With so much coverage and many commentaries on Ferguson, I say it is time that we look at all of this from a biblical perspective.

Hi! My name is Terry Read. I am a Director of the San Antonio Bible Based Science Association and the author of Why Should I Believe? Why Should You Believe? I have observed that when you look at things from a biblical perspective, that is when things make sense. That is what this blog will be about, looking at things from a biblical perspective.

I will lead the Ferguson story with the most important point.  Genesis 6-9 tells us the story of Noah and the great flood. The account of Noah tells us that all of us are descended from just two people, Noah and his wife. So what does this mean? This means that there is really only one race – the human race. We have different ethnicities and different cultures. But if you go back between 4,000 and 5,000 years, we all have the same two ancestors.

Acts 17 describes Paul’s debate with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens. The Epicureans did not believe in an afterlife and the goal in life is to avoid pain. The Stoics did teach equality among men. But Stoicism was akin to materialism or naturalism. In his discourse, Paul described how God who made the heavens and the earth, made us of one blood – “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.”

So this is the most important point. We are all part of the same human family. But there are some other points that are to be made here. What where some of the events that precipitated the shooting? Michael Brown did steal from the convenience store. That is certainly a principle that goes against the Bible.

Michael Brown’s parents, Leslie McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. are not married. I do not know if they ever were. Louis Head, Michael Brown’s stepfather, incited a riot by saying “burn this _____ down!” Now no home is perfect. And sometimes bad things happen even when someone comes from the best of homes. But the less than optimal situation that Michael Brown came from has become way too common.

Malachi 2 14-16 states:

You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.  “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.” – NLT

In Matthew 19 4-6 Jesus states:

Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’”  And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’  Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” – NLT

So according to the Bible, being born to a mother and father who are married to each other, and stayed married to each other for life is the best situation. Many people are able to overcome not coming from this situation. And some parents work extra hard to help make up the deficiencies of not providing this ideal circumstance. Benjamin Carson’s mother is one.   Having said all of that, looking at Michael Brown’s circumstance with not only his parents not being married but also his stepfather having his issues (inciting a riot), I have to think this contributed to Michael Brown making some bad decisions.

A third point. There is a time for civil disobedience.

In Acts 5:29 Peter stated:

We must obey God rather than any human authority. – NLT.

And I would be the first one to agree that sometimes people in positions of power become overzealous. I have been victimized by that myself. But in general, we need to pick our battles with the authorities. Paul , in Romans 13, tells us authorities are placed here by God to “bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

A forth and very important point. Be very careful about conjecture.

Proverbs 18:17 says:

The first to speak in court sounds right — until the cross-examination begins. – NLT

Proverbs 29:20 says:

There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.

The point that the Bible is making is do not jump to conclusions. Get your facts. Get the whole story. One thing that I noticed about the Ferguson case is people talking about the case as if they knew what had happened when they did not. This is not only conjecture, but it is prejudicial conjecture. I learned about this first hand in 2011 when WOAI did a story regarding my father’s death and the way the paramedics handled the situation. As a result of what had happened in my father’s case, Representative Ruth Jones McClendon Sponsored HB 577 which was signed into law by Governor Perry. But what was really amazing was all of the prejudicial conjecture, mostly by emergency medical responders who just could not accept that one of their own may have done something wrong. They made comments as if they were there and they knew me and they knew what had happened. And they didn’t. Do not get me wrong. I am certainly appreciative of emergency medical responders. Like law enforcement, they perform a vital service under a lot of pressure. In most cases they do an admirable job. They have helped my wife on a number of occasions.

The point is that we all have a tendency to be that way. We identify with a certain group of people and we lose are objectivity. I identify with short people. (I am 5’4”) If I am not treated like I think I should be treated, my first inclination is to think that it is because I am short. Maybe that is the reason and maybe that is not the reason. So we all need to be careful about conjecture. It is O.K. to conjecture. But realize that your conjecture is your conjecture. Do not confuse your conjecture with what you really know.

The fifth and final biblical point. Proverbs 29:8 states:

Mockers can get a whole town agitated, but the wise will calm anger.

There have been a number of people stirring people up. This does not help. But it does victimize a lot of people that the agitators are claiming to want to help.

So these are the five points from the Bible that I have regarding Ferguson:

1. We are all part of the same human family. We need to view each other that way. That would solve a host of problems.
2. The biblical plan of a child being born to a man and a woman who are married to each other and stay married is the idea plan. We are seeing a lot of problems in this society from people not following this plan. We need to recognize the value of the biblical plan.
3. Without knowing first hand all of the particulars of the Michael Brown case, let us try to get along with authorities as much as we can. If we do disobey people in authority, let us ensure that it is for a really good reason.
4. Let us not confuse our own conjecture with what we really know.
5. In a situation like this, it is good to have a discourse on if things might have been done better. But do not stir   people to riot. Any “reverend” who does stir a mob up to do something destructive is not following the Bible.