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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Genesis Creation, a practical example? | Bible general Archive 1 | charis | 20012 | ||
Dear Sir, Greetings in Jesus' name! Friend, I know your heart when you want to create a 'universally accepted way of determining biblical literalism and biblical symbolism.' I trust that your intentions are of the greatest order. However, historically this is exactly what (almost) every denomination had in mind when they 'split' to make their own distinctive 'method.' Sadly, after a generation or two had passed, and the number of 'affiliated' churches were created or 'grafted in,' the result was a human endeavor. God wants us to trust Him! This means that we are always blessed by the individual local chruch, and it's sole reliance on the Holy Spirit. Some say this is a 'confused' way of doing things, that we have to 'organize' our beliefs. In my humble opinion, every attempt to 'organize' beliefs, no matter how honorable, eventually became yet another (slightly) different human institution. Each of these institutions focuses on a few areas of Scripture, to the detriment of the whole. Some are more 'radical' or 'fundamental' or 'conservative' than others, but the fact remains that there is a certain spiritual bigotry or bent as a result. Many of the saints on this forum clearly show their institutional traditions in their answers. (And few will admit it! :-)) Friend, all I can say is that God never intended for us to have a 'universally accepted way of determining biblical literalism and biblical symbolism,' except the Bible, the (daily unique) moving of the Holy Spirit, and the love, responsibility, and fellowship of the local church. This is, and will always be, enough to please our God. Finally, to those who disagree with this, and claim that denominationalism has 'saved the church' from much turmoil, I can only say that yours is a hypothesis based on not trusting God to curb the 'variances' that man has a tendency to produce. Indeed, each denomination has within itself myriad 'embarrassments' that would negate this argument. Also, from the perspective of the skeptic, the whole church's multiple divisions and sub-divisions and sub-sub-divisions portray a confused, divided body of Christ. I think it is only the grace of God that has allowed our basic faith in Christ Jesus to remain intact, not any human system of 'organization.' In fact, I think that the Lord has protected our faith *in spite of* this man-made divisional system. :-) All this said, maybe we will stumble upon a 'universal' system of interpretation that fulfills God's intentions. (but I won't hold my breath! :-)) Blessings one and all, in Christ Jesus charis |
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2 | Genesis Creation, a practical example? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 20061 | ||
Clarification ................................ Dear Charis, Thank you for joining the discussion. I value your input on this. I agree with you that the fractured nature of the Church into denominations is detrimental to our witness to the world. In fact, it is becuase of this that I seek to increase the unity of the Church (and even this Forum). That is one reason why I have suggested several improvements, and support this idea of EdB's. It seems to me that if we had a general guideline that it would help direct several different common thread ideas. For example in the American justice system, a person is "innocent until proven guilty". We could similarly have a guideline that said that the Bible was "literal until proven figurative by another scripture". That way if a person makes a post that says that the Genesis Creation is figurative, the burden of proof would be on that person to point out another scripture passage that contradicts a literal interpretation of it. Or if a person says that a specific number in the Bible is figurative and symbolizes something else, then the burden of proof is on that person to point out another scripture which contradicts it just meaning a literal number. As you can imagine, this could be helpful quite often on this forum. It would help to give direction to threads and keep everything firmly grounded in scripture. |
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3 | Genesis Creation, a practical example? | Bible general Archive 1 | charis | 20128 | ||
Dear Sir, Blessings to you in Jesus' name! I really do agree with your intentions, and in a perfect forum they would be effective! :-) Friend, I think it boils down to: If all of the participants were to adhere to common sense and common courtesy, took care to maintain Christian dignity (not human pride), gave due respect to others, stuck to the point, made clear comments, and used lucid Scripture references, we would need no 'universal rules,' because the Bible already champions truth. Rules are necessary where sin reigns. (which, of course, we don't have to deal with on a Bible forum, right? :-)) I simply prefer the less rules and less sin. The Holy Spirit will lead us to all truth is we allow Him. After saying this, I really do appreciate your earnest desire to take this motley crew to a higher plane. I just don't think that organizing things will accomplish it. It only takes a few 'unruly' persons to bring out the worst in us all. :-) I like "literal until proven figurative!" This has always been my motto. Plain and simple meaning first, and trusting the Lord in the areas that He has chosen not to speak. The figurative is all to often made prey to human emotions and whim. Peace, my brother, in Christ Jesus, charis |
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4 | Genesis Creation, a practical example? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 20197 | ||
Support ......................................... Dear Charis, Thanks for your continued input on this subject. I appreciate that you also agree with the "literal until proven figurative by another scripture" guidline. It seems like this may end up being part of the consensus of this thread. At the same time, I understand your researvation about it only taking "a few unruly persons to bring out the worst in us". However, I would disagree with your implication that this is inevitable. "It takes two to tango", as the expression goes. Therefore, if one person posts in a manner that is not constructive, we are still responsible for our choice of how to respond. There have been times when there have been some pretty negative posts directed towards me. But thus far, I believe and hope that I have always responded with self-control and wisdom (to go along with my user id). If I can do it, then I'm sure that it can be done by anyone. |
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