your opinion of the bible

[Robert Bishop]

i guess i am borred

just curious how many believe and follow every word

[John Wilson]

My pedestrian understanding is that the Council of Nicea spent about two years asking themselves this very same question when they were deciding which books would be included in the bible and which would not.

I believe every word of the bible, however I also believe that each book is to be held up to the light of it's intent. As you of all people well know, the Bible is not a single book. For that reason I believe it should not be treated as if it were.

As to following:

Do I follow every word of the Psalms? No. They are church hymns, not edicts.

Do I follow every word of the Proverbs? No. They are proverbs. Some of them are hilarious, such as "It is better to sleep on the corner of the roof than in the house with a quarrelous woman." Now, that's funny! True, but funny. But just because the *idea or the *point of the proverb has truth, it's not to be taken literally. It would require severe ignorance to believe that God wants you to sleep on the corner of your roof when your wife is in a bad mood.

I believe each book has its purpose and it is wrong to assign a purpose to it that was never intended. The synoptic gospels tell of the life and mission of Christ. Each is similar but was tailored to different audience with a slightly different purpose but they are all undoubtedly equal in my mind.

Paul's letters are a good example where it is very important to see the big picture instead of trying to make every sentence a commandment. Paul was a hothead. He was a zealot and he began his ministry far too rigid even for his own good. He admits this in his later letters. People who don't understand this like to point at Paul's writings as biblical contradictions. Paul was human and humans grow and learn. If you were wrong before, but meant well and were honest but didn't know better, then learning the lesson later in life and admitting to it is not a contradiction. At least not to anybody who isn't just searching for contradictions, as if all lines of scripture are equal. They are not.

I believe all scripture is inspired by God. However, I do not believe that every scripture is the word spoken BY GOD.

[Michael Wells]

Excellent statement John

"I believe every word of the bible, however I also believe that each book is to be held up to the light of it's intent."

[Tony (BIG DEDDY) Bishop]

I am a God fearing Christian!!! I believe every word of it and try to live by it to the best of my ability, although we all fall short of the glory of God. I put God before everything!!!

[John Wilson]

Aug 7, 2013 17:41:23 GMT -5 Michael Wells said:

Excellent statement John

"I believe every word of the bible, however I also believe that each book is to be held up to the light of it's intent."

Thanks, Mike.

I believe context is the main point. The words mean nothing if you ignore their meaning.

[Robert Bishop]

Aug 7, 2013 15:59:48 GMT -5 John Wilson said:

My pedestrian understanding is that the Council of Nicea spent about two years asking themselves this very same question when they were deciding which books would be included in the bible and which would not.

I believe every word of the bible, however I also believe that each book is to be held up to the light of it's intent. As you of all people well know, the Bible is not a single book. For that reason I believe it should not be treated as if it were.

As to following:

Do I follow every word of the Psalms? No. They are church hymns, not edicts.

Do I follow every word of the Proverbs? No. They are proverbs. Some of them are hilarious, such as "It is better to sleep on the corner of the roof than in the house with a quarrelous woman." Now, that's funny! True, but funny. But just because the *idea or the *point of the proverb has truth, it's not to be taken literally. It would require severe ignorance to believe that God wants you to sleep on the corner of your roof when your wife is in a bad mood.

I believe each book has its purpose and it is wrong to assign a purpose to it that was never intended. The synoptic gospels tell of the life and mission of Christ. Each is similar but was tailored to different audience with a slightly different purpose but they are all undoubtedly equal in my mind.

Paul's letters are a good example where it is very important to see the big picture instead of trying to make every sentence a commandment. Paul was a hothead. He was a zealot and he began his ministry far too rigid even for his own good. He admits this in his later letters. People who don't understand this like to point at Paul's writings as biblical contradictions. Paul was human and humans grow and learn. If you were wrong before, but meant well and were honest but didn't know better, then learning the lesson later in life and admitting to it is not a contradiction. At least not to anybody who isn't just searching for contradictions, as if all lines of scripture are equal. They are not.

I believe all scripture is inspired by God. However, I do not believe that every scripture is the word spoken BY GOD.

i understand what you are saying about the psalms

but
i know you realize that some of it is very prophetic

like 83 or 91

[Robert Bishop]

i would say that the Song of Solomon would be the hardest for me to pay attention to lol

but
i love the Ecclesiastes and the prophets

[John Wilson]

I agree. Most of Psalms is prophetic. There's a good reason that the Book of Psalms was included in the bible. I don't dismiss it, or Proverbs, at all. I'm just saying that each line of Psalms should not be seen in the same way as Exodus, Leviticus, the synoptic Gospels. Just as church hymns of today contain powerful lessons for us and reach us in ways that scripture sometimes doesn't- but they are still songs and should be recognized as such in my opinion.


Its just my opinion. I am not an ordained minister.

[Brian Keema]

different versions have different meanings, i like the king james

kent hovind, drdino.com check it out

[A L L E N F I S H E R]

Nice to see the subject on here. One of my favorite topic for 8 years was was the study of textual criticism. In other words did God really keep His promise in preserving His Word? If Man or any fallen angles were ever allowed to change, add to, take way from God's written word, than how powerful could that god be?
God is not a liar. All Scripture was God breathed being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them.
The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself
W.C.F. Chapter 1 (1647)

Anyone interested in further reading?
God's Providential Preservation of the Scriptures
by Gary La More.
av1611.com/kjbp/articles/lamore-gods-providential-preservation-of-the-scriptures.html

One of the booklets I found was a good summary of the topic was “The Providential Preservation of the Greek Text of the New Testament"
You can download it here: www.temcat.com/005-Bible-versions/PROVIDENTIAL%20PRESERVATION.pdf

[John Wilson]

Agreed, Allen.

It is a very interesting topic. For instance, all scripture is inspired by God. Which leads us to ask, why were certain books removed from the bible? As you know, the KJV does not contain several book found in the Catholic bible. All Catholic bibles come from the Latin Vulgate which was the ONLY bible until the 14th century.

So, whenever King James commissioned his bible for the Anglican church, someone decided to drop a few books. (Tobit, Maccabbees come to mind.) I have read about this and it seems to have been a political decision to appease both the Puritans and the Anglicans. I'm no scholar, it's just what I've read.

I like the KJV, as well as the NKJV, the NIV, as well as the Good News and Dewey Reams. As Brian points out above, many times by studying a passage in multiple versions we can see different translational takes on something.

I don't get into which version is superior, because that entire notion goes out the window as soon as we throw out the English language versions. There is a common theme among Evangelicals (which I count myself, although I'm a confirmed Catholic) to say that the KJV is the ONLY AUTHORIZED VERSION of the English language bible, which is just as silly as when the Roman Catholic Church decided that it was okay to burn anyone who had possession of a non-Latin Vulgate copy. It was the Protestants themselves (primarily Wycliff) who believed every man should have a bible in his own language. Martin Luther agreed and translated the bible into German. Tyndale followed, and then so on and so forth.

I believe that salvation and grace are given to all mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ- even for those who can't read. Therefore arguing over version of the written bible as regards to God's message is, I believe, a trap created by Satan.

[TK]

The book is out dated

Somebody need to write a new one

TK

[Chris Kaufman]

Aug 9, 2013 18:22:32 GMT -5 TK said:

The book is out dated

Somebody need to write a new one

TK

They did, it's called the Book of Mormon.

[TK]

Lmao

[Brian Keema]

nicely put john.
if anybody believes in evolution they should check out kent hovind and drdino.com he has amazing seminars and debates top professors in evolution and shuts em down with the bible and evidence from earth.