Results 21 - 40 of 51
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: seeking4truth Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | I'm skeptical | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101494 | ||
Thanks, Emmaus. Found the article and read it. It is always interesting on how many different meanings and connotations that words can have. While a literal translation (like the NASB) can render the appropriate non-English word into English, it would seem that we need some type of extra-biblical references to help us delve into the many nuances and facets of the original languages. I am going to try to find the Word Study reference (was it Zhodiates?) that someone here mentioned. Maybe that will help me to better understand some of the words and phrases that often challenge my own limited knowledge. seeking4truth |
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22 | Hebrew idioms? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101492 | ||
Thank you, Emmaus | ||||||
23 | The Son of Man? | Num 23:19 | seeking4truth | 101471 | ||
First off, please allow me to state that I am NOT saying that Jesus Christ is not God. I have given a considerable amount of time and study to His deity and I have every reason to believe that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human. Jesus' favorite term that He used to refer to Himself was "the Son of man." He used it repeatedly during His three years of public ministry, more than any other title. So my question is: how do we reconcile our understanding of this reference verse - that God is NOT the son of man - with Jesus' claim that He IS the Son of man? Any thoughts? (Other than burning me at the stake?) seeking4truth |
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24 | Hebrew idioms? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101469 | ||
George, thanks for your note of encouragement. I will endeavor to take to heart what you say. You may be right about God alone being able to provide what I seek. Isn't that one of the axioms of the Christian faith - that God has created us for Himself and we are restless until we find Him? At the same time, I believe that no man is an island and that while God is perfectly capable of revealing His truth to me without any other human interaction, I find that He frequently does use fallen vessels to contain and convey divine truth. And, to the best of my knowledge and conscience, I DO have some faith. To think that my 3 pounds of brain could completely understand the infinite mind of God would be extremely presumptous. But I am not so sure that it is the amount of my faith that is important as it is the object of my faith that is key. Some things may be meant to be known. Other things may be the secret things that belong to God. Either way, I do acknowledge that we must come to Him and then walk by faith. But again, it is not a blind faith, it is faith in seeing that (the inverse of what you stated) God is not a man that He should lie. If that is true, then we should find something of that assertion put forth in the Bible. If God is God, then His truth does not depend on me. Nor is there one thing that I can say or do to change it. I only seek to understand it better. Grace and peace to you, George. seeking4truth |
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25 | Christ and Christians? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101452 | ||
Aixen, Yes, I am with you. While I would agree that all scripture is breath-out by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, I would not use every verse the same way in the same manner. For example, the teaching in the OT which says that animal sacrifices should be done, while being a true teaching in and of itself, actually pointed to the "truer" truth that Jesus Christ is the once-for-all-sacrifice. If I was to use passages in Leviticus (as a "Bible-believing Christian") to prove to others that animal sacrifice is commanded by God and by the Bible, I would not be accurately handling the word of truth, would I? The truth of animal sacrifices in the OT is made plain in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the NT. I think that the writer of Hebrews calls the OT a "shadow" of the reality in Christ. Perhaps we should start a new thread to continue this conversation? I don't know all the "netiquette" rules here on the forum. But, yes, I think I am following you. seeking4truth |
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26 | Hebrew idioms? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101449 | ||
Yes, George, do pray for my poor soul. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" as Jesus once said. But you misunderstood my post. I was NOT saying that I would interpret all scripture as idiomatic. I am asking by what guidelines do we decide when/what scriptures should be taken at face-value and when they should be interpreted as idiomatic. I am sorry that you feel that I am here to fool anybody. That is not my intent. And if we have the Spirit of God, I would think that we could rest assured that He would lead us into all truth. I have posted my questions and sought help. I have not threatened anyone with fire and brimstone if they don't agree with me. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with my questions. That is fine. If not, then there are quite a number of threads on this forum that may be more according to the gifts that we each posess. I admit that I have doubt. But, George, is it possible that God could use my doubts (and others' help to me) as a stepping-stone to greater faith and trust? If I thought that the answer to this was "no", I never would have considered posting here. I have some dealings with ex-Christians, my friend. It is not pretty scenario. Some sincere folks are leaving Christianity because of all the infighting and judgementalism that exists under the umbrella of Christianity. Instead of pointing out sin and error for the purpose of restoring such a soul, Christians are pointing out sin and error in order to judge a soul. And these people who have doubts are leaving because Christianity is often seen as a blind faith whose followers can quote plenty of scripture but cannot offer any solid reasoning. This despite the fact that, I believe, God created the reasoning process to begin with. It is easy, George, to categorize and label many of these folks who desire a sincere, reasoned faith as "reprobate" and to shake the dust from your feet. But Jesus seemed to have a penchant for going after even one lost sheep. Is this only the unsaved? It is much more difficult and time-consuming to try to understand WHY we believe what we believe. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite Christian authors. His book, "Mere Christianity", more than any other (except the Bible) has influenced me to give serious consideration to the concept of one God who has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity. I wish to God that He would raise up another C.S. Lewis in THIS generation who could help people to understand that God and His ways could be known experientially, not just recited. seeking4truth |
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27 | True Disciples - eternal importance | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101433 | ||
Aixen, You wrote: "Seeker seems to have one overarching question and several underlying questions." So true. My main struggle is believing the teachings of Jesus. I admit that. Yes, I want to put whole-hearted faith and trust in Him. And He taught so that others would place their faith and trust in Him as Messiah. But I desire a reasoned faith. The "blind" faith of my childhood has brought me no peace and joy. I feel like Thomas, "Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief." seeking4truth |
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28 | Any literature? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101432 | ||
Thanks to ALL who have sent me internet resources for Bible apologetics and seemingly contradictions in God's Word. I appreciate it. Please know that I am NOT looking for an airtight, ironclad, inerrant answer. I am just seeking a reasonable one. To me, that means, “Is this a reasonable explanation? Is this explanation something that I can live with while still acknowledging that there is a component of mystery involved? Is this the kind of explanation that I would feel comfortable offering to someone else as reasonable without feeling that I was twisting scripture or doing biblical “slight-of-hand tricks”? Does this explanation stand up to the rest of scripture and/or historical Christianity?” These are the kind of answers that I seek. Thanks again. seeking4truth (Seeking for truth - which makes a grandiose assumption that I would recognize it if I found it) |
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29 | George, do you believe? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101430 | ||
Thanks, Searcher. This is the "standard" answer that is given. I'm NOT saying it is right or wrong, just the typical answer. But it also gives me great pause to call myself a disciple. I simply don't do what these disciples did. A disciple, as I understand it, is a learner. And at this point, I am not so sure if it is the teachings of Christ that I should be learning or the person of Christ. Are they the same thing? Well, there certainly does seem to be a difference, doesn't there? After all, Christians belief that Christ is for everybody but that not all of His teachings are. Sincerely, seeking4truth |
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30 | Any literature? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101429 | ||
Thank you, Radioman2. I will bookmarked these sites and start reading shortly. seeking4truth |
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31 | Hebrew idioms? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101428 | ||
Hi Emmaus, Thanks for you answer. That would certainly seem to be the general concensus. Can I humbly ask, where do you find that "hate your family" is a Hebrew idiom for "love your family less." I would appreciate seeing clear support for this. Why do I ask? Because I could (if I wanted) use this technique on other scripture: "Jesus claim that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life is a Hebrew idiom that He is one of many ways to God." "Jesus teaching on loving your neighbor as yourself is a Hebrew idiom that says that we are only to love those just like us." "Jesus' teaching on loving your enemies is a Hebrew idiom that means we should respect them but not associate with them." I want to be careful that I don't go too far down the road of saying that Jesus did not mean what He said. So I would appreciate it if you could offer some type of Jewish documentation that supports this view. Please translate it into English first, though. :) (Didn't we meet on the road somewhere? :)) seeking4truth |
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32 | Christ and Christians? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101426 | ||
I wanted to thank you for the time, effort, consideration, and thoughtfulness that you have put into your answers to this question. I can tell that you, too, are seeking to understand the truth as best as we can. I especially appreciate that you are stressing the importance of context. The more I study my Bible (and the less I find I know), the more important that context becomes. If I understand your answer correctly, you are advocating a principle, not only of considering context, but of considering that not everything written in the Bible is written directly for us. And you have cited excellent examples to show where we should determine who is speaking, to whom, and the relevance of whether what is being said applies to all persons at all times. This technique is close to what I suppose the Bible scholars call "dispensationalism" - that God deals with different people in different times in different ways. This method of interpretation can certainly seem to be helpful. It allows us to, though you may not like the term, "pick and choose" what parts of the Bible apply to us and what parts do not. For instance, I don't see many Christians taking a lamb to the church on Sunday morning to be sacrificed at the altar. Why not? Because a thorough study of the scriptures seems to support that the old sacrificial system has been done away with and, as Hebrews says, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins. So, in this particular case, it would seem that the scriptures themselves support that God's methods change over time. The signs that Jesus lists in Mark 16 become a little sticker don't they? I wouldn't have much opposition if I said that an animal sacrifice is no longer necessary (although those of Judaism would probably disagree with me). But if I start to say that the signs that Jesus gave are no longer applicable to the church, then my assertion becomes much more tenuous because: 1. Christians claim to follow Christ and His teachings, YET they themselves are picking and choosing WHICH of His teachings apply to them and which ones don't. 2. And, to the best of my knowledge, I don't recall Jesus saying that all of these signs were only for a particular group (other than believers). It would be similar if I claimed to be a follower of Buddha but did not believe that ALL of his teachings applied to me. Most Christians operate under some form of this "a la carte" Christianity. I am not saying that it is right nor wrong to do this. But I am curious as to WHY Christians do what they do. After all, most Christians claim to follow the teachings of their leader. But if pressed about this (as in Mark 16), many (if not most) of the Christians in the circles that I travel would say, "Yes, that is what Christ taught but it doesn't apply to me." So my question is, how can we claim that we are followers of Christ if we do not follow His clear teaching? What gives the disciples the right to determine which teachings of their teacher apply to them and which ones don't? That, my friend, is where I am at. I am looking at the specific teachings of Jesus and trying to determine, as best I can, whether or not I should even wear the name of Christian and say that I believe in Jesus. It is difficult for me to say that Jesus is my Lord if I am not willing to do what He says. It is difficult for me to say that He taught the truth if I am willing (and sometimes eager) to relegate His truths to other people and other time periods. But in the end, I find that I have to do this or His teachings make no sense. For instance, at one point Jesus sends out His disciples ONLY to the house of Israel. They are to take His gospel to the Jews only. Is this His true command? Certainly. But He seems to revise this command later in Matthew 28 when He gives out the great comission, doesn't He? There, His disciples are told to go into all the world. This "change" is substantiated by the scriptures themselves. Many of the other teachings of Christ are much more ambiguous. Are Christians on shakey ground when they claim to believe in Jesus Christ but either limit or dismiss some of His teachings? I am not questioning Christ's person at this point. But I am curious to what extent I can call myself a Christian if I disregard the clear teachings of the one I claim to follow. seeking4truth |
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33 | Purpose of this forum? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101380 | ||
BTW, Pastor, thanks for the link. I will check it out tomorrow afternoon. Confused, seeking4truth |
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34 | George, do you believe? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101378 | ||
Hi George, Thanks for your "exhortation in Christ." What I do know of the original Bible languages is that some of it is Hebrew (OT), some is Aramaic, and some is Greek (OT). Do I know any of these languages? No. I am doing well to understand English. :) Yes, George, I am IGNORANT. Thanks for reminding me. George, you state: "THE Word SAYS WHAT THE LORD MEANS AND MEANS EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS." Can I ask if you truly believe this? Here is the test from another one of my posts here: Jesus said: "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." - Mark 16:17,18 "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you." - Luke 10:19 So let me ask you, George, seeing as Jesus said what He means and means what He says, do you personally: 1. Cast out demons? 2. Speak with a new tongue? 3. Pick up serpents? 4. Drink poison without ill effect? 5. Heal the sick by the laying on of hands? 6. Tread on serpents and scorpions? 7. Exercise power over Satan continually (I think a valid practical demonstration of this would be the complete cessation of sin in one's life)? Believe me, George, if I believe the Bible, I know I will stand before one judgement seat or another. I have been reminded of it for 30 years now and your "exhortation" does nothing to further impress this warning upon my mind. Thanks anyway. But enough about me, my ignorance, and my lack of faith. How about you? Are you a true believer in Jesus Christ by HIS standards? Do you believe ALL of the Bible in this regard? Do you continually prove to the church and to the world that you are a believer in Jesus by demonstrating the signs that He Himself said would follow those who believe in Him? seeking4truth |
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35 | True Disciples - eternal importance | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101376 | ||
Thanks, Pastor Glenn. I will try to keep those things in mind. But in my particular case, I am not a good discerner of what things are of eternal importance and what things are of temporal importance. As I stated earlier, it seems to very much depend upon who one talks to as to the priority of things. Some would list all of these things as of eternal importance: water baptism, speaking in tongues (otherwise you are not indwelt by the Spirit), using a particular translation (otherwise you don't have the Word of God), doing good works (to prove your faith), keeping the Law, being Reformed, being Calvinist, being Arminian. All these are criteria that some use as eternal "measuring rods." I find it difficult to know which ones are truly valid and scriptural and which ones are not. (Side-note: The Calvinist would say that the Arminian is not saved because the Arminian does not believe in a sovereign God. So his "disbelief in the sovereignty of God" is used to prove that the Arminian does believe in the God of the Bible and, therefore, is not saved. I am just using this as an illustration, please don't anyone take up sides here and pursue this subject in this thread. The subject of this particular thread is much more important to me.) But, Pastor Glenn, if I may, can I demonstrate how touchy this subject of matters of eternal importance can be? Humor me here for a couple of minutes and if you have a good, solid answer, please don't hesitate to share it. Jesus gave some criteria for those who would follow Him (i.e. Christians). We can debate all day long on the standards that WE want to use for judging "true" disciples of Christ. But let's consider what Jesus said: "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." - Mark 16:17,18 Here in this passage, Jesus Himself list some of His criteria that true believers would be known by. He lists 5 specific things: 1. They will cast out demons 2. They will speak with new tongues 3. They will pick up serpents 4. They will drink poison without ill effect 5. They can heal the sick by the laying on of hands Forum members, please note that I am NOT saying that these are MY criteria. These are criteria that Jesus Himself said would characterize those who believe in Him. Let's look at a similar passage: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you." - Luke 10:19 Here Jesus says that His followers can tread on serpents and scorpions. And He notes that they have power over who I would take to be Satan. Again, these are not my words. These are the words of Christ Himself. But I have to ask, is this the same criteria we use to judge whether or not others are believers? I don't think so. I wouldn't (just being honest here). I am not going to try to cast out devils, pick up poisonous snakes, drink poison, step on snakes and scorpions, I have never spoken in tongues, and I am very careful what liberties I take in my "authority over Satan." Now, please allow me to demonstrate my dilema. By the standards of Jesus Christ Himself, I am not a true believer. By the standards of most conservative, fundamental Christian, I am not a Bible-believing Christ myself because I do not personally adhere to this teaching of Christ in the Bible nor would I ever exhort anyone on this board to "prove" his/her discipleship through these tests. So what does that make me? I surely don't know. Yes, I've said a "sinner's prayer." But one cannot find that formula in the Bible. To my knowledge, Jesus never once told someone to invite Him into their heart. He knocks on the door of one of His churches in the book of Revelation but that presumes that He is already in their hearts. So I have to confess to God that I don't exhibit the signs that Jesus gave whereby His true followers and disciples would be known. Pastor Glenn, it would seem that being a disciple of Christ is an eternal issue. But, frankly, sir, I don't measure up to Jesus' own criteria. And to be honest, I don't have the faith to prove my discipleship the way that He demands. What am I to do? Sincerely, seeking4truth |
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36 | Resource for "hate"? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101347 | ||
SBF members, In regards to my question on Jesus' teaching on "hating", would most of you agree that the seeming contradiction is directly related to our interpretation of the word "hate"? If I were going to explain this concept to someone else, what resource(s) would I use to substantiate that "hate" does not mean "hate" as we understand it? (Side-note: I am all for literal translations but I suppose that they can sometimes pose a problem.) seeking4truth |
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37 | Any literature? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101336 | ||
DairyLeader, I just emailed you. Thanks. seeking4truth |
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38 | Do you want assistance | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101335 | ||
Shalor, I attempted to email you but didn't see your email addy on your profile. seeking4truth |
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39 | Purpose of this forum? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101334 | ||
Hi Tim, Thanks for the input. Our individual exposures to different churches most likely influences some of our thoughts in this area. Personally, I have been in a number of different churches of a few different denominations so I have had a few different experiences concerning evangelism. But I have not been exposed to everything that is taught in this area. My statements concerning evangelism were never "taught" to me as a formal discourse. They were more implied by statements such as these: "God will reward you for sharing Christ." "If you don't tell your friend, relative, coworker, who will?" "You don't want this person to stand before God on judgement day and say that YOU never told them about Christ, do you?" "If you don't witness, this person's blood and the condemnation of his eternal soul will be upon your hands." I have heard these statements. Granted, I may have traveled in the wrong Christian circles (but ALL of them claim to be right and NONE of them claim to have ANY false teaching). I am inclined to believe that if the fate of an eternal soul is left up to my pitiful attempts to share what little I know (and am still unsure of), then God is much smaller than the Bible portrays Him as being. While I don't deny that I may have a command and some good news to share, I am not even sure of my own fate, let alone a positive influence on someone elses. And frankly, I won't share what I am not reasonably sure of. In closing, I don't want to lay the blame for my doubts and my questions solely at the door of this particular church, denomination, or person. What happens to me in my own faith is, to a large extent, dependant upon me to "study to show myself approved." But I often feel more like the Ethipoian who doesn't have a clue rather than like Paul who could convert Hitler if given the chance. seeking4truth |
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40 | Purpose of this forum? | Luke 14:26 | seeking4truth | 101303 | ||
Shalor, ***Some do it (make disciples) simply beacuse they were ordered to do it! Maybe. But, from my studies, I doubt that getting a person to say the "sinner's prayer" and then moving on to the next fish in the sea is a valid interpretation of "discipling." No offense to you, but maybe if I had been discipled when I was younger, I would not have the crisis of faith that I am now experiencing. Unfortunately, those who led me to a profession of faith felt that they were finished after I got "saved." Their goal was achieved. Here I am 30 years later with serious doubts and one of the answers put to me is that if I would only get "saved" again, everything will be alright. I think not. No offense, just my human opinion. seeking4truth |
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