Legalizeit wrote:
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Will, you may find Dan Browne's current best sellers quite interesting to complement your studies to further understand the many people that don't see the Bible as being the word of God.
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I've never heard of him, but, I'll be glad to check it out. I'm always trying to learn more about how to minister and seeing how others doubt helps me see ways to share truth. Thanks
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A few posts back you asked "What?" when I stated I'd rather listen to "the sweet songs of a river...", and what I was getting at is that natures sounds and smells are the same now as they were 2000 years ago, though the words and meaning of the Bible are not the same as they were 2000 years ago.
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Okay, I'd never heard that phrase before, but, that's what I thought you meant.
As for the Bible's meanings being different. I disagree. What's different is the perspective from which we view things. That's why it's harder to fully understand the Word. Whereas 2000 years ago, you would have just had to have been there and heard the stories. Now, we have to learn about their culture, learn new languages, study history, etc. to fully grasp it. So, as has been correctly pointed out...to really get the full scope of some scripture, we have to learn a lot...we basically have to be able to be in another culture through the research and scholarship of others. The truth in the Bible will always remain the same.
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I'd rather be interpreting something with as little middle-men as possible, and the Bible just has too many since I don't speak Aramaic or Hebrew. Another interesting read, to go along with Dan Browne's pieces, would be "The Bible Code."
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I faced the same doubt, and concluded that God has created scholars to study and share information, but, for people who require greater knowledge, you have to trust in what God's people have done. Jesus said it's not about what you know, but, about what and how you believe. With that in mind, I think the God who created language can overcome those barriers if your inability to speak another tongue is all that really keeps you from digging deeper...although I suspect that's not the real issue.
I have the Bible Code, but, do not put much stock in that sort of work. It's not much different from Gematria or Numerology...even though it uses more sophisticated techniques. It does make some interesting points. But, Scripture, not interpretation, is where the power of God lies.