarking on this seminary journey.

​This Spring, I’m enrolled in three classes on the following topics: the history of Christianity, Second Temple Judaism, and interpreting the Hebrew Bible. 

I’ve been most surprised by the Judaism class, which I am really enjoying, most overwhelmed by the history class, because Christianity is by no means a simple, linear religion, and most challenged emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, by the Hebrew Bible class. 

I didn’t know how deeply ingrained within me the idea was that women should not interpret the Bible— until I was challenged to read and interpret a small passage of Scripture in the Hebrew Bible class. As I worked on my first paper, I wrestled with a feeling of “I’m doing something bad,” combined with an equally strong sense of, “I’m going to love this.” Those of you who have read my writing for any length of time know that I agree with Steven Pressfield’s sentiments in his book The War of Art, which are that the path of most resistance is the path your inner artist is urging you to take. I believe the same thing applies to matters of the Spirit.

When I entered seminary, I wasn’t sure what exactly my calling was— or how I was going to use what I learned. After two weeks, some ideas are coalescing, but the road ahead is still both open and engulfed in clouds.

For now, I’d like to focus on five things I’ve learned in these first few weeks— and after you read them, I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

1. If you’ve heard that there are only 66 books in the Bible, and that that was decided on long ago by a church council, you are wrong. 

Chances are, you have also heard of the Apocrypha— and if you are from a mainline Protestant church, you have also likely heard that the Apocrypha is uninspired and shouldn’t be read or studied. 

The first thing I learned in my Hebrew Bible class was that there was no council which decided on a certain Scriptural canon; in fact, Christians have spent centuries debating which texts ought to belong in the canon. 

After I heard this, I did a quick Google search. I was amazed at how many blogs confidently claim that the reason for their 66-canon Bible is that church leaders hundreds of years ago reached a wise consensus and declared it so.

Many blogs refer to the Nicean council. Yet the actual story behind this council, which was convened by Constantine, is that it magically ascertained that certain books should be kept and others thrown out. Check out the story and sources for it here. 

If you’re having trouble with the whole, “No council decided on a canon” thing, take a look at the table of contents from the King James Bible of 1611, which includes the Apocryphal books. 

So how did the whole 66-book canon come about? Well, as you might imagine, during the Revolutionary War, it became difficult, if not impossible, for the American revolutionaries to purchase Bibles from England. For this reason, a publisher by the name of Robert Aitken (and possibly others) began printing pocket-sized Bibles that soldiers could carry with them while they fought. And guess what? “The edition consisted of 10,000 copies in which, as was the custom in small King James version Bibles, the books of the Apocrypha were omitted,” says Margaret T. Hills in her book, The English Bible in America. 

After Aitken’s shortened Bible was printed, many other American publishers printed canons, and whether the canon included the Apocryphal books or not was up to the individual. Calling one book “Bible”, then, is problematic. It is more accurate to refer to collections of sacred text as canons.

For that reason, different denominations in the United States adhere to different canons, some including various Apocryphal books and others not. 

2. The Judaism of Jesus’ time was different in many ways from the religion of the ancient Israelites that is documented in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible).

Many scholars refer to the era from when Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in about 587 BCE until the second temple (built during the time of the Persians and renovated by Herod) was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE the Second Temple Period.

It was early during this period (during the Babylonian exile) that many of the books in what we call the Old Testament were compiled and written down. Toward the end of this period and beyond, the books of the Apocrypha were penned.

Some characteristics of this era that make it different from ancient Israelite practice are the use of synagogues for teaching and prayer, the hierarchy of rabbis and the Sanhedrin, and the belief in a literal afterlife.

Although this era had some differences with early Israelite religion, it also had many similarities, like cultic practices (sacrifices) and a belief in one God— not only that, but Jews during this time continued writing and reasoning and wrestling with their religion; it was not stagnant.

The most striking thing about this is when you realize that Jesus’ teachings reference many things that were common during the Second Temple era but not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible at all. 

3. The early Christian church was quiet and secretive; therefore, Christians were accused of all sorts of things, such as offering human sacrifices and engaging in promiscuous behavior.

At the same time, this new religion was also appealing to converts because Christians cared for the poor and helped people bury their dead (which was a big deal during this time).

4. The first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its national religion was Armenia.

Christianity also flourished in Egypt. (So next time you are tempted to think of Christianity as a “white” western religion, think again.)

5. Early Christians and Jews in the Roman empire were often at odds with one another.

This caused major conflicts and many problems for the Roman empire. You can see this conflict outlined in many of the books in the New Testament. 

And so, friend. How does this information make you feel? Does it bring up any emotions for you? Any concerns or struggles? It certainly did for me.