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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | "That's just your interpretation."(?) | 2 Tim 2:15 | kalos | 116962 | ||
"That's just your interpretation."(?) Laziness 'Part and parcel of this abuse of Scripture is laziness. That is, most people simply don't take the trouble to read the context or to do their homework on the meaning of the Bible. And even when they are confronted with overwhelming evidence that is contrary to their view, they often glibly reply, "That's just your interpretation." This kind of response sounds as if all interpretations are up for grabs, as though all interpretations are equally plausible. Such a view is patently false. Take the following sentence as an example: "My mother likes climbing vines." One interpretation of these words is not just as valid as another. This sentence cannot mean "My father is an auto mechanic." "Mother" does not mean "Father"; "likes" does not mean "is"; "climbing vines" is not a synonym for "auto mechanic." Language cannot be twisted in this manner. Now, without a context, there are, however, two distinct options for the sentence in question. Either "My mother likes vines that climb" or "My mother likes to climb vines." Which is the right view? The only way to tell is to look at the context of the utterance--or to ask the author of the sentence! Both things are done in biblical interpretation. Sometimes the context solves the problem; other times, the more we know about an author, the better able we are to determine his meaning. But one recipe for missing the meaning of the text is to be too casual about it. After all, did not Paul tell Timothy, "Study to show yourself approved"?' ____________________ 'Scripture Twisting: Read me First! 'by Daniel B. Wallace, Ph.D. (http://www.bible.org/docs/soapbox/twist1.htm) |
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2 | "That's just your interpretation."(?) | 2 Tim 2:15 | kalos | 117011 | ||
Repost of ID# 105607 Kalos: Until I stumbled upon this Forum nearly three years ago, I'd never been exposed to the idea that one really need not study the Bible, because God personally and individually reveals (in dreams, visions, seances, trances, hunches, and in various other esoteric ways) what He wants His people to know. Which, if true, would lead one to wonder why He troubled Himself to inspire Scripture in the first place. This claim to personal revelation might have some degree of credibility except for one thing. Among those persons who have appeared on the Forum and claimed to have been the recipients of personal divine revelation, no two have been in agreement. This fact certainly gives one pause and causes him to ponder whether God reveals Himself one-on-one. If He does, not only did He waste His time in revealing Himself to man through the common medium of the Scriptures, but He gives conflicting revelation as well. Who could imagine God wasting His time or being divided against Himself? Both propositions are preposterous. In view of the pandemic ignorance of Scripture in our time, even among professing Christians, one cannot help but wonder why Scripture is held in such low regard, as it must be, for what other explanation can be offered for such widespread ignorance? The Bible, to be sure, is not mute on the necessity of searching the Scriptures. What geometrician Euclid said centuries ago still applies to learning today: "There is no royal road to learning." And what applies to learning in general applies to learning the Bible in particular. There is no evidence given in Scripture that God exempts His people from studying and learning His eternal word, or that He causes His word to be superfluous and redundant by revealing Himself privately to individual Christians. It really doesn't take much savvy to determine which members of this Forum read and study the Bible and which do not. "By their fruits, ye shall know them." --Hank |
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