I need to thank my neighbor for this newest post. He just turned 60 and when I stopped over to speak with him (he is sound in doctrine and a Christian brother) I was pleased to hear sound doctrine and it was coming out of a boombox playing Christian Rap. A week later I begin to read a book about delivery of Biblical narratives from the New and Old Testament in the oral/aural tradition and begin to learn about the ancient techniques of memorization for maximum retention and sound devices for conveying messages and ideas of paramount importance. So the gears in my brain creak to life and things start rattling and clicking...I begin to see parallels between ancient techniques and modern culture.
Strikingly parallels and frankly, relevant ones. You are free to disagree but I do not believe I am introducing anything heretical or apostate here so bear with me.The Gospels were written with the intent that they were going to be either read aloud or memorized for oral/aural dissemination or transmission (spoken out loud). Reasons for their memorization were portability and another had to do with the form of the writing itself. There were no chapter numbers, no verse as there are today, as chapters and verses were added in after the fact. If there were divisions in the Old Testament they were done in accordance with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet as in Psalms 119 and are called acrostic(s). Additionally there were no spaces, no punctuation and all single case letters of characters in original manuscripts. When scribes got to the end of a line they literally jumped to the next line, even if they were in the middle of a word. As an example I will show you a passage from the Gospel of John 1:29-34.
thenextdayjohnsawjesuscomingtowardhimandsaidlookthelambofgodwhotakesawaythesinoftheworldthisistheoneimeantwhenisaidamanwhocomesaftermehassurpassedmebecausehewasbeforemeimyselfdidnotknowhimbutthereasonicamebaptizingwithwaterwasthathemightberevealedtoisraelthenjohngavethistestimonyisawthespiritcomedownfromheavenasadoveandremainonhimiwouldnothaveknownhimexceptthattheonewhosentmetobaptizewithwatertoldmethemanonwhomyouseetheseiritcomedownandremainishewhowillbaptizewiththeholyspiritihaveseenanditestifythatthisisthesonofgod
Obviously, this was not very conducive to reading. If you want to see what I mean, try reading this passage out loud to someone and see how it sounds. You must always keep in mind that when the original autographs/manuscripts were written they were done so with the oral/aural tradition in mind. To understand how halting and broken speech would be reading something like this it is only fair that you do so now. When you are done you realize that you sounded like a stammering, partially uneducated reader with a mild speech impediment. Especially when you need to double back because you thought you were reading the word "the" when in actuality it was "them", "these", "then" or "theirs". Other common errors would be "she" and "he", "whose" and "who" and the list goes on.
Other things that need to be taken into consideration are that words are actually sounds and as we understand from rhymes, certain sounds in speech are intended for effect or impact just as any good rhyming storyteller or rapper can tell you. The words were not just meant to be read silently. If anything they were predominately meant to be read out loud...or sung. To a crowd.
"It's craziness!/ we're obsessed with hysteria/ atheist patriots say 'God Bless America'/ it occurred to me/ we praise awful lusts/ and currency/ that says 'In God We Trust'/ it's ludicrous/ you lunatics are consumed in this/ and confused by the news and computer chips/ God's exuberance allows you to exist/ but you insist we're produced from a huge abyss (big bang theory)/ you all are bluffing/ think we evolved from nothing?/ hopefully this psalm will stall your fussing/ this universe was spoken into existence (Gen. 1:1, Psalm 33:6, 148:5)/ but man rebelled and he's broken in his resistance (Gen. 3:6, Psalm 14:1-3)/ you try and defy the Divine Maker?/ if you deny God, how do you define nature? (Romans 1:20)/ He is Lord and He provided proof (Romans 1:19)/ but you liars tried to hide the truth (Romans 1:21-25)/ God created man- man created evolution/ this was man's attempt to explain his fusion/ but isn't that like man creating robots, then robots make up their own creation conclusion?" ~Timothy Brindle - It's Obvious
Am I saying the Apostle and writers of the books of the Bible were rappers? No, that would mean I was contemporizing the Scripture and that is a no-no. What I am saying is that there are strong parallels from today that are undeniable and can be used as "living examples" of the past. I am trying to draw audible comparisons. This is especially useful for those that are struggling with audiblization (is that a word?), technique and the hows, whys and what-fors of the authors original intent or "authorial intent" in terms of sounds and effect of sounds. The only distinction that I can see between the cadenced verbal delivery of scripture and modern rapping or rhyming appears to be that rapping is done to a beat or count/measure.
So perhaps some of the scripture was meant to be read or sung in a cadenced manner? We know that this is the case in some verses, especially Psalms. Were they in meter or measured rhyme in Hebrew? In the strictest sense, in most cases I would have to say no but I have not memorized Psalms. Interesting to research though. I'll have to look into that for a later post. I do not know how to speak Hebrew, I will need to consult with a language major at school or online.
Although we do understand the intent of the authors, some of the effects of the originals are lost because they have been separated, punctuated, capitalized and transliterated to new languages from the original. If we truly want to "hear" the words as intended we need to be able to also work with the original languages to some extent. I sort of noted this is an older post here: Examining The Scripture: Equivocal. Does this change doctrine or affect our salvation, no, probably not. Does it add vibrancy and color to an otherwise monochrome passage, yes, it does.
What we find when we go back and read these originals is repeated themes, ideas and sounds. Assonant, alliteration and consonance sounds to be precise. Just like rhymes. Just like rap.
From lyrics above:
Assonant: "bluffing...nothing?/ hopefully this psalm will stall your fussing"
Alliteration: "it's ludicrous/ you lunatics"
Consonance: we praise awful lusts/ and currency/ that says 'In God We Trust'/ it's ludicrous
There are probably other examples of these three sound devices within this short portion of rap. Some of the alliterations can also double as assonance and consonance also. They are all interchangeable depending on how clever the usage of words. Regardless of whether they are rhyming or not, Chirstian rappers and storytellers are carrying on an age old tradition (albeit in a slighty different form) when they perform that dates back into the far reaches of the Old Testament. I do find it rather interesting and ironic that many rappers are very skilled in their use of these techniques and ability to create a desired physiological effect through manipulation of word sounds. I am also impressed with the ability of the rapper and the listeners (in general) of Christian rap to "pick up" and retain the lyrics after minimal exposure to the words. The sounds and repetitive nature allows for quicker and more solid retention of the words (case-in-point).Why were these audible nuances intended/added into the original language sound when the Bible was written? Same reason they are used today. To aid in the internalization of words. We can feel them in our gut or "take them to heart". The best word for "feeling" these words is used in the Bible in Mark 1:41 in relation to Jesus having compassion or pity on the leper.
"Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" ~Mark 1:41
Jesus took this to heart. It was called [Greek: splagnizomai] which literally meant "to turn over the bowels". I guess the closest our language today hits on this is "it made my stomach roll", "it made my heart sink" or "it breaks my heart". When this happens to a human being...whatever it is...when we feel it in our gut...it sticks with us indelibly.
Words are ideas. The Word is (in my mind) the only idea. If we internalize the words/The Word we will also take in the Idea and the righteous ideal. Ideas spur righteous action. In other words if they are righteous ideas they will often spur righteous actions/works. Righteous actions/works propel the Gospel forward. Layman's translation: The Gospel propels the Gospel forward.
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." ~James 2:14-18
So what is faith?
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." ~Hebrew 11:1
How do we get it, stay strong in it?
In terms of instruction in this the Scriptures are clear that we are to:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." ~John 17:17
"Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true." Psalm 119:142
"The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever." Psalm 119:160
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The "man of God" meaning a messanger and by implication, a person that has faith in God.
It is a self-fulfilling cycle:
The Word
Internalization of The Word
Internalization of the Idea in The Word
Action/Actualization of the Idea (from The Word)
Evangelical Outreach
(Repeat)
It looks and sounds as if it was planned that way. :)
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