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NASB | Ephesians 4:3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:3 Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]. |
Subject: denominations. |
Bible Note: Hank I think we are traveling down the same road but let us see after you read this. You said, "One is objective ("good") interpretation, which is synonymous with exegesis, in which ages-old principles of interpretation are carefully observed, such as, for example, context, semantics, historical and cultural settings, and synthesis -- the combining of Scripture segments to form a cohert whole, i.e., allowing Scripture to be its own interpreter by comparing Scripture with Scripture. In exegesis all possible meanings are carefully weighed and evaluated with the aid of and in the light of these established principles." Let focus first on the last sentence, "In exegesis all possible meanings are carefully weighed and evaluated with the aid of and in the light of these established principles." Carefully weighed and evaluated! Interesting and right sounding but who decides? When I carefully weigh and evaluate I pay little attention to historical social customs because I believe the Bible was written for all people of all times. However there are many that pay great importance to historical social customs saying they actually effect the real meaning of the passage. Therefore the outcome is two entirely different interpretations of the same verse based on seemingly right reasons. Was this God intent or have we allowed our liberty to take us to a place we should have never visited? I believe God gave men the true intent of the passage when they wrote it and there was no doubt in their mind what God meant. However we in our righteous stand of Sola Scriptura have all but eliminated any apostolic testimony from our decision. You also said, “"One is objective ("good") interpretation, which is synonymous with exegesis, in which ages-old principles of interpretation…” Let us look at age old principles of interpretation. How many that are reading and interpreting the Bible for themselves know even one “ages-old principle” ? I think the forum proves most people do their own interpretation and reach their conclusions and have no idea that the word exegesis exists let alone defines how something should be interpreted. In effect the Christian community has thrown off all requirement to seek God’s meaning of a passage and replaced it with the requirement that the passage should mean what we think God is saying about this passage. I resist using a specific example but I think we need one. One the issue of tithing, many claiming correct exegesis claims it is for today, others using the same argument says it was condition of the law and we are free of the law so it does not apply. Others say yes it applies but means before tax money and still others say it is referring to expendable income only. The church by in large remains under- funded while some ministries that are only after money have money to waste. Yet all were based on what we have termed exegesis and all have scripture to support their position. Yet we know God intended for the church to be funded to meet the “real” needs of Christian community benevolence, missions, salaries, indebtedness and etc. |