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NASB | 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God's will, both publicly and privately--behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; |
Subject: Infallibility of the Bible questioned. |
Bible Note: Hi, Curt; Let me offer partial support for your view of the Bible. I would suggest that it is not man's record of God's interaction with humanity, it is God's record communicated through inspired human writers. There were no eyewitnesses to the creation. If we don't assume that God inspired the writing of Genesis, then we don't know whether or not God created the universe. If we don't know that, we know nothing. Like you, I question the lieteralness of the creation story. But first a disclaimer: There is a great deal of wisdom and discernment on this forum. I have been truly blessed by both participating and lurking in many of the threads. And I have found that those who have hammered me hardest on Creation issues have often enlightened me the most on other questions. Now into the fray.... As you've begun to discover, the only unpardonable sin is to question the historicity of the creation story. It is not enough to know that God predated the universe and personally created it out of nothing. Nor is it enough to know that God's Creation was perfect or to know that sin entered this perfect world through the lies of Satan and the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Nor is it sufficient to know that Jesus' ultimate defeat of Satan was foretold at the moment of his greatest victory. No; for many there is a further requirement that one must know the exact mechanism and timing of certain events during the process. The prevailing wisdom on the forum is that if one questions the literal interpretation that it took God precisely 144 hours - no more, no less - then one automatically rejects the rest of the Bible or arbitrarily picks and chooses what one wishes to believe. Few here seem to be bothered by the fact that the Bible itself does not claim to be a source of scientific knowledge. Yet in this and the surrounding verses, Paul has summarized the only purpose that the Bible claims for itself. The assertion of scientific accuracy is of man, not Scripture. Over the years, I have developed a simple test of whether the historicity of any Genesis passage is really important: If the story as related in Genesis were different or inaccurate, would it contradict what the whole of the Bible teaches us about God? For example, if God had actually just grounded Satan for a week, or given Adam and Eve a second chance, or killed Satan on the spot, it would change what the rest of the Bible teaches about God. If God took two weeks or two centuries or two billion years to create the universe, it would still be his creation and would contracdict nothing elsewhere in the Bible. A different period of time would still be consistent with everything else the Bible teaches and would still fall within this passage's definition of what the Bible is meant to do - lead us to Jesus. As long as God did it, it does not matter to me how he went about it or how long he took. In this way, I have come to understand that Adam and Eve were indeed historical people and that the events in the Garden must have taken place. Much of the Bible would have to be ignored if Adam and Eve were not real people. Not so with 6 24-hour days. And, no, I am not making God out to be a liar. I am making God out to be a loving father who is more interested in conveying spiritual truths - on which hang our salvation - than giving lectures in physics or cosmology. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |