 Posted Saturday, October 14, 2006 5:51 AM
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Erol,
You came to mind when I read this. Isaiah 47: 13 says in part, “You are worn out with your many consultations. So let them stand and save you----.” The King James study bible says it this way, “Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.”
Isaiah is talking about Babylon as a deposed queen, of course, but I thought about all of your beautifully worded, well thought out posts arguing against simply accepting God’s word as it is written. I thought about all of the things you probably have read and studied to support your way of thinking about the Word of God. You have made understanding the simple message contained in the Holy Bible so complicated for yourself.
Back in my days of doubt and rejection of God’s word as given to us in the Bible, during my time of thinking of myself as being too smart and well-educated to embrace it without the interpretation of intellectuals or Mary Baker Eddy or my own “deep thought” the bottom line finally became this: WHAT IF IT IS TRUE.
After asking myself that question I became something like a dry sponge thrown into a bucket of water. I soaked it up. I rejoiced in its simplicity. I just couldn’t get enough of reading and studying, as well as learning from other Christians what God’s word had to say to me from that perspective.
Are you perhaps needing to consider that question too?
Temperance
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Posted Saturday, October 14, 2006 9:45 AM
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Hello Temperance,
I know I need some of that--temperance, I mean ;-)
I actually think it's all in the Bible. There is a particular interpretation of the Bible, and many of Jesus's sayings in particular, that is called "fundamentalism". In many cases, if you actually read what the Bible says, you will see that the fundamentalists distort (or ignore) the plain meaning of the language as much as they accuse others of doing. The usual line that is taken is "well, it seems to mean that, but actually it must mean something else." So they do just what they accuse Christian Scientists of doing, except that they are relying on interpretations by theologians who lived half a millennium ago instead of a century ago.
I've given some examples of this in my posts, but I'll give some more when I can get some time.
For a start, read Genesis chapter 3 and focus on what the words actually say, rather than on what fundamentalists interpret them as saying.
Then read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7) and focus on what Jesus actually says rather than on what fundamentalists think he must have meant.
I also recommend you read the "born again" section in John 3: 1-23 and think of what it actually means in itself, without outside interpretation.
Also, if you have time, read the Epistle of James. This may well have been written by a brother of Jesus himself, and if so, he presumably knew more than most other people what the essence of Jesus' teachings was!
Erol
<< Erol,
You came to mind when I read this. Isaiah 47: 13 says in part, “You are worn out with your many consultations. So let them stand and save you----.” The King James study bible says it this way, “Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.”
Isaiah is talking about Babylon as a deposed queen, of course, but I thought about all of your beautifully worded, well thought out posts arguing against simply accepting God’s word as it is written. I thought about all of the things you probably have read and studied to support your way of thinking about the Word of God. You have made understanding the simple message contained in the Holy Bible so complicated for yourself.
Back in my days of doubt and rejection of God’s word as given to us in the Bible, during my time of thinking of myself as being too smart and well-educated to embrace it without the interpretation of intellectuals or Mary Baker Eddy or my own “deep thought” the bottom line finally became this: WHAT IF IT IS TRUE.
After asking myself that question I became something like a dry sponge thrown into a bucket of water. I soaked it up. I rejoiced in its simplicity. I just couldn’t get enough of reading and studying, as well as learning from other Christians what God’s word had to say to me from that perspective.
Are you perhaps needing to consider that question too?
Temperance >>
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Posted Monday, October 16, 2006 7:11 PM
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Erol,
I too, think it is all in the Bible. I’m very familiar with the term fundamentalism. I probably do unintentionally "distort (or ignore) the plain meaning of the language.” I’m working on doing less of that. I may even take the line, “well, it seems to mean that, but actually it must mean something else.” Who doesn’t take that line now and then?
I am 69 and left CS when I left my mother’s home at age 18. During college, I attended a different church every Sunday with my sorority sisters. Coming out of CS upbringing, I was so confused that I tried, over the years, every denomination on this continent, or nearly so it seems! Church shopping, I’m sorry to say, including a brief return to CS. Eventually, my husband and I settled for a mainline Christian church. Now we are in a Southern Baptist church. I doubt that we will ever leave it.
December the 31st I will have read through the entire Bible for the fourth year in a row. The Bible I use for that includes each day some Old Testament, Psalms, a Proverb and New Testament. There is not one footnote or explanation or discussion of any of the Scripture anywhere in the Bible. I’m on my own. I dearly love it this way as I let God speak to me through His Word.
As I read, I have always done exactly what you recommended, I “read and think of what it actually means in itself, without outside interpretation.” Also, as you suggested I “focus on what Jesus actually says rather than on what the fundamentalists (or anyone else) think He must have meant.” I “focus on what the words actually say, rather than on what fundamentalists (or others) interpret them as saying.” Just as you suggested.
You said to read the Epistle of James. I love the book of James and probably (because of my age) have read it many more times than you have.
The King James study Bible I use to understand the circumstances under which it was written, as well as who wrote it and to whom it was written. Surely you do the same sort of study.
Temperance
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Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 1:14 AM
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Temperance,
Thanks for sharing.
Erol
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