PURPOSEFUL IMPERFECTIONS IN THE BIBLE?

Artists and artisans in several cultures, most notably Persian and Japanese, create works of art in which they purposely incorporate flaws. The usually stated reason for doing this is either that (a) it is arrogant of imperfect humans to try to achieve perfection since only God is perfect or (b) it is a reminder to the viewer that only God is perfect.

With that in mind, years ago I was trying to analyze the literary structure of the book of Hebrews and soon realized that it formed the perfectly symmetrical pattern shown below:

Figure 1: The Structure of Hebrews

    I. Introduction: God's New Revelation (1:1-3b)

        II. Angels and their Message (1:3c-2:18)

            III. Israel Tested in the Wilderness (3:1-4:13)

                IV. Apostasy and Confidence (4:14-6:20)

                    V. Old and New Priesthood (7:1-28)

                    V'. Old and New Sacrifice (8:1-10:18)

                IV'. Apostasy and Confidence (10:19-12:2)

            III'. Perseverance and Testing of Believers (12:3-29)

        II'. Exhortations (13:1-21)

    I'. Conclusion: God's New Revelation (13:22-25)

If one compares the pairs of sections with the same Roman numerals (i.e., I with I', II with II', etc.), it is easy to see that the same phrases, words, and themes appear in each pair.

Then, since there are ten sections in the book, I wondered if the number 10 would also figure in the organization of each individual section as well. I turned out that I could readily reconstruct the organization of all the major sections with that in mind (omitting the smaller Introduction and Conclusion, which only had five sub-sections each). The exact types of symmetrical arrangements in each section varied, but each obviously contained ten sub-sections. Here are just two examples of the variations in organization present (The rest are given in my post “Book of Hebrews: Introduction to the Literary Structure”):

Figure 2: Section II

Theme: Jesus' Atonement for Sin (1:3c)

    A. Christ is Superior to Angels (1:4)

        B. Scriptural Evidence (“did God say..or again..or again”) (1:5-13)

            C. Conclusion (1:14-2:4)

    A'. Son of Man Superior to Angels (2:5)

        B'. Scriptural Evidence (2:6-8a)

            C'. Conclusion (2:8b-9)

    A''. We Share Christ's Nature (2:10)-11)

        B''. Scriptural Evidence (“saying..and again..and again”) (2:12-13)

            C''. Conclusion (2:14-18)

Figure 3: Section V

    A. The Son – A Priest Forever (7:1-3)

        B. New Priest Superior to Abraham (7:4-10)

            C. Old Priesthood and Law Set Aside (7:11-14)

                D. Another Priest Like Melchizedek Appears (7:15-16)

                    E. Ps. 110:4 (7:17)

            C'. Old Commandment Set Aside (7:18-19)

        D'. The Lord Takes the Oath of Priesthood (7:20-21a)

                    E'. Ps. 110:4 (7:21b-22)

        B'. New Priest Superior to Old Priests (7:23-25)

    A'. The Son is Appointed a Priest Forever (7:26-28)

Thus, in the matter of minutes, it was possible to reconstruct and wonder at the amazing perfection of the book. There was only one small problem. Try as I could, I could not get rid of one small imperfection in the pattern present in one of the sections (At this point in time, I can't remember which section it was). But perhaps, I later thought, that was a purposeful imperfection introduced by the author to demonstrate that only God is perfect.

However, the more I thought about it, that explanation did not make sense for several reasons. For one thing, as others have noted concerning the reason that Islamic artists often incorporate purposeful imperfections in their geometrical and floral patterns, it is actually a sign of arrogance to proclaim to the world in effect: “You can see that I have purposefully put in a mistake to disrupt my work of art because I didn't want to show God up. But if I hadn't done that, it would have indeed achieved perfection.” So it can easily end up as an example of false humility.

Next I was reminded that the books of the Bible were not just any literary productions of some random believers, but were actually inspired by God. As it says in II Peter 1:20-21, “no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” And although Peter was specifically speaking of the Old Testament, this truth can easily be expanded to include the other inspired writings of the Bible. So if Hebrews is directly inspired by God Himself, why would it have been necessary for the human author of the book to introduce an imperfection?

Finally, there are the times in the New Testament in which believers are actually encouraged to “be perfect.” See Matthew 5:48; 19:21; Hebrews 13:21; and I Peter 5:10. Of course, we should keep in mind that the root Greek word here by no means implies that we will ever reach the perfection of God, but we are to strive to achieve our personal best, to reach our ultimate goal, to be totally united with God in faith and behavior, be completely whole, to serve God with an undivided heart, etc. And as such, it is total inconsistent to think that the inspired author of Hebrews would purposely introduce an “error” in the book.

The bottom line is that I reexamined the “problem section” and realized that it could be quite easily recast as a completely symmetrical organization. In addition, I realized that the Introduction and Conclusion each took the form of a five-member chiasm (i.e., ABCB'A').So I have stopped looking for “imperfections” in the Bible as many critical scholars do, and instead concentrate on how perfect it is, not only as a work of literary art but in every way, when understood rightly.