Aiming for Accuracy and the Boundaries of the Christian Faith.
Posted : 15 Jul, 2011 12:05 PM
Thank you Bahira.
coman,
Since you replied the way you did, I would also like to add to my thoughts that the method I proposed is the very opposite of the modern American, emotionally driven, practice of pretending the Holy Spirit is your own personal Ouija board, and when you open the bible you pretend that suddenly you are infallible because you have the Holy Spirit.
You and live in a culture and time where most Christians actually could care less what their brothers and sisters in Christ have believed about the Bible.
Even though the Bible says:
1 We NEED the Body of Christ, and that God has raised up teachers for this purpose.
2. in the book of Proverbs it says THREE TIMES that
"There is wisdom in many counselors"
Most modern Christians REFUSE to listen to the bible itself, and much rather prefer their own private religious hunches/
Aiming for Accuracy and the Boundaries of the Christian Faith.
Posted : 15 Jul, 2011 01:13 PM
A favorite book of mine about Biblical interpretation is
Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth by Roy R. Zuck.
It is not a Bible comentary, but it is a guide to the principles of Biblical interpretation. It covers many areas including a history of Biblical interpretation, cultural, gramatical, literary understanding of scripture.
There is but one interpretation of scripture, but there are many applications.
Aiming for Accuracy and the Boundaries of the Christian Faith.
Posted : 15 Jul, 2011 04:32 PM
Cobbler,
I agree with you. I do think that if we could just get everyone to agree to USE the rules of interpretation, that we would have more unity, and we could even consoladate some of the denominations.
For instance, if we could just all agree that the things are clearest in the New Testament, and that we should interpret the Old Testament in light of the new, and NOT the other way around.
Dispensationalists interpret Johns Revelation through Daniel.
It should be the other way around.
Also, if we could agree that unclear verses should be interpreted in light of the clear verses.
For instance we have three or four verses that seem to say that a true Christian can lose their salvation, but we have fifteen CLEAR verses that say that a Christian can NOT lose their salvation.
Aiming for Accuracy and the Boundaries of the Christian Faith.
Posted : 15 Jul, 2011 09:05 PM
Magoo, I agree with you to a certain extent. If you want to really dig deep into the Word, then going back to the original Greek and Hebrew is important. But, for most normal people this is really not an option. Most disagreement does not come because the translation of the Bible, instead it comes from people putting their own meaning to the scripture.
You are correct that the Greek does not translate well into English, since it is so different. But I have found that the Greek translates well into the romance languages, such as Spanish, since they have the same grammatical structure.
James, you are correct that you should interpret the obscure passage in light of the clear passages. Too many people love to take one-off obscure passages and make too much of them. It is especially wrong when they use the obscure to contradict the clear passages.
You always let scripture interpret scripture. You first look at how the author uses the word in the same paragraph. You then expand it out and look at the chapter. You then compare it to the rest of the book. You then look at how the author has used the word in other books, how does it compare to how he has written elsewhere. You then compare it to how that fits into the rest of the Bible.
Aiming for Accuracy and the Boundaries of the Christian Faith.
Posted : 16 Jul, 2011 05:46 AM
Sirjames;
most of the time, I really don't have time to nail down everything, well quite frankly a tenth of what gets writtern unless I can read it in a minute or so.
I am not a teacher. I am operating the equipping ministry of Pastor in Colorado Springs.
In response to what you directed to me:
emotion has nothing to do with Christianity. Yes, 90 % of the decisions folks make are emotion - based. The cure for emotion is three fold, actions, thoughts, and operating the manifestaions of the spirit of God.
feel fear, then act against that fear.
think fear, then think scripture
have emotions out of control. speak in tongues (i.e the fruit of the spirit, well, one of the fruits is self-control).
Ya, endeavor to learn God's word, absolutely. that is everyone's job, Pastor Bob might be able to help you from time to time.BUT it's my responsibility to work the word, and the same for you.
Boundaries? I would worry about boundaries, unless you are setting them for others..
Christian faith, huh? Faith is "pistis"..active believing or a word used in the first verse of Ephesians, as in the "household", i.e. members of the Body of Christ who are actively renewing their minds according the the word. As in the difference between "carnal christians" and Christians being led by the Lord Jesus Christ by their choice.
Aiming for Accuracy and the Boundaries of the Christian Faith.
Posted : 16 Jul, 2011 05:20 PM
coman said:
Sirjames;
most of the time, I really don't have time to nail down everything, well quite frankly a tenth of what gets writtern unless I can read it in a minute or so.
James replies:
Then you should not reply.
coman said:
I am not a teacher. I am operating the equipping ministry of Pastor in Colorado Springs.
James replies:
I do not know what you mean by "equipping ministry".
Could you explain this to me?
Coman said:
In response to what you directed to me:
emotion has nothing to do with Christianity. Yes, 90 % of the decisions folks make are emotion - based. The cure for emotion is three fold, actions, thoughts, and operating the manifestaions of the spirit of God.
James replies:
I have no idea what you mean by that. Are you speaking about how Christians interpret the Bible?
Coman said:
feel fear, then act against that fear.
think fear, then think scripture
have emotions out of control. speak in tongues (i.e the fruit of the spirit, well, one of the fruits is self-control).
James replies:
I have no idea what you mean by all that.
Coman said:
Ya, endeavor to learn God's word, absolutely. that is everyone's job, Pastor Bob might be able to help you from time to time.BUT it's my responsibility to work the word, and the same for you.
James replies:
I agree, each one of us ultimately responsible to know God's Word and to understand it as best we can.
Coman said:
Boundaries? I would worry about boundaries, unless you are setting them for others..
James replies:
I am stating what I believe the Boundaries are.
The Bible is not a lump of clay we can fashion into anything we wish.
In Christ,
James
Coman Said:
Christian faith, huh? Faith is "pistis"..active believing or a word used in the first verse of Ephesians, as in the "household", i.e. members of the Body of Christ who are actively renewing their minds according the the word. As in the difference between "carnal christians" and Christians being led by the Lord Jesus Christ by their choice.
