It doesn’t require market research to determine scriptural truth, but the way most modern theologians have abandoned a plain reading of the text of the Tenahk and the B’rit haDeshah in favor of “more spiritual interpretations” of the text. While “more spiritual” sounds good on the face of it, the fruit such interpretations bear is another issue entirely.

At various times in the history of the Christian church, theologians have bent over backwards to come up with “spiritual meanings” to scriptural texts while ignoring the most obvious way to interpret such works. For example, some historically significant theologians have expounded on the importance of the trinity, drawing comparisons to other elements of life that come in threes; yet nowhere in the text is there any basis for comparing the “Holy Trinity” to, say, a baby, an adult and an old man. The comparison exists not in Scripture, but only in the theologian’s imagination. There is no basis, Scripturally, for the comparison.

Now, this sort of random comparison may have some illustrative value, but it is not a lesson that is inherent in the text of Scripture itself, which means that these theologians are substituting the wisdom of Adonai (apparent in the plain reading of the test) for their own philosophies.

Believers who attend worship services without taking notes and comparing their rabbi’s or pastor’s teaching and points directly to Scripture, and holding them accountable for their teachings when those teachings do not align with Scriptural teachings, are living hazardously. One would not walk into a malt shop, order a chocolate malt and drink it without a least checking to see if the malt was the appropriate brown color and smelled like chocolate, would they?

And yet, that is the equivalent of how many people interact with their church or temple experience these days.