Over Spiritualization

 Over spiritualization

By Richard P. Joseph

For some people the bible stories are real, for some the stories are all allegory and for others the stories are a mixture.  So which view is correct?  I have talked to people of all three persuasions.  One guy, who happens to have some sort of religious degree, doesn’t believe any of the Old Testament stories are real.  He doesn’t believe God created the earth in six days, he doesn’t believe there was an ark that saved Noah and the animals, he doesn’t believe a giant sea creature swallowed Jonah.  In my opinion, he doesn’t even believe in a god.  He pictures everything as allegory of one sort or another to teach us lessons to live by.  This type of thinking also is prevalent in the preterist world where many have over-spiritualized the second coming into some type of covenantal change that did not necessarily involve events that were experiential in nature.  Some also teach that Adam was just the first “covenant man”, not necessarily the first human being.    Another biblical event that some over-spiritualize is the “death” of Adam and Eve.  We are all familiar with the warning that God gave to Adam and Eve that on the day that they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would die.  

Genesis 2:15 Then the Lord God took [d]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [e]tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you[f] shall surely die.”

So, is this allegory or real and did Adam die physically that day or just spiritually or maybe both?  Before we answer that question, let’s take a look at the gospel of John in the 8th chapter.  

This is the story where the Pharisees brought a woman that they caught in adultery as a prop to trick Jesus with.  They said that they had caught her in the very act of adultery and they wanted to know if Jesus approved of them stoning her or not.  This, of course, was a trick question and Jesus knew it.  If Jesus said not to stone her then they would accuse him of not following the law of Moses, and if he agreed to stone her then they would take him to Pilot for murder.  There was no logical way out of this for the average person.  In this case, Jesus actually sided with Moses and ordered her execution (most people miss this important point).  He now turned on the executioners and demanded that the one who has no sin cast the first stone!    Jesus understood that the law was to point out sin and for people to repent once confronted with their own sin but that isn’t what was happening in Israel.  The priests and leadership used the law as a club to beat down the populace in order to advance their own ambitions.  They could care less about sin.  They only cared about power and money.  In fact, the reason that they caught her in the “very act” is because one of them was probably the man involved.  So back to my original point; did that woman die on the day that she committed adultery or not?  The fact is, she was slated to die but God had mercy on her.  Did she die spiritually then?  She was probably already spiritually dead.  If anything, she may have been spiritually awakened on that day.  So, what about Adam and Eve then?

First of all, I take the view that the story of Adam and Eve is an absolute true historical event.  I also agree with Ed Stevens, that they were slated to be executed that very day but God had mercy and sacrificed an animal on their behalf and covered them with the skins.  I also believe there were spiritual transformations that occurred also that very day.  They were spiritually separated from God and the garden and eternal life.  So, the fact is, there were both physical and spiritual events happening at the same time.  

Those who over-spiritualize everything are actually wiping the historical events of the bible off the table.  They don’t believe in a six day creation, they don’t believe in the miracles that happened and they don’t believe that Jesus was actually visible to his believers at the parousia (second coming).  They have over-spiritualized everything into oblivion.  Some have over-spiritualized it so much that they actually lost their faith in God because, as John Lennon said “god is a concept”.  I warn all of my readers to never doubt the bible and never attempt to explain it, just believe it.  All of it is true historically but there is, of course, much allegory also.  The answer is that both are true and necessary and you must have spiritual eyes to discern it.