Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]--he cannot be My disciple. |
Bible Question:
Thanks, George. Yes, the issue about calling no man "father" seems to be another point of contention, doesn't it? As is women keeping silent in the church. I am a skeptic, I will admit that. But I run into alot of "Bible-believing Christians" who, quite simply don't believe the Bible. Jesus said to call no man "father" and we do anyway. Paul said that women should keep silent in the church and I've never seen that exhortation put into practice. If we interpret the word "hate" as "to love less" then it becomes a sticky situation with God loving sin less or God loving divorce less or God loving Esau less. So I struggle with the fact that the Bible cannot be taken at face-value (it doesn't mean what it says). As soon as we open that Pandora's box, that the Bible doesn't mean what it says, then how are we ever to know what it DOES mean? Then it becomes one persons opinion against another and who is to say who is right? Anyway, yes, I am seeking truth. But I have trouble trusting something which people swear is without contradiction, even when the contradiction is as plain as the noses on our faces. And it cases of this sort, it seems like "Bible-believing Christians" pick and choose what parts they want to believe and what parts they don't. Here is another issue that I would seriously like an answer to: God says to love our enemies and to do good to those who spitefully use us. But He swears that He will destroy His enemies. Now I guess God is God but this certainly seems like a "do as I say, not as I do" approach. Any thoughts? seeking4truth |
Bible Answer: DairyLeader is correct, Seeker. While your questions cry out for an answer, I want to assure that the answers are in the Bible. Context is paramount, but so is the role of the Holy Spirit in giving us understanding. We Christians are not perfect, but we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. We trust in him. I wonder if you have learned to trust him. I checked your profile to see where you are in in relation to the faith, but I see you have not filled it out as yet. When you do, it will help us to see where you are coning from, so to speak, and it will help us to answer your questions. We have learned that it is God who reveals the true meaning of his word to us. Also, he does this, not to satisfy our curiosity, but so we can obey him. See Deuteronomy 29:29, etc. If you have a sincere desire to know God's will, you will know the truth of it. See John 7:17. God’s word is truth. See John 17:17. It does not seem appropriate to go into any of the apparent contradictions you have mentioned because they seem to be only examples. I suppose you have seen many others. But we have all reason to trust our Lord and to trust his word. Some of us fail to obey it, as you have observed, and that limits our ability to receive further truth. That applies to you as well as to us. Once again, it would be good to discuss these questions with you, but have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ an your savior as yet? Do you believe he died for you? Have you trusted him to forgive you and to save you? Can you say, as Paul says, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”? That, I believe, is the beginning point. |