Results 181 - 200 of 268
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Results from: Notes Author: Reighnskye Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
181 | three philosophies of religion. | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 132710 | ||
EdB, My personal impression of a gnostic is someone who believes that God can be known through the acquisition of knowledge, wherein saving grace is not necessary to get to heaven. Rather, salvation is accessed through having heightened supernatural sensitivities through years of studious practice, and the work of the Holy Spirit is not really necessary. Just so long as you get smart enough, then you're fine. I think this is how the ancient gnostics were anyway. As far as agnosticism goes, you're probably right. I'm not so much granting vast credence to traditional dictionaries as maybe I should. Rather, I am more practically interested with the belief systems of the agnostics that I've met in real life. I find it rather difficult to concisely label people, and traditional dictionaries fall quite short, in their attemtps to do so, with their concise one-liner definitions. - Reighnskye |
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182 | three philosophies of religion. | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 132707 | ||
Kalos, I'm wondering if there may be additional interpretations of agnosticism. Also, is there a converse interpretation of gnosticism? - Reighnskye |
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183 | God's Name in the New Testament | NT general Archive 1 | Reighnskye | 132704 | ||
Thanks, Tim. I thought that there was some interrelation there, but I'm not sure how far it went. Another similar name would be Elijah. When Jesus uttered the phrase "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", the bystanders nearby thought that He was uttering the name of Elijah and calling for him. - Reighnskye |
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184 | A New Perspective!??! | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 132703 | ||
Country Girl, The only hidden message that I can figure out is that people often interpret the scriptures (and any other text) through the filtration of their own limited life experiences. Much biblical learning is not actually done in the presence of spiritual sensitivity, but rather it's done by mind power. And while mind power is not inherently evil, in and of itself, (God created our minds), we nonetheless commonly lack a spiritual perspective in our intellectually-based interpretations of the bible. To simplify, if I've had bad life experiences, I'll therefore have a tendency to interpret the bible through a darker lense. Further, the word imageries that I possess in my mind may be negatively-toned when i speak them with my mouth. My darkened and carnal mind may corrupt my very understanding and usage of the english language. - 1Co 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. (NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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185 | God's Name in the New Testament | NT general Archive 1 | Reighnskye | 132677 | ||
If I'm not otherwise mistaken, the NT name of "Jesus" was actually a derivative of the OT name of "Joshua". "Joshua" likewise had originated from the name of "Yeshua", which had itself also come from the name of "YHWH". A rumor that I heard from a scholarly friend many years ago, if I even remember it correctly. Hence, the unknowable name of "YHWH" had evolved through many stages to become the personalized name of "Jesus", with the names "Yeshua" and "Joshua" as the midlinks of the name. Perhaps someone more scholarly than myself can correct me on this. - John 1 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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186 | three philosophies of religion. | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 132664 | ||
I believe that an agnostic may not be so much someone who doesn't know whether there is a God or not. Rather, an agnostic is more likely someone who devoutly believes that there is a God, but that God is completely unknowable to mortal human beings. A gnostic, likewise, is someone who believes that God can be approached through amassing greater knowledge, through the fervent study of books and such. - Hence, you have four categories here. Believer, Atheist, Gnostic and Agnostic |
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187 | Does God judge nations directly? | Obad 1:2 | Reighnskye | 131442 | ||
Doc and Emmaus, I greatly appreciate the vast resources of knowledge that you each freely share. I'm trying to discern a little bit more about the white stone. - Emmaus, you offer a quote from the Navarre Bible which says: "The "white stone" is a reference to the custom of showing a alittle stone with some appropriate mark on it, to gain entrance to a feast or banguet. The name incribed on the stone referred to here shows that the Christian has a right to partake in the good things which the Lord reserves for those who win the victory. "The fact that only the recipient knows what is written on the stonepoints to the personal, intimate relationship between god (who issues the invitation) and the invited guest. ... "I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine." (Is 43:1)" - And Doc, you offer a quote here as well: "The white and black stones were used for taking the vote in judgement. Black for guilty and white for innocent. Maybe this is the reference." - These both seem to be very well thought-out answers to the meaning of the white stone. Are the two interpretations exclusive or interrelated? Is it in fact possible to know for sure either way? Or are some scriptures indecipherable for all practical intents and purposes? Are some verses in the bible just way too obscure for other more prominent verses to shine a clear and concise light on them? Further, would we have to rely on extra-biblical sources to properly interpret the more obscure bible texts? ---- 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' (Revelation 2:17 NAS95) - Thanks again, Reighnskye |
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188 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 131384 | ||
EdB, I fully agree with you. The sentence structure of the NASB is very complex, and is definitely one of the harder bibles to use as far as public oration is concerned. I've typically found some of the opening sentences in many of the epistles, for example, to run four or five verses long at a shot. Reighnskye |
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189 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 131383 | ||
Doc, The link to Theological Markup Language looks interesting, but I honestly can't decipher what exactly it is that they do there. My computer savvy is moreso lacking in this regard. Sorry. - Reighnskye |
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190 | Does God judge nations directly? | Obad 1:2 | Reighnskye | 131382 | ||
Doc, In regards to names, I would make particular reference here to a scripture. ---- 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' (Revelation 2:17 NAS95) ---- For all intents and purposes, I greatly lack insight into the basis of this particular verse. Some of the imageries elude me. However, it does stir into my mind the idea of the spiritual name that each of us has been issued by God. Indeed, names were commonly used in ancient times to express a person's character or identity. Nonetheless, I also believe that we have a spiritual identity in Christ, and that we each have our own unique spiritual names (in contrast to our earthly names), which describes who we are more articulately in higher divine language than what any mortal tongues can master. Our spiritual names are not utterable in any mortal tongue, and we will not discover our true spiritual names until we are seated in full glory with Christ. At such time, our earthly names and identities will fade away, due to their temporal nature. Hence, I no longer so much wish to know you as Johnny, Timmy, Sally or Sarah, insofar as these are merely earthly designations. Nor do I wish to designate you as "murderer, adulterer, thief, idolater", etc., insofar as God is not a respecter of persons or earthly identities. That's not who we are spiritually. These are not our names and designations, except it be on an earthly (non-spiritual) level. But it is best for us to become spiritually focused, and see past our own earthly designations and those of others as well. And by the way, I've not even mentioned God's name here yet, if indeed we could even adequately harness such a thing in our mortal understanding. I think not. - Reighnskye |
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191 | Does God judge nations directly? | Obad 1:2 | Reighnskye | 131381 | ||
Doc, Here are some excerpts from THE CHICAGO STATEMENT ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY with my own inquisitive interjections regarding these portions. In other words, I would like to learn more on the subject. - "Article I We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God. We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source." (I personally surmise that the authority of the ancient Church plays a vital authoritative role here, as slightly similar to the Catholic doctrines, although I do not place that same faith in the authority of our modern day church. I surmise that God is higher than the original authors of scripture and that the original authors of scripture are higher than the scriptures themselves.) - "Article IV We affirm that God who made mankind in His image has used language as a means of revelation. We deny that human language is so limited by our creatureliness that it is rendered inadequate as a vehicle for divine revelation. We further deny that the corruption of human culture and language through sin has thwarted God's work of inspiration." (I surmise that human languages such as hebrew/greek, english/spanish are imperfect in their conveyance of divine revelation, and therefor fail to innerantly express the totality of divine truth. However, in contrast, I also surmise that the original revelations imparted to the authors of scripture originate from the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit witnesses the truth through the written scriptures, notwithstanding the imperfections of the languages which compose the written texts. The Holy Spirit conveys spiritual witness of the gospel directly to our human spirit, and not through the vehicle of the psyche via written texts. However, the written texts are vital to quicken our mortal psyches to conscious doctrines.) - "Article V We affirm that God' s revelation in the Holy Scriptures was progressive. We deny that later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation, ever corrects or contradicts it. We further deny that any normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings." (I surmise that, although this article denies the current existence of inerrant scripture outside of the bible, that it does now however deny the potential for new divine scriptures to be written in the future at some point, in accord with the view of progressive revelation.) - Would my personal surmising on these particular matters be accurate or inaccurate? ---- And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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192 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 131325 | ||
Aaron, I've loved just taking hours at a time and doing bible study. Such endeavors just get me immersed in the scriptures. In my most recent bible study attempts, I'm taking the smaller books and working on those first to polish my study skills. Then when I'm readier, I'd like to charge full force into the larger books, leaving no stone unturned. The Manuscript study method sounds quite interesting. Where in the world would you get a bible text without chapter and verse divisions though? I'd have to do it on my computer or something, I guess. ---- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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193 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 131323 | ||
EdB, I've luckily been able to orate from the NASB quite well, but I particularly employ some techniques to be successful at this. When I read publicly from the NASB, I get a great number of positive comments from people in the church, as to my clarity and impact. Little do they know that I have a few secrets to oration, however. And though some of these points may seem a bit subtle, there's actually more to them than one may initially suspect. - 1. Double column bibles are superior to single column bibles for purposes of public oration. This is because the narrower double columns work the eye muscles less, thereby enhancing the reader's interpretive brain concentration by about 10 percent. Wider single columns, however, cause the eye muscles to move twice as hard, insofar as the eyes are constantly moving from left to right, instead of simply gliding down the page. It's good if the entire line is in eyeshot all at once. This is also important for private readers, and narrow double columns are specifically designed for ease of reading. Students don't lose their spots as readily and can read for longer time periods, while simultaneously being more focused on the actual content of the text, versus being focused on how tired their eyes are. This leads to a more intensified and thorough biblical interpretation for the reader. 2. When publicly orating (assuming we are now reading from double column bibles), verses should mentally be broken down into logical parts. In other words, I may not be able to say a whole long sentence in a single breath, so I'll break the verse down into a few logical parts as I read. I will read each part quickly (rather than slowly), albeit with long pauses between each part. This method is superior than reading long portions of scripture very slowly to a group, in the absence of pauses. The audience listens to the information as you are reading, but they process the meaning of each phrase during each of your pauses, thereby increasing their memory retention. 3. Variation in the enunciation also helps if done properly. For example, many preachers who speak in monotone voices will often put people to sleep. They shall often be accused of lacking passion in their preaching as a result. However, oraters and speakers who vary their enunciation will typically be deemed by common crowds as being passionate about what they preach, as if they believed their own message moreso. Perhaps think of it this way. If I spend my whole time whispering, you will soon grow deaf to what I say. Until, of course, I loudly shout a statement amidst my whisperings, that all of a sudden catches your attention. However, the reverse is also true. If I scream and shout my entire sermon and/or oration (as some preachers do), you will soon become deaf to my screaming and yelling. But if I suddenly insert a whisper into my incessant yelling, your ears will therefore attune themselves to my brief whisper, and it will be the only thing that you remember from my sermon/oration. Variance is the key. However, monotone language puts people to sleep. ---- How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:14-17 NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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194 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 131320 | ||
Doc, Thanks much for your comments on the versification of scripture. I find that this was done rather poorly too. And it's probably been largely a culprit in the tendency for people to take just a single verse and build whole doctrines around it, in the absence of such a verse's greater biblical context. I did a further brief count of chapters, paragraphs and verses in the (NASB) New Testament. I find it rather interesting how the different translations of the bible each have different paragraph breaks, solely dependent on what the individual publishers of each version may allow. The average paragraph in the (NASB) New Testament runs about 5 verses long. And I've isolated a fairly decent system of breaking each bible paragraph down to a five verse maximum, without being too restricting on the texts. There are three primary reasons that I desire to do this. 1. In the public quotation of scripture, it's very easy to lose people when more than a few verses are read at a time. Many NASB paragraphs may run twenty verses long, which is a bit much for people to fully digest all at once. 2. I personally believe that quoting single verses of scripture, to a congregation that is not largely familiar with the bible, tends to lead to greater contextual errors in the listeners. Hence, I prefer to quote at least a few verses at a time, with whatever I read publicly, so as to retain at least some small degree of context. 3. Smaller paragraphs breaks can also serve as a simple management tool when tackling more in-depth bible study. Basically, you break heavy passages into digestible bits, so you don't choke on them. Again, I fully agree with you that there are vast limitations to this approach. I comically figure that if the creators of chapters and verses in the bible did such a bad job, that I might be able to make some meager improvements on it, if solely for my own continued growth and understanding. ---- In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-12 NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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195 | How much authority do leaders have? | Ruth 3:5 | Reighnskye | 131312 | ||
Hank, Thanks much for your response. This scripture speaks quite precisely to the situation that arises when the ordinances of human government conflict with God's laws. ---- They *said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He *said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21 NAS95) - Reighnskye |
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196 | How much authority do leaders have? | Ruth 3:5 | Reighnskye | 131311 | ||
Doc, So are the different types of authority ranked in any way? Or do they each apply separately to different jurisdictions? For example: Federal/State authority (our government) Parental authority (our family) Corporate authority (our workplace) Religious authority (our church) Who's the most important and who's the least important, when they may disagree with each other? ---- Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Romans 13:1-4 KJV) - Reighnskye |
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197 | Does God judge nations directly? | Obad 1:2 | Reighnskye | 131310 | ||
Doc, I'm attempting to understand your illustration of semantics here. You mention that part of becoming a Christian involves taking up a new language. I'm wondering what exact language that you may be referring to? What are some of it's core terminologies, for example? I'd hate to think that a person would not likely be successful as a Christian if she/he had to be formally educated in terminologies that would often require seminary training. - Reighnskye |
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198 | Does God judge nations directly? | Obad 1:2 | Reighnskye | 131309 | ||
Doc, In what way has God raised his Word above his Name? I've heard this said before by people, but the doctrine never really made sense to me. The NASB and the KJV each render the verse very differently, insofar as the NASB seems to intimate that God's Word is an equivalent expression of God's Name. Is one of the translations incorrect? I've not noticed this doctrine to appear anywhere else in scripture. ---- I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. (Psalms 138:2 NAS95) I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalms 138:2 KJV) ---- As far as semantics, I tend to agree with you. These are extremely important. Much heresy and apostasy has originated from redefinitions of basic words. I've encountered an obstacle with a friend of mine in the past however. He would often tend to break words down into their root origins, even quoting his hebrew/greek lexicon, but it seemed as if he had canonized his lexicons beyond the canonization of scripture itself. I tried to point out to him that even his greek/hebrew lexicons were man-made, and therefore fallible. Indeed, no mortal language is perfect that it could possibly produce an inerrent written text. - Reighnskye |
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199 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | Reighnskye | 131222 | ||
Greetings CDBJ, Actually, I'm not placing any expectations on Lockman to alter any of their texts at all. I'm moreso looking for input from other students of the bible how I may create smaller paragraph breaks for purposes of more efficient sermon quotation. I've investigated all of the NASB bibles that have been in print for the last twenty years or so, and had never seen anything like this. The closest I came to it was a parallel bible, wherein some other versions had smaller paragraph breaks already within the texts. I'm looking to break down the paragraphs strictly on my own, and I'm just looking for input from others on how to best do it, if that may be available. Besides, I wouldn't even be sure who to contact at Lockman for that. Aren't they more of a business? I'm not really sure what they do there, outside of translate and publish. - Rieghnskye |
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200 | Should nations own land territories? | Obad 1:20 | Reighnskye | 131210 | ||
Tim, I agree that these are all excellent points that are made. I'm not so much denying that property rights were issued to people in the Old Testament Law of Moses. Indeed, they are aplenty. My concern rather is to what extent we should still be trying to live by that law today. Jesus gave a newer set of teachings to his direct disciples which were later performed within the early church. While the Old Testament affords a great many rights to the righteous, I believe that Christ teaches sinners to embrace a less material perspective, which is rather uncommon in today's society. Here is my own paraphrase: "If we cannot give up our right to own things, then they do indeed own us". ---- Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. (Matthew 19:21-22 NAS95) Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:27-29 NAS95) When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. (Luke 18:22-23 NAS95) Peter said, "Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You." And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life." (Luke 18:28-30 NAS95) and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (Acts 2:45 NAS95) For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales (Acts 4:34 NAS95) Reighnskye |
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