Results 41 - 60 of 128
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Unanswered Bible Questions Author: Aixen7z4 Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
41 | But I say, Have they not learned? | Prov 1:29 | Aixen7z4 | 120745 | ||
My dear sister: I think there is so much wisdom in what you say. I have pondered each of the statements and thought of scriptures associated with it, so I know that there is much truth there. I have also been looking at definitions of pride to try to understand it better. It is also interesting to consider what fear is really made of, and what are the objects of our fear. Sometimes it seems that we fear other emotions, such as jealously and a sense of inferiority. I suppose it is natural to fear pain. It takes maturity to face pain and bear it. Still, my real interest is in determining what we can do to help ourselves in that situation. We can try to ease their fears and pain, but then the surgery must be done, and we so need their permission to do it. Look at the response of compudex at 11:27 for example. What can you say to such a person? Romans 14:4 does not usually work. 1 Corinthians 12:21 has been tried unsuccessfully. Galatians 5:15 does not seem to slow us down at all. After church today I had to counsel with a deaf man and then walk with him to his home. He was in a wheel-chair. He was not ashamed to ask for help. He had come to the church to seek it. Nor was he too proud to accept it. And sometimes it seems that that is what is needed: we must be brought low. Then we do not mind looking up to people who are more qualified in a certain area, or stronger than we are. Till that time, we prefer to try to knock them down to our level. Your reference to brokenness seems apt. I have often prayed that the Lord will keep me broken now, so that calamity is not necessary to produce it. I like your reference to blindness too, because it seems it must be confusion that causes us to hurt each other and ourselves. We are just thrashing around. The word of God puts an end to confusion, but then we are back where we started. How do you minister to someone who is not responsive to the word of God? A colleague suggested recently that we simply have to forget these people. There are enough people who are ready to accept help, he says; we can wait till the proud ones get ready. And I suppose there is much truth in that as well. Those who (think they are) whole do not (feel the) need for a physician. That is what Jesus said. But he also wept over Jerusalem. It is difficult to look at people perishing for lack of knowledge. And the fact is, we have what they need. Someone has suggested it is just one facet of the human condition, and I suppose that is true. People might more easily accept help from an angel, perhaps, than from another human being. But he who became flesh and dwelt among us is the same one who said while here, “Come unto me … and I will give you rest”. Some thought he was presumptuous to say things like that. And some think we are presumptuous if we offer to lead them to him. But haven’t our Christian brethren learned to not say that? |
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42 | Where are the nine? | Luke 24:19 | Aixen7z4 | 120725 | ||
Amen! But we need to hear more. Jesus on trial today we can see Thousands deridingly ask, "Who is he?" Multitudes follow him, seeking a sign Show them his mighty works. Where are the nine? |
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43 | Might it be fear? | Prov 1:29 | Aixen7z4 | 120720 | ||
Bless you, momma. And thank you for infusing your response with Scripture. This is the most interesting of the responses we get. Our ministry offers services to churches, but it is a task to get through, or through to, the gatekeepers. A wise sister told us yesterday: "Some pastors will not allow anything into the church unless they can say it was their idea in the first place". I suppose that there is a pride in having originated an idea. Now, the challenge for us is, how do you help them anyway? And if the problem is pride, then how do you help them with that? We will work on that. But my immediate impression is that only time and circumstances will take care of that. We are working today with a church where the pastor has told us in the past that he has no further need for us. But he now has circumstances to deal with. He called this week for an emergency meeting, and today he is out of town and has left the church in our hands. Interesting that we would not have thought his problem was pride. He is a good man, and we were simply bewildered with his response. But we tried to maintain an inactive positive relationship. We have a theory that, in spite of appearances, our basic problem is fear. What do you think of that? The scripture I have in mind is Genesis 3:10. |
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44 | Do you understand it? | Prov 1:29 | Aixen7z4 | 120707 | ||
We are trying to understand why Christians refuse help when they need it and it is being offered. I will try to relate this matter to the topic in our fellowship meeting this evening. We considered the mind of Christ, that he submitted completely to the Father (John 5:30, etc.). We looked at Paul and heard himsaying that to him to live was Christ (Phil 1:21); that he had been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20). We heard James referring to himself as a slave of Christ (James 1:1). We heard Paul saying that "we" live not for ourselves but for him who died for us (2 Cor 5:14,15). We wondered whether the "we" referred to all of us as Christians, or to Paul and Timothy (2 Cor 1:1). We watched a tape with KP Yohannan and saw his devotion to Christ. We wondered where we were in our own devotion to the Lord. Could we say that we were living only for him? It is only fair to admit that we are not, to the extent that we fail to respond to the word of God. As it was, the group was responding, not only in this particular meeting, but by the fact of their regular attendance. This is a group of believers who are in counseling, at this meeting was their group practice. But we are aware of the fact that some people do not accept the offer of counseling. In a previous post we have shown that the word of God shows our need for it, and encourages us to get it. And that is the problem, my friend. Some of us turn away and fail to respond to the word of God. We make excuses. We justify ourselves. What mystifies the counselor is that some of us refuse help when we need it. To fail at a task is one thing. To refuse help while one is falling is a mystery. Do you have any experience with this? |
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45 | Can you explain this phenomenon? | Prov 1:29 | Aixen7z4 | 120635 | ||
It is nothing less than shocking for a counselor to see the role of free will in the therapeutic process. Some say that we have no free will, that our lives are ruled by determinism. Some say that this idea defies logic because the one who believes in determinism must admit that that belief has been predetermined and is therefore not sustainable. But when words fail us to decide or describe a phenomenon, it is something else to see it in operation. Permit me to tell here a tale of two pastors. They were both in serious need of help, and that is why they came to my attention. One refused to accept help, even while proclaiming belief in the Bible refusing to consider the call to action there, and left in utter confusion, with words about the end of his ministry and/or his life. The other asked to come in as soon as possible, took his place on the couch, went through the process and left with hope, almost unable to contain himself, unable to wait for the changes to take place. One is left to ponder the contrast. It was C.M. Ward who used to say that the love and power of an omnipotent God can be held in abeyance by the strong will of a puny man. It was a mysterious thing that God did when he gave us free will. Man is free to defy God. He is free to destroy himself. He is free to choose bad over good. And all the while he justifies himself. It is a strange thing to behold. Sometimes we feel badly when a person says no to us. It is something else to see them say no to the gospel, and no to God. He allows it. He has given us that free will. Some people see themselves as only judges. They always know what is good and what is bad and they have a constant need to express their opinion. Meanwhile, they do not see their own need. And the counselor feels helpless because he can only help someone who is willing to admit his need and to accept help. And God, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each called Counselor. Love never fails, we are told. Yet God so loved. And the Almighty God is love. How is it we can resist love? How is it we can resist God? There are those who say that psychology is not a science and cannot be. The reason? Man’s free will. It is possible to explain behavior without it, but with it, man is a mystery. How wonderfully God works for us when we submit to him! How miserably we perish when we reject him! As a person who preaches the Gospel and counsels people, I look at the free will of man and marvel at it. If anyone has solved that mystery, it would be nice to hear from them. It would not be nice to hear again from those who make themselves the judge and would question the motives or the intellectual capacity of the questioner, as it would only add to the mystery, why they do that. O, I am tempted to multiply words here in order to dissipate any confusion. I am not comparing a human counselor to God or any such thing. But I am saying that a human counselor sees the free will of man in operation and wonders at that mans ability to exercise it also toward God. I hope that someone can respond to this without getting into Calvinism-Armenianism but I fear someone will exercise his free will to get into it anyway. Read Jeremiah 7:23-26; 25:1-7; 26:1-5; 29:17-19; 35:13-16; 44:1-5. All of this in one book, about the attitude of one set of people in one situation. How can we explain this? |
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46 | What things? | Luke 24:19 | Aixen7z4 | 120599 | ||
I asked the man if he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said he believed Jesus was a prophet. Interesting that he quoted the Bible much more often than he ever did the Qur’an. He was aware that Moses had predicted the appearance of Jesus as a prophet. I wondered if he realized that Moses was also a priest and that Jesus was a priest. But of course, Jesus was greater than Moses in his priesthood also, having been made our Great High Priest (Hebrews 5:10;6:20, etc). And Jesus had a title never attributed to Moses: he is King. He is King of kings (Revelation 17:14;19:16). So there are those who say he is a prophet and that’s all. But the question he asked his disciples carries over to today. As we listen to the people and realize how limited their answers are, whom to we say that he is? As we talk about him and the things the Bible says about him, the question is: “What things?” |
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47 | He was a prophet. Can we add to that? | Luke 24:19 | Aixen7z4 | 120561 | ||
Jesus was a prophet. Add to that … There is so much more to be added. As the woman at the well listened to Jesus, she said, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet” (John 4:19). And she was correct. Moses had revealed what the Lord had told him: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you” (Deuteronomy 18:17,18) . That prophecy could be fulfilled in no one but Jesus (Acts 3:22). But while he was like Moses in some ways, he was greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:3). John the Baptist was greater than Moses (Luke 7:28). And Jesus was greater than John (Mark 1:7). Jesus had said about John, that he was more than a prophet (Matthew 11:9). And if Jesus was greater than John, then he must also be more than a prophet. It was no mistake when the multitude said, “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:11). The two disciples were not wrong when they said concerning Jesus of Nazareth, that he was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people (Luke 24:19). And yet Jesus called them “fools”, because they had not believed all that the (other) prophets had written about him. And yet, the other prophets had not revealed all. They had not understood all. They were “searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11). Now, we have the prophecies. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. We have the fulfillment in the life in the gospel accounts. We have further insights from the epistles, and we have the book of Revelation, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”. Jesus is a prophet. But we can add to that. |
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48 | But can we answer the question? | Eph 2:22 | Aixen7z4 | 118004 | ||
I will provoke another thought now, that I hope will have repercussions for this entire forum. I will accuse us of a low level of processing. We can talk about a topic. We can talk about talking about a topic. We can talk around a topic. We can even quote scriptures that relate to a topic. We can talk about a question, but we either give an easy theoretical answer or we don‘t answer it at all. We can parry about and go off on tangents. But we find it hard to get to the guts, to answer a question in practical terms and to apply the word of God. We can talk about what “invisible” means and now, about how much dust would fly if the invisible became visible and vice-versa. It is more difficult to express an appreciation for what the word of God says about the church that Christ is building. But I like this forum. I have talked about its potential. One aspect of it I like is the tree-like format of the thing. We can make this part a tangent end and stretch it out. Or we can get to the higher level and actually answer the question. But is it not wonderful that we can talk all day about what “church” means and never ever say what we like abut the church? I challenge us to make a choice here. Say that it is wrong to provoke. Ask for a definition of “repercussions”. Impugn the motive. Argue the etymology of the word “church”. Engage in a personal attack on Nobel Aixen. Accuse him of bringing psychology onto a Bible Study forum because he used the words “level of processing". Cut him off. Or rise to the higher level and answer the question. What do you like, marvel at, appreciate, admire, about the wonderful work that the Lord is doing on this earth, building his church? See the vast building See it rise The work, how great! The plan how wise! How do you like it? To many, within and without, the church may not seem very beautiful now. There is all the dust and rubble of construction. Just as they may not see much beauty in Aixen. But when he shall appear, we shall be like him. I hope we get to shout to the principalities and powers then, “How do you like me now?” But Jesus is the Master Builder, and he is building his church. Down around here, amidst the dust and the rubble, we can hardly see the beauty of the thing. Let us rise to the higher level and look at it, and say what we think. Or must I put it in the form of a question? |
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49 | What do you like about the church? | Eph 2:22 | Aixen7z4 | 117887 | ||
I would like to talk about the church, and bring out some of the qualities to show what a marvelous thing it is. But I do not know how to introduce the subject to force a focus and to avoid distracting from it. So I'll just say, "What do you like about the church?" | ||||||
50 | Who is Jesus? | Matt 16:15 | Aixen7z4 | 117393 | ||
Someone asked the question: "Who was Jesus?" It is difficult to know, since there was no elaboration, what the reason was for the question. But I repeat it here, and change the tense of the verb, because I believe it is extremely important. Frankly, I am thinking it is the most important question that a person can ask. Jesus claimed to be God, and if he is such, then he is beyond the realm of time. Jesus was, and is, and is to come. And he is the Almighty. The fact is that Jesus is all that he ever was or will be, for he is God. What a big mistake we make when we think of Jesus as a man, claiming to be God! The fact is that God became flesh and dwelt among us, believe it or not. And those who do not believe are in danger. Jesus said, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins”. (John 8:24). But now, if I understand the workings of this forum, I must frame a question. I am not sure what question I should ask, and I do not want to offend anyone. But does the question “Who was Jesus?” indicate that the person does not believe Jesus is who he claimed to be? Perhaps the person who asked the question, or a person who would ask the question that way, can answer here. |
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51 | What do we believe? | Jude 1:3 | Aixen7z4 | 116973 | ||
What do we believe? What does the Bible say that we believe? Now, this is an Aixen question, and it requires thought. Please think about it some before responding. Please do not judge the question, but try to answer it. Please do not stray into controversy, or personal attacks, but consider this, that scriptural answers to this question may be of help to someone. Having come to the church, it seems appropriate that one should enquire as to what we believe. One comes in, not to bring one’s own ideas, but to join in with the assembly and to identify with it’s beliefs. The question may be asked by one who belongs; especially by a new member. A visitor who is not a believer should ask, “What do you believe?” And then, those who answer should not be stating a personal opinion. Neither should he say that there is a variety, and that there are differences among us, in what we believe. There is one faith (Ephesians 4:5). There is something called “the faith” that we should contend for . Jude reminds us that it has been once for all delivered to the saints, and we should beware of certain ones who will creep in unawares to deny parts of it or otherwise to dilute it and corrupt it. You should understand, if you stop and think about it, that I am not talking about an earthly organization, where people follow an earthly leader, or where they decide in a democratic manner what they believe. It is not a situation where the majority opinion or the latest fad or the dictates of the strong prevails. This is the church of the living God and only his word prevails. The question then is, “What does the Bible say that we believe?” I pray that we can be specific here and not say simply, that we believe the Bible. The prophets and the apostles tell us in specifics, what it is that we believe. Here are one example: We believe and are sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (John 6:69). We are borrowing the words of Peter here, but we see that he is speaking for all of us. We do believe that about Christ, and by “we” I mean all of us who are saved. For But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:31) . The person who does not believe that Jesus is the Christ is not saved. He may not believe. But he is not allowed to come into an assembly and dilute what we believe. We believe what the word of God says, and it does not change. It is forever settled in heaven. It bears repeating, I hope, that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We also believe that he is God. We believe that he is Lord. He is the head of the church. He is the mediator between God and man. Mostly, I should say, we believe in him. We believe many other things, but they are all in him. And I have chosen not to fill this paragraph with references, but some of us know what they are. I encourage us to join in to ask or to answer the question, and to search the scriptures for the answer. A visitor may be asking what it is that we believe. Can we tell them, in this thread? |
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52 | What if Jesus was born in 1971? | Matt 22:42 | Aixen7z4 | 115108 | ||
What would have happened if Jesus had been born in 1971? My point is, to get to it, that his passion would be happening right about now. He would have been despised and rejected of men. He would have been put to grief. They would have crucified him. The fantastic fact is, it would have been the religious leaders who would have called for his death. They’d want his religion, but not him. They would have read the prophecies of his coming and would have been discussing and debating it. But when he arrived they would not have recognized him or accepted him. Perhaps that is why he will not arrive the second time the same way. In any case he is not coming back to die, but to reign. But I wonder if we accept him these days, when he comes to the door and knocks, as in Revelation 3:20. I wonder if he is not knocking now, using a stick labeled “The Passion of the Christ”. We can talk about that stick, and we can debate whether or not it is a stick. But do we open the door when he knocks? To get back to the original question: Can you imagine what would happen if Jesus were here in the flesh today, and about 33 years of age? If I may, I would suggest it would give rise to other questions. What kind of treatment would he get? And how would we record and explain and exploit and publicize the public beating? What would it be like if Jesus were here in the body in 2004? Would he not have been treated the same way? And how would we plan now to proclaim the Gospel: his death and burial and resurrection, the demand for repentance and his offer of forgiveness? |
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53 | Thank the Catholics for "The Passion"? | 1 Cor 3:22 | Aixen7z4 | 114577 | ||
Should we thank the Catholic church nor for "The Passion of the Christ"? Somehow, it seems now that it had to happen. That is the way that Catholics do things. This is not meant to be an offensive statement but I think that only a Catholic could have made that movie. I do not kow for sure what I am saying here. My parents were Catholic and I attended a Catholic school. All I will say is that, as a child, I found the pictures on the wall and the "Stations of the Cross" really frightening. I stayed away from them. Now I find I have not seen the movie. If I do see it the reason would be that it enables me to talk about it. It is my impression that only Catholics have been referring to the sufferings of Christ as a "Passion". With that and the movie itself, are they not making a unique contribution to Christianity? |
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54 | What about "The Passion of the Christ"? | Luke 24:14 | Aixen7z4 | 114071 | ||
What should believers do about the movie "The Passion of the Christ"? View it? Discuss it? Two disciples on their way to Emmaus were occupied with a similar subject matter. | ||||||
55 | Doesn't it say that? | Prov 3:5 | Aixen7z4 | 107791 | ||
Jesus was known for the kindness of his words. “All bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth (Luke 4:22). He said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29) . Listen to some of our brethren talk and we seem to be characterized by pride and arrogance and impatience. Someone asks a question and the grammar is not quite there and we snap at them. Jesus would have us go the second mile, I think, and help them out, and be kind to them when we answer. This is not a matter of machismo. Paul says, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Colossians 4:6). Let us hope that those who know the Bible well enough to answer questions will also demonstrate that they are willing to obey the Bible by answering with grace. It is evident, Makarios, that your Bible knowledge is at a high level. I would hope that you could ask a question, even when you know the answer, in order to benefit those who might not know. But if you have to fear a sharp or condescending answer, I can understand why you would not take that route. It may also be the reason that people from the cults and others with shaky doctrine choose not to ask questions, don’t you think? They may come on with accusations or with bluster in order to protect themselves from the expected response. I still don’t know why we ask people, “Are you a Jehovah’s Witness?” What if they are? We can still speak to them with kindness, I think, and maybe win them over with the word. I am still thinking of turning all of this into a question, but for now I think I’d rather say, a little dose of humility might do us all some good. Jesus was meek and we can imitate him in that. Somehow a rough manner, for me, seems ill-fitting on a Christian. I am tempted to say, “Ye have not so learned Christ”. In any case we would not want to discourage a person who comes here with a question (Would we?) especially when we can sense that the person is unsaved or newly saved. I am not sure we should accustom ourselves to rough answers. The servant of the Lord must be gentle to all men. Doesn’t it say that? |
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56 | Don't you think so? | Prov 3:5 | Aixen7z4 | 107773 | ||
Sigh! We make mistakes. And even when we don't, some may perceive our tries as such. God, give us grace to be gracious. Now I have to turn this into a question to illustrate the fact a person can submit a statement for comment even when he is tempted to pontificate. I want to show it can be done. How can one make a point and yet submit it for consideration? One might use the option of Question rather than Note. One might type, "What do you think?" or "Do you think so?" or "Am I correct?" But how can someone submit a statement for comment without risking being snapped at? He could proofread it carefully and use the best grammar that he knows. He may even lower his standards a bit to be sure he is understood. He might hope that readers would pay more attention to substance and less to form. But he may yet be mistaken in all of these predictions. People should be able to make inputs or asks questions on a Christian forum without fear of sharp or rude responses. Don't you think so? |
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57 | Would I submit? | Prov 3:5 | Aixen7z4 | 107745 | ||
I promise. You can rest easy, my brother. I do not seek to be an expert here. I have my own ministry and it includes a forum. It is part of my ministry to support the effort of others and I have offered my opinion here. For your comfort I hereby state unequivocally that I have no desire to be one of the chosen few. I trust that the post you are reading now shows not a desire to pontificate but a willingness to put forth an idea for consideration. Can I make it any clearer? I would not accept an invitation to be on the panel I’m proposing here. I take it as my role within the body to simply make suggestions. Nor would I have any qualms about knowing you were on it. I could only hope that the ones who are chosen would be gentle and kind in their responses. You ask, “How will you compel questioners to end by "asking the 'experts' how those thoughts squared with Scripture"? I believe the webmaster at Lockman knows the answer. It is not a psychological thing and it is not done with browbeating. It is a simple matter of programming. This company will decide whether what they want for the participants is freedom of expression or a chance to learn. They are God’s servants and the Lord has led them in this good ministry thus far. I am pleased to leave the decision up to them. Would I submit? I think that is what I am doing now. |
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58 | Is it true? | Prov 3:5 | Aixen7z4 | 107730 | ||
Is it true that this forum encourages the exchange of good, bad, foolish, insightful, even evil ideas? I had assumed otherwise, simply because the owners of the site are publishers of the Bible. I have not checked, but I would be surprised if the also published bad, foolish, insightful, even evil versions of the Bible. I do not doubt that there are all kinds of ideas published on the Internet, and there may well be forums that encourage simple self-expression. But shouldn’t a Bible forum be different? The suggestion is not that one person give all answers. It is not suggested that those who answer get together to confer before answering. It is suggested that they try to bring their answers together much like we would all seek to reconcile Scriptures which seem to say different things. Nor would questioners be passive. The could be aggressive in expressing their thoughts, but in the end they would be asking the “experts” how those thoughts squared with Scripture. I agree that my proposal seems to relieve participants of the obligation to be good Bereans. And the example of the Bereans is often cited. But is it not true that these folks were commended precisely because they were exceptional? Should we expect all Christians to be like that? We know for a fact that they are not. Should we insist then, that every believer be a devoted berean level Bible student or perish? And the people do perish for lack of knowledge. Why are we doing this? Do we invite everyone to our church, all the cults and all, and then tell the people to decide whom they will believe? Do we invite everyone to be on a pannel of Bible translators and to have their say in the final product? Do we bring all the books into our church libraries and let the people read them and decide? And yet I do fear that if we abridge the freedom of the participants to come on and pontificate, that they may not come at all. There may well be fewer participants overall. But is it not worth considering, the quality of the record that is built here? |
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59 | Does Lockman listen? | Bible general Archive 2 | Aixen7z4 | 107714 | ||
This is not really a question to anyone on this forum. It is a question I am asking myself, and maybe it is one that others ask themselves. It is not to suggest the owners of this forum do not listen. It is to let you know that I have written to them, and I am waiting anxiously for a reply. Here is the letter as it was sent. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Thank you for providing the BibleStudyForum. It is clearly a very popular program and it has such tremendous potential. I say "potential" because I am afraid we may be missing a great opportunity here. The possibility is that folks could come to the forum and get clarification for Bible passages. The reality is what they get is confusion: a mixture of truth and error. Moreover, the issues are hardly ever resolved. I believe there is a simple solution to this problem. (And I hope you see it as a problem. You would not publish a Bible with a mixture of truth and error. Yet you provide such a forum.) The solution is to appoint a small group of persons to answer the questions. Other members would be limited to asking questions. You would note that the problem has been discussed on the forum. See this link , for example, or this one. Some of the members think that changes are desirable, but they would be technically difficult to implement and expensive to maintain. I submit that the changes to the program are simple and easy to do. Also, you would not need to pay the panel. I do believe there is such a group already trying to serve, that they would be easy to recognize, and they would be willing to serve gratis. It has been stated that a board of ten people would have eleven answers to each question. I think you know that Bible scholars with different backgrounds come together to give us one translation. I think that the people answering the questions could do the same. They could be charged with the task of finding agreement, and I suggest it would be a great blessing to see their effort and success on the forum itself. Charge them to listen to each other and to come to a conclusion after a reasonable number of posts. I do believe that these small changes would make a big difference. Your forum is already good. I believe you can make it great. Sincerely Nobel Kam Aixen |
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60 | Authoritative answers? | Prov 3:5 | Aixen7z4 | 107644 | ||
It is such a good idea, though. One would think that the originators would be willing to make some slight adjustments in order to accomplish the goal. The idea, as I understand it, is that someone should be able to go to any verse in the Bible and see what questions and comments have been made on it. Even here one would hope that a slight change can be made, to allow people to reference a passage (a range of verses) rather than a single verse. The idea of having monitors has been suggested, and it is one that might be considered by the owners. Obviously there are some who would oppose the idea and even try to prevent it from getting to the decision makers for consideration. They want everyone to be free to say almost anything and unless it crosses some line (of vulgarity or obscenity, I guess) it is allowed to stand. There are some who come down on certain types of posts, yes, but it seems to be almost another law of the jungle, where the strong hound the weak and run them off. Meanwhile, all the posts remain. We do not even know if the original intent was mischief or if their problem was timidity. Yet, the owners want a growing commentary on the Bible. I am sure they also wanted an accurate translation of the Bible. Why not have a commentary which is useful and reliable? At least, let it not be confusing. In reading the threads even a neophyte is forced to either agree with one side or to throw his hands up in frustration and maybe, as in this case, depart in confusion. Of course, there are those who like it the way it is, and are glad to make up their own mind or agree with the kings of the jungle. But how can the owners of this forum be confident that they have given folks the truth? It may be good to let the experts work together and give us one set of renderings. But someone does not have to proffer credentials in order to be allowed to pontificate here. Nor is anyone disqualified for asking silly or useless questions. Criticisms are given, but they go both ways. Error stands with truth. The purpose of this forum is a noble one. I wonder if there is anyone who thinks it is being realized. But not really, I am sure there are those who think so. But in my heart there is an ache for people such as inmyheart who come by looking for answers and then move on. Or maybe they do not move on. I see that that person went on to decide who were giving the right answers and who were wrong. It has been pointed out that they were espousing a particular doctrine and that they had gotten into a huff when they were confronted. At one point they are listed among those are “very knowledgeable of the Word and very spirit filled”. What’s all of that about? The person who came on as a learner had decided that he was an expert after all, and others were recognizing his as such. Again the law of the jungle. One can work one’s way up the food chain. I am aware that there are those who wish that Aixen would move on. But he comes back to plead again with his brethren, moved by some spirit that leads him to notes like the one that began this chain. As he said, there is an apparent need for authoritative answers somewhere. Why not here? At a Bible publisher’s, why not here? He has suggested that there is a need for agreement among those giving answers. Not that they have to give one answer. Not that their answers will represent one denominational viewpoint. Everyone must be aware that there is a group here whose members support each other. And they give good, Biblical answers. This in spite of having come from different backgrounds. I think it is the same for Bible translators. I suggest that this program be set up so that only those people (those judged to be sound in doctrine, apt to teach, etc.) can provide answers. Everyone else should be limited to asking questions. As always, anyone can preface his question with statements or opinions. But in the end, unless he belongs to that select group, he should have to fill out the question box. That way, visitors will know that his statements are not authoritative, but the group will answer his/her question. In the end, it seems that we need to not only talk about the Bible but also to practice the Bible. And where in the Bible is there this kind of free-for-all exchange of ideas? There have been prophets, and apostles, and elders. There were also false prophets and false apostles, but they were not allowed to write and publish their writings as scripture. They were also not allowed to add notes to the scriptures. Why shouldn’t Bible publishes take the same care today? OK. I know there is an answer. There is a counterpoint to everything that has been said here. But there are also inmyhearts coming on. They could have searched the Bible for themselves, but they are coming here. I think they are looking for clear answers. |
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