Results 1 - 3 of 3
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | The fruit and leaves of the tree of life | Gen 2:9 | jlhetrick | 184604 | ||
Hello brother Jonp, I believe what I have observed happening on the Forum regarding you, is very much the same as what happens with a lot of new forum members. However, your excess of posts (147 in 22 days) makes the issue seem bigger than perhaps it truly is. I haven't kept statistics but I'm guessing that your posts make up a significant percentage of the postings in the past 22 days. And all that with the rest of us knowing very little about you. Your user profile is more of an advertisement for your website (no offense). Perhaps what's most important is that, while a lot of what you present is very well explained and supported by Scripture, some of the things you have presented are questionable at best. For example, you have mentioned more than once that the truth of the word of God "comes to us from many angles. I truly do not know what you mean by that. I would agree that the differences in our own histories and presuppositions causes each of us to approach the truth of the word of God from "many angles", but it is our angles that require straitening. Honestly though, I just can't position you from the way you present your statement. There are certainly no angles on the truth and as I believe we both agree, the truth of Scripture is never changing. Time, circumstances, culture, nor anything else has any effect on truth. God's truth is absolute. And while we agree that there is symbolism in the bible, I don't agree that "obtaining a balance" is what we're to seek, but the truth verified with Scripture and not going an inch further than that. Jonp, in finding this forum my guess is that you must have run across at least a few different forums that were mostly chaotic and anything goes types. Most of the regulars here work hard to keep SBF from becoming such a place. All types come here, saved and unsaved I'm sure. I'm fairly sure too that many of those don't actually read the "Terms of Use" that they agree to when registering. So you can imagine that those of us who have found SBF to be less tolerant of unsupported "winds of doctrine" and focused on the truth of God's word would like to keep it that way. God bless, Jeff |
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2 | The fruit and leaves of the tree of life | Gen 2:9 | jonp | 184611 | ||
Hi Jeff, I note your comments. One problem, however, as I'm sure you will have appreciated if you have noted the people to whom I have directed replies, is that I have been bombarded with 'replies to your posting' to which in courtesy I have had to provide replies. I do not like to refuse an answer to someone who contacts me through the forum however difficult the question, indeed it would be wrong for me to do so. And I have received a constant stream of questions. With regard to angles I am sure you will be aware that different Biblical writers do write from different angles For example the authors of the former prophets strongly emphasise God as the first cause of everything, thus saying that God caused David to number Israel. The Chronicler looking from a different angle says that it was Satan who caused David to number Israel. The writer in Ecclesiastes takes up a very different angle from the Psalmists. Daniel approaches things from a different angle to the other prophets. The Gospel writers each approach the life of Jesus from a different angle. Paul undoubtedly writes from a very different angle to that of James. The book of Revelation writes from John's own particular visionary and apocalyptic angle. Thus in the midst of unity there is great diversity, which is a very good thing as the Scriptures are not just for Western minds or for scholars. Eastern minds will interpret them very differently from us, and so will the young. And each of us will see them differently as we advance in age and spiritual maturity. But that is the genius of the Scriptures. For they are greater than all of us. And even Dr Scofield did not comprehend them all as B B Warfield and Edward J Young among others pointed out :-)))). That is why the Scriptures can be read both by children and by greybeards and be helpful to both. And they are so spiritually deep and extensive in what they teach that every single one of us can only hope to grasp facets of the truth even after a lifetime of study. Thus each of us must inevitably approach things from the angle of the position we have reached, and the particular emphases with which we have been brought into contact. So I can't quite agree that there are no angles in Scripture, even if we ignore the different angles from which we approach them. They are deliberately written in order meet a diversity of needs, and to provide for growth in knowledge and understanding over long lives. The truth of Scripture is unchanging, but our intepretation of it is ever changing. And it will be a sad day for us when that ceases to be so. Not everyone will agree with what I put forward, any more than I agree with all that they put forward,but it is precisely because I back up my arguments with Scripture that they have to be so detailed. And I do not think you can genuinely accuse me of not focusing on the truth of God's word. With regard to my profile originally I only provided my email address and it was suggested to me that I should put in my website address. With all best wishes Jonp | ||||||
3 | The fruit and leaves of the tree of life | Gen 2:9 | jlhetrick | 184613 | ||
Jonp, First, I can appreciate feeling the need to respond to every post made to you. Second let me say that a quick lesson to learn regarding the forum is to not expect to respond to every post made to you. It may seem rude, but it's the reality of it. Very often the multiple responses are addressing the same issue and a response to the first questioner should be sufficient. In addition, there are others who can competently answer questions as well freeing you up from some of the responsibility. As for your response to the "angles" issue, I consider your response "spin" (and long-winded to state it truthfully) and will stand by my previous statements. You seem very intelligent and I'm sure capable of understanding my earlier point. Never mind getting into a NEW debate about the translations, that is, was the writer saying God incited David, or God's anger incited David. With the right understanding, the "angles" are easily disregarded. You will never find in Scripture the teaching that God is the cause of sin. I don't expect you to respond to that point, just consider it. I certainly have not suggested that the event times, culture, characters, and writer's personalities, etc. are not important and do not show up in what we read. None of it effects the truth as that has always been safe-guarded by the Author (Isaiah 55:11). You wrote: "So I can't quite agree that there are no angles in Scripture, even if we ignore the different angles from which we approach them." Fine, hold strongly to it if it pleases you. And it's your right as well to ignore my pointing out that the different angels are in how we approach the scriptures and not the other way around. Perhaps most revealing of yourself is your statement that "Eastern minds will interpret them very differently from us,.." Well, I can only say that you may be far more misguided than I had originally believed. The truth of Scripture is the truth of God and is not open to any interpretation other than that of God Himself. It's never changing. It is not influenced by time and certainly not geography. If I interpret Scripture in one way and someone in China interprets the same Scripture in another way, well friend, one of us is wrong. What your teaching is better known as relativism. It's not Scriptural. Please don't feel compelled to respond to this post. It is intended to help not hurt. Take from it what you will and throw out the rest. I do encourage you to be more careful in what you are teaching and at least consider a bit of the barrage of negative feedback you are getting from others. Otherwise, you risk presenting yourself as a "know-it-all" and unteachable. God bless, Jeff |
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