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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Subject: THE CROSS |
Bible Note: Dear Jibbs, I think you're being a little hard on our brother Tim:-) He has spoken with wisdom and shows a scriptural basis for his views. Though I would consider myself a "Calvinist", and have followed this thread, the majority of what Tim has stated I would agree with. Jibbs, when you say "When it comes down to exegesis, the Reformed position is the only one that stands SOLA SCRIPTURA, while the Arminian view must, by sheer necessity, import something into the text that is either outside Scripture or a blatant misuse of CONTEXT.", I have to say that's an overstatement at best. Without attempting to be drawn into this fray, allow me to offer a couple brief observations for thought. What we're really dealing with is one's foundation of interpretation, is it not? 1. To be true to the principle of Sola Scriptura, we must allow the Bible to be its own interpreter. It would seem, in practice that this principle is largely ignored, We can see both Catholic and Protestant churches that interpret the Bible in light of the historical teachings of their church or confessional statements; 2. Absolute objectivity is practically impossible. None of us approaches the study of the Bible empty-headed. Calvinists, Arminians, Lutherans, Protestants,Charismatics, etc. approach the study of the Bible with a mind set already conditioned by traditional interpretations. We certainly should strive for objectivity by controlling our presuppositions, with the goal being that of understanding what scripture says, rather than reading into the text, our own presuppositions. Speaking The Truth In Love, BradK |