{"id":5007,"date":"2026-07-26T22:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=5007"},"modified":"2026-07-26T22:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:06:14","slug":"rabbi-wolpes-evolving-bible-leaves-faith-with-no-anchor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=5007","title":{"rendered":"Rabbi Wolpe\u2019s evolving Bible leaves faith with no anchor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OPINION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard Divinity School graduate and host of the PragerU podcast \u201cTheological,\u201d interviewed Rabbi David Wolpe, a former visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School. Rabbi Wolpe is also the Max Webb emeritus rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a scholar-in-residence at the Maimonides Fund.<\/p>\n

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On the show, Rabbi Wolpe denied the Old Testament\u2019s historicity. For example, when asked about the story of Israel\u2019s exodus from Egypt, he responded: \u201cI don\u2019t take these stories literally.\u201d He then added, \u201cFaith is not determined by empirical truth. We cannot turn to the Torah for scientific advice [or] for accurate historical accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Wolpe also contended that the Bible is not static, but is rather an evolving document. He then argued that \u201cas society changes, so does the way that God instructs us change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, he defended same-sex marriage by indignantly asking, \u201cDo you mean that the Torah says that someone\u2019s deepest impulses are just evil? I just don\u2019t believe that\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether you are Jewish or Christian (or neither), this should cause you to raise an eyebrow or two. A former visiting scholar from one of the world\u2019s foremost theological schools just said he does not believe in original sin or that the Exodus was real. I mean, what Bible is the man reading?<\/p>\n

Let us first consider Rabbi Wolpe\u2019s assumption of human goodness. Everyone with a Sunday-school-level understanding of the Bible should know that, if anything is clear in both the Old and New Testaments, it is that our desires are evil, not good. Here are just a few examples.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.\u201d (Genesis 6:5)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can understand it?\u201d (Jeremiah 17:9)<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.\u201d (Ecclesiastes 7:20)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people \u2026 are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live.\u201d (Ecclesiastes 9:3)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. \u2026 All have turned away, all have become corrupt; no one does good.\u201d (Psalm 14:1-3)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is none righteous, no, not one \u2026 their feet are swift to shed blood.\u201d (Romans 3:10-18)<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.\u201d (Mark 7:21, 22)<\/p>\n

Now, lest I be accused of just thumping my Bible, theists and atheists alike have acknowledged the same.<\/p>\n

For example, in \u201cThe Rape of Nanking,\u201d Iris Chang writes, \u201cAlmost all people have this potential for evil, which would be unleashed \u2026 under certain \u2026 social circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulo Coelho echoes the same in his book, \u201cThe Devil and Miss Prym.\u201d \u201cAbout the nature of human beings,\u201d he writes, \u201cI discovered that confronted by temptation, we will always fall. Given the right circumstances, every human being on this earth would be willing to commit evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there is the seminal quote of G.K. Chesterton, who wrote in \u201cOrthodoxy\u201d\u00a0that certain new theologians \u201cdispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.\u201d He went on to bemoan that some followers of the Reverend R.J. Campbell \u201cadmit divine sinlessness, which they cannot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, we have Malcolm Muggeridge, who succinctly added: \u201cThe depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Wolpe\u2019s argument for this metaphorical view of Scripture reminds me of my doctoral research at Michigan State University some 30 years ago. I attempted to define how contemporary evangelicals view Scripture. I will never forget how one of Michigan State University\u2019s most iconic professors told me that the \u201cdeath, resurrection, virgin birth and miracles of Jesus could be \u2019message statements,\u2019\u201d not \u201creality statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

This low view of Scripture, whether from Christians or Jews, makes faith pallid and inconsequential. There is no question that the Bible features several genres of literature, such as poetry, prose, prophecy and parables. No one disputes that. Still, dismissing its historicity and reducing it all to feel-good allegories and metaphors ultimately makes it all meaningless to anyone but you.<\/p>\n

When culture rather than God defines your faith, its impact is of little consequence. If your religion is indistinct from the history-denying existentialism of the alphabet soup world around you, your influence is reduced to nothing and you will be ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the salt has lost its savor \u2026 it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.\u201d \u2014 Jesus (Matthew 5:13)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of \u201cNot a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth\u201d (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

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