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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: Greetings Seeking4truth! You raise some interesting questions. In all my years of studying the Bible, I have discovered that the vast majority of 'alleged' contradictions in the Bible are smoke and mirrors. :-) There are a number of games that people play to try and 'create' contradictions. 1) The first is that all accounts must list every possible detail or it is a contradiction. This one is one of the most common. For instance, several of the Gosple writers give differing lists of who did what and when. The lists don't contradict, but they do differ in the degree of detail. However, these differences in detail are called a contradiction. But, this doesn't even make good common sense. If I were to say to you that I went to work last night, worked eight hours, came home and went to bed - that would be an accurate, but short summary of my night. However, I could expand that account if we had more time. Perhaps I could mention that upon arriving home this morning, I had to quickly take my daughter someplace before I went to bed. Are the two accounts contradictory? No! They simply differ in the degree of detail. 2) Another category of alleged 'contradictions' would probably be the failure to distinguish between linguistic genres. I actually read one author this morning who claimed that the poetic passages in Job were contradictory because one said that God hung the world on nothing and another said that he placed the world on it's foundation. :-) 3) I have seen many alleged contradictions which were based upon either a bad translation or a poor understanding of English grammar. I remember reading once how the Gospels were ridiculous because they claimed that Jesus placed his clothes upon two donkeys and then sat upon them. How could Jesus ride two donkeys? But, the author failed to note that the Greek 'them' quite clearly (because of form) refered to the plural 'clothes', not donkeys. :-) I guess what I am trying to say to you my friend is go ahead and ask questions, in the end, if you approach them honestly, you will discover that the Bible is reliable. I know I have! :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |