_PNG.png)
church people have a habit of saying or inferring, “…because it says so in the bible.” here are a few:
the bible says we are supposed to tithe.
the bible says we need to go to church on sundays.
the bible says homosexuality is wrong.
the bible says you can’t have sex before marriage.
the bible says women can’t preach.
the bible says there’s going to be a rapture.
the bible says some people are predestined to be saved.
the bible says some people are predestined to go to hell.
the bible says there is a Trinity.
the bible says we can be perfect.
the bible says we can speak in tongues.
the bible speaks of the catholic church.
the bible says children must obey their parents.
the bible says wives must obey their husbands.
the bible supports the death penalty.
the bible says i don’t have to obey the government.
the bible says all religions except christianity are wrong.
the bible foretells the future.
the bible says there are just wars.
the bible says that hell is a place of eternal torment.
the bible says we can fall away from our faith.
the bible says that god wants everybody to go to heaven.
the bible says god prohibits killing…yet god gets to kill people.
for today, the issue is not whether the bible says these things. my concern is whether you know where the bible says these things and whether you have read and studied through those passages. or whether you have just taken somebody’s word that those statements are true and worthy of you adopting them as true in your life. all of them? some of them?
here are a few other statements. are they in the bible? do you know where? can you find them? do you know what they mean? does it matter that you know what they mean?
the bible says there is an unforgivable sin.
the bible says we can baptize for the dead.
the bible says that jesus visited hell.
the bible says there will be animals in heaven.
the bible says we can hear the voice of god.
the bible says we can drink poison and live if we have enough faith.
the bible says we can move mountains if we have enough faith.
the bible says we will get what we ask for if we have enough faith.
the bible says god will strike people dead for disobeying him.
the bible says it contains no mistakes.
the bible says that god wrote the bible.
the bible says not to use drugs.
the bible says the antichrist is in the world right now.
the bible says these are the “last days”.
the bible says if we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven.
the bible says to pluck out our eye if it causes us to sin.
i’ve been thinking a lot lately about how confusing the bible can be, if we are not careful to use good scholarship and commit ourselves to diligent study. all of us. not just the clergified among us. not just those who have been properly tebowed.
i no longer run the risk of having my faith shaken by intellectual challenges… or criticism of my interpretation of the bible by people from other religious groups…or attacks by philosophical atheists. i’m not putting myself on a pedestal or expressing some kind of spiritual superiority.
i’m just saying that i’ve taken seriously the study of the bible, because i base every significant priority of my life on it’s contents. because of the importance that decision, there is nothing more critical to me than being confident in what it says and that i have paid the price to understand it to the best of my ability.
how about you?
コメント