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NASB | 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation." |
Subject: Where do I go from here? |
Bible Note: Hello Tim: (continuing...) You say: 2) Don't make a literal statement out of an assumption about the meaning of a word! My Reply: A word can have a literal meaning: my dictionary says soon means: before long; without undue time lapse; promptly. If I said to someone that I was going to die soon, would that mean to them in 10 years? 5? 20? 2 years? Or, would reasonable people, in general, have the same idea of soon? Would those reasonable people have a much narrower concept than those spans? And recall, it is not just a one time word. It permeates the NT, from The Good News is Coming Soon!, to REV: I am coming soon!” You say: . However, He never said that! (..that he was coming back in the 1st century…) My reply: This has been your strongest point, without question. But then, you must be willing to address what he did say. And then you must be willing to ask what he meant. You must be willing to ask if anything is implied. If Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 16: 27-28, “For I, the Son of Mankind, shall come with my angels in the glory of my Father and judge each person according to his deeds. AND SOME OF YOU STANDING RIGHT HERE NOW WILL CERTAINLY LIVE TO SEE ME COMING IN MY KINGDOM.” Incidentally, this is even stronger than Mark 9. Even though Jesus does not say “in your lifetime”, what else could he mean? Again, a layman is asking: what does Jesus mean when he tells his disciples he is coming back and some of them will live to see it? Is it unreasonable that a layman can construe that the context is what it is? Is it not prudent to read this over and over, and still see the same thing? You say: It is dangerous to build an entire arguement on the truth or falsity of the Bible based upon nothing more than an assumption about how long a time is a reasonable time for 'soon'! ;-) My reply: Not at all. Again, this could be the “heart of the matter.” “Falsity” would be a worse case scenario. But, after going through each one, after sequentially listing them, and paying close attention to context, in order to establish the minds’ intents, some doubts may arise. I suppose my main premise would be that no stone should be unturned.. How else to know? Sometimes I waver, but mostly I feel I will be back in the FOLD. And can’t explain that feeling. But until then, I think I owe it to myself to make sure I’m right—then go ahead—even if I’m wrong. J ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You say: God Bless you my friend! Hopefully, we will be able to interact 'soon' on some other issues as well! My reply: Well, not so sure about that. Just what does soon mean? Might mean tomorrow for you, but 2 years from now for me…….Treadway |