Bible scriptural interpretation

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   noturningbackposted 12 years ago

   I have heard differing opinions of scripture and these have triggered divisions within the Body of Christ. Where do we draw the line; why is the bigger picture of we both believe in God seem to be forgotten?

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      mom101posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      noturningback,
      
      i ask the same thing many times.
      
      here is my version:  the Bible, is like a road map, many different paths one can take to get to the desired location.

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         noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I have a pretty similar interpretation; for some it is an instruction manual (me) and for others it is the destruction manual and then again, perhaps for others stil it may be a construction manual.
         Thanks for the response.

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      Cranfordjsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Religion has to continuously change in order to keep up with the secular world we live in. Sooner than later, it will be extincted.
      
      "That in itself is evidence that religion (particularly Christianity), as we know it, holds no merit. If you have to redefine the "word of God," we are faced with a serious logical fallacy. You can change one's conception of scripture all you want, but it does not change the fundamental fact that religious doctrine, in its original form, is incompatible with the modern world. This is serious evidence that religion has mortal origins"- Sam   Harris
      
      

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         noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Cranford, I was not advocating a major revamping of the best known and best preserved works of writing ever.
         I was advocating LOVE as in the message the Bible delivers and more specificlly loving our neighbor as ourselves.

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            Cranfordjsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yea it's so great! Here's my favorite quote! "I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men; she is to keep silent." Timothy 2:11 Damn you women! lol
            
            Another favorite of mine from the "best preserved works of writing ever"!
            
            "But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you." (Deuteronomy 22: 20-21
            
            Unless you have read the other holy books, "best preserved works of writing ever" doesn't hold any merit.
            
            

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               noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Hello Cranford, I have and am reading other "holy books" the Koran, the apocrypha, the Talmud and others and they are preserved and some pre-date the new testament of the Bible.But the best preserved aspect I speak of is that of the main content; "LOVE" has been left intact. As a whole, this book must be read and then re-read; there are some parts that stand out after re-reading. It"s like seeing a movie for the second or third time and finding things you missed.
               Yes those verses about the women not being able to teach; well in the day that was the rule and reading of proverbs you can see many a derogatory reference madebabout women, in fact through the Bible and we could start with Genesis and Eve. But the real story here lies between those passages; Eve did not make Adam eat from the tree of knowledge, he did it of hs own will and when Jesus was to be crucified ;I thank God that many women albeit Peter was nearby, but...who stayed with Him giving Him comfort and then running to tell the others He has risen and then keep§ng ther faith when told by the disciples even that they must be crazy and...
               Now about the stoning; Jesus took power away from that law and many others when He arrived, He spoke to those who followed the law about the woman caught in adultery-and I wonder where the man went by the way-anyway, He could not find one w/o sin to cast that first or any stone.

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      Seek-n-Findposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Person A is colorblind and declares that the sky is grey.  Person B has on dark sunglasses and declares that it's too dark outside to leave the house.  Person C loves the lightening and the brightness of it's flashing lights and thundering sounds.  Person D is thirsty and drinks from the open heavens.  Person E is not colorblind and confirms the sky is grey, but a different shade of grey than that which Person A describes.  Person B doesn't know much about the storm because he refuses to ever leave his house.  Person C sometimes gets close to being struck by lightening.  Person D is satisfied.  Person E argues with Person A.  The same storm--experienced so differently by different people--is still the same storm.  :-)

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         noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, still the same after thousands of years, but I suppose it to be like chili everyone adds or takes away from it to suit there own taste. But chili is still chili even w/o beans , too gassy anyway lol.

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         A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         No, the storm is experienced exactly the same by everyone, whatever odd beliefs they hold regarding going out of the house or listening to thunder or claiming the sky is a different color has nothing to do with that.

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      paarsurreyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What do you mean by the Body of Christ? Jesus was normal human being with a normal body born from Mary.

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         noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Body of Christ is a collective term meaning the followers of Christ; the body is made up of different members ie: hand, foot, eye and ear, we as members are all different, but still a part of the same body.

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   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   *gets out the chocolate bar and grabs a two liter of soda to watch the ensuing battle

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      noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I suppose one might need a toothbrush after all that?

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         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I guess that depends.

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      AshtonFireflyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      good idea Cagsil...

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         mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         And I shall do the same. I like my chocolate frozen... yummy!!

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         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I thought so too, which is why I said it.

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            AshtonFireflyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            naturally

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   Ardieposted 12 years ago

   Cagsil will have major cavities after this

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      Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      

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   Eric Newlandposted 12 years ago

   Good freakin' question. One of the reasons I converted to Catholicism (the primary being that my wife is Catholic) is that I hate denominationalism so much. Catholics get ragged on for a lot of things, but I've come to respect that the Catholic church is a cohesive church that, despite popular opinion, allows for some dissension. For example, there are pro-birth control groups within the church. It may be a long time before they have any impact on global church doctrine, but in the meantime they aren't getting kicked out, nor are they running off to start their own church.
   
   It'd be nice if all the branches of Christianity would do that, or at least agree to disagree on points that aren't the absolute core of the faith (that being the tenets of the Nicene and/or Apostle's Creed). The divinity of Christ is a bit more important than whether or not public dancing is a sign of promiscuity.

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      noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely my point Eric! This is not about promoting one denomination over another because of differences. It is about bringing together,as one family in Christ, many who feel lost because of those differences. Christ being the Unifier on all fronts.

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   Jeramiposted 12 years ago

   noturningback wrote
     I have heard differing opinions of scripture and these have triggered divisions within the Body of Christ. Where do we draw the line; why is the bigger picture of we both believe in God seem to be forgotten?
   
   =============
   
     divisions within the church establishment has existed ever sinse the reformation; ever sinse Martin Luther posted his letter on the door of the church building.
   
       And he was right about everything that he said!
   
      BUT, he didn't dig deep enough (In my opinion)
   
      If he had dug just a little bit deeper the whole thing might have been exposed.  But it wasn't time for that;  yet! 
      Prophesy had to unfold exactly as it was foretold. And that hadn't ..yet!
   
      It is "NOW" time to understand.

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      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Not forgetting the small matter of Henry VIII of England deciding to split with the Catholic Church because the pope refused to permit his divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

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         Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes Many, Many times Interpretation of scripture has changed acording to wind direction.
            OHhhhh so much to say .....  that has all been said many times before.

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      noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      More please, what do believe was left undisclosed?

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      noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      More please, what do believe was left undisclosed?

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         Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Do you honestly think that Jesus didn't teach any theology that are not to be found in the bible which the Roman Empire built.
         
            They only included the bare minimum of Jeasus's teachings that were necessary to build the kind of religion which would suit themselves the most.
         
            I'm just saying that "I" think that they left out the best parts of the theology which was taught., and Martin Luther only adressed "SOME" of those things which bothered him the most.

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            noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That is why I am looking at the apocrypha;surely this and the Talmud were available in Jesus' days and He would have most likely read the Talmud and He would then interpret the validity of those works and have relayed them to us. The Dead Sea scrolls and Codex Sinaiticus wrtten in Hebrew and Greek and not Latin.
            I beleve Jesus taught us many things through hs disciples and their memories as relayed to scribes or in letters to others, gave us a very good foundation on which to build our lives. They did not in my opinion advocate killing or harm, rather love and harmony.
            The book of Acts describes to me how the church should be. We should sit in an assembly of believers as open as possible with our concrens and needs as well as those near us as neighbors and address those needs with the resources we pool together.
            f and when discrepencies arise we should speak to each other one on one and then if they continue peak to ohers within the body of believers and seek guidance there. Because of man's pride sometimes having, but one leader and even more than one leader can do more to disrupt God's will for us
            when the leader seeks their own wants ahead of the need of that "Body of Christ"
            Again we must concern ourselves with each other first and because of love and not personal gain.

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               Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I apologize or the long delay in answering. I can only say that these are unavoidable.
               
                 I agree with everything that you said above; YET, this is only part of the  story.
                  
                 For ME, this is the opening paragraph........
                 The bible teaches that out names were written in the book before the earth was created.  Really think about this for a while. What is this saying?
                  
                  A small portion of who we really are is in this physical body for a very short time, and when the body dies we go back to where we came...... 
                 Where ever that is.
                
               What if we compared coming to this life as being kinda like going to a party, forgetting who we really are; making a fool of ourselves (or not!) only to be embarrassed (or Not?) on Monday. 
                  How many people are telling us how to behave at the party.               Can they ALL be right?
                 Maybe this comment is off topic (maybe not?)

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   rLcasaLmeposted 12 years ago

   This will happen if people interpret the scripture subjectively and people do it very often. The scripture has to be interpreted objectively. The bible has something to say and people interpret it the way they want it to be interpreted. Thus, the problem.

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      noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't see a problem really I think we all end up with pretty much the same conclusion loving your neighbor is what we are to do and that begins with faith in God.

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   Muldaniaposted 12 years ago

   The Bible cannot be taken literally, because the world we live in today is a very different one to that of two thusand years ago.  Our understanding of science means that to believe for instance in a literal creation of the universe in six days would necessarily mean denying the evidence.  Similarly the story of the flood and Noah cannot have possibly happened - at least not on a world-wide scale.  So the myths and legends are stories, which are meant to convey a message.  It is possible to still believe in the message without believing in the stories.  Many Christians do manage to combine their beliefs and modern understandings.  Fundamentalist sects which take all of the Bible literally are not representative of all Christians.

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      noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Muldania thank you for spending your time contributing to this forum.
      I can agree with you that parts of the Bible and predominantly the Old Testament cant be taken literally.
      As far as the flood goes I wasn't there thank God. I live near the Appalachian mountains, about two hours west, and this past summer while at an elevation of 3,000 ft.+ above sea level I literally stumbled upon a fossil at the summit of one of those ranges.
      Guess what I found? I found a fossilized sea creature; it looked like a Scallop shell and there are no Scallops in West Virginia. Anyway, that also may shed light onto the other subject you have spoken of which is time.
      In the Bible; in the Old and New Testaments it says a day is like a thousand years to the LORD.
      My opinion is that if not for scripture and the questions that arose from them; like why am I or what are these islands mentioned or who were the Nephilim , we would have nary a scientist, an explorer or an astronomer.
      I gave the fossil to a pastor at the Christian camp we were at in West Virginia, it just so happened we were looking for signs of God's creation; talk about small miracles, it was poignant and timely finding it.

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         A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's because about 120 million years ago, the land mass that is now the Appalachian mountains was once part of the ocean floor.
         
         
         
         Sorry, but scriptures did not bring about explorers and astronomers.
         
         
         
         Really? What verses in scriptures describes fossils in the Appalachians?

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            noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            A Troubled Man, what book says that it was 120 million years ago, Genesis?
            I almost hate to ask this, but why do you go by the name you are using?
            As I said earlier, my opinion.

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               A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Geology. Have you ever heard of Tectonic Plates?
               
               
               
               It refers to the duality of man and it's juxtaposition of the respect, the altruistic, the compassion and reality to the intellect.

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                  noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I truly apreciate the interest you have shown in this forum A Troubled Man, but I am not willing to go off the topic which is Bible scriptural interpretation.
                  Please, if you have anything to add which is relative to this topic alone and not a debate as to science and/or God's existence.

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                     A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     So, you were just wasting my time when you asked me a question in order to berate me for going off topic? And yet, YOU were the one who originally went off topic. How very honest of you.

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                        noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        This is not a bait and switch, nor is or was this meant to be an arguement. I'm afraid that your reason for entering this forum is transparent.

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                           A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Please don't be afraid.

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                              noturningbackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              Godly fear only. ☺

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                                 A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                 Please don't fear invisible sky fairies. They aren't real.

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