2022 and Beyond Discussion on Religion

[ghost]

But are you listening to God about what the bible says or are you listening to man? Huge difference. Man can be deceiving. God, God will never deceive.

I don't believe God would contradict himself, so where there are contradictions in the Bible, I attribute that to man. I read the Bible and study how it came about.. the social (especially patriarchy) and governmental structure during the period, tribal customs and traditions, the surrounding historical civilizations, and audience it was written to, combine to establish the context in which I believe it should be read. The Bible can be hard to understand. I used to think I had all the answers.. now I have more questions and realize I will never have a full understanding. That's where faith comes in for me.

 

[thundersnow]

I don't believe God would contradict himself, so where there are contradictions in the Bible, I attribute that to man. I read the Bible and study how it came about.. the social (especially patriarchy) and governmental structure during the period, tribal customs and traditions, the surrounding historical civilizations, and audience it was written to, combine to establish the context in which I believe it should be read. The Bible can be hard to understand. I used to think I had all the answers.. now I have more questions and realize I will never have a full understanding. That's where faith comes in for me.

This is problematic though. I agree that it can be important to have an understanding of things like historical and cultural context when studying scripture. But, the foundational principle I'm going to personally keep the needle of my compass pointed at is the divine inspiration of the scriptures. Now, what that means exactly can be nuanced. We can talk about things like variations among the manuscripts from which it is translated or whether something was locally or culturally applicable. But, there should be pause before being quick to write something off as a "contradiction" as opposed to doing our due diligence to make sure we're not misunderstanding it and framing things in their proper context of understanding. Otherwise, I'm putting myself in the awkward position of deciding whether something is from God or "attributing to man" if it's something I don't understand or agree with.

God may have granted providential flexibility among the writers of Scripture, but I'm going to affirm there was still guidance of the Holy Spirit in revealing divinely inspired truth (whether it was "whispering every word" or not). That doesn't mean I might not wrestle with some details at times. If we start doubting some of it, then we potentially doubt all of it, even that which teaches us about Jesus... it's a slippery slope. With all that said, I don't necessarily agree with all of Jay's thoughts, and we're probably drifting off topic from politics anyway.

 

[JayF]

This is problematic though. I agree that it can be important to have an understanding of things like historical and cultural context when studying scripture. But, the foundational principle I'm going to personally keep the needle of my compass pointed at is the divine inspiration of the scriptures. Now, what that means exactly can be nuanced. We can talk about things like variations among the manuscripts from which it is translated or whether something was locally or culturally applicable. But, there should be pause before being quick to write something off as a "contradiction" as opposed to doing our due diligence to make sure we're not misunderstanding it and framing things in their proper context of understanding. Otherwise, I'm putting myself in the awkward position of deciding whether something is from God or "attributing to man" if it's something I don't understand or agree with.

God may have granted providential flexibility among the writers of Scripture, but I'm going to affirm there was still guidance of the Holy Spirit in revealing divinely inspired truth (whether it was "whispering every word" or not). That doesn't mean I might not wrestle with some details at times. If we start doubting some of it, then we potentially doubt all of it, even that which teaches us about Jesus... it's a slippery slope. With all that said, I don't necessarily agree with all of Jay's thoughts, and we're probably drifting off topic from politics anyway.

Thunder, You are correct we have drifted from politics, so I figure if we continue this conversation, we probably need to create its own thread. Which isn't a bad idea. I will see about moving these comments to their own thread.

 

[JayF]

This is a new thread. Please keep it civil. While we can often get caught up in our own beliefs, there is no need to get upset because someone disagrees with you or does not see your viewpoint. Be blessed and enjoy the learning experience.