Podcast Prep - Do You Bible?
8 Unusual things that make "Scripture" stand out to me:
- It didn't just come to us, much of it came as a promise that still had to be fulfilled. (prophecy/mystery/fog) (promise/patience/beyond ability of any one man)(challenge of faith/generations drawn to beyond themselves)
kjv@Luke:4:21 @ And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
kjv@John:17:12 @ While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
kjv@Acts:1:16 @ Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
- In it's unfolding it was proven that man really couldn't figure it out.
kjv@Matthew:22:29 @ Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
kjv@John:5:39 @ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
kjv@Matthew:21:42 @ Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
- Even having been afore written and then fulfilled, it still needed to be revealed.
kjv@Luke:24:27 @ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
kjv@Luke:24:45 @ Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.
- Once divinely revealed, it made perfect sense.
kjv@Luke:24:32 @ And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
- Revealed scripture is so well connected old to new and new to old. It is a delight to see the foretasting/shadows.
kjv@Romans:4:3 @ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
kjv@Galatians:3:8 @ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
kjv@Romans:15:4 @ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
- God is just as capable of revealing the scriptures to a child as HE is an old and learned man.
kjv@2Timothy:3:15 @ And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures [Timothy/Mark], which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
- Understood not by our power but by God's
kjv@2Peter:3:16 @ As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
- Bible revelation is such a grace bestowed upon us and such a joy to then receive!
(1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2) But his delight is in the law (Torah) of the LORD; and in his law (Torah) doth he meditate day and night. (3) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Quotes:
“Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.”― Dwight Lyman Moody
“The reason you don’t like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you.”― Billy Sunday
“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”― Charles H. Spurgeon
“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisation to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”― Mahatma Gandhi
Critical Quotes:
“The Bible has noble poetry in it… and some good morals and a wealth of obscenity, and upwards of a thousand lies.” ― Mark Twain
“To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and ‘improved’ by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries” ― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Supposed Bible Contradictions (examples)
(American Atheists)
http://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/
_The Sabbath Day_
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” — Exodus 20:8
“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” — Romans 14:5
_The Power of God_
“… with God all things are possible.” — Matthew 19:26
“…The LORD was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.” — Judges 1:19
_Personal Injury_
“…thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. ” — Exodus 21:23-25
“…ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” — Matthew 5:39
Difficulties? Yes. Contradictions? No.
Recommend:http://likepreciousfaith.us/media/pdf/WhenCriticsAsk.pdf (Norman Geisler)
"The Bible is without mistake, but the critics are not. All their allegations of error in the Bible are based on some error of their own. Their mistakes fall into the following main categories:"
- Mistake 1: Assuming that the Unexplained Is Not Explainable.
(that what has not yet been explained never will be explained)
- Mistake 2: Presuming the Bible Guilty Until Proven Innocent.
(Negative critics of the Bible begin with just the opposite presumption)
- Mistake 3: Confusing Our Fallible Interpretations with God’s Infallible Revelation.
(one should not be hasty in assuming that a currently dominant view in science is thefinal word on the topic)
- Mistake 4: Failing to Understand the Context of the Passage
(Perhaps the most common mistake of critics is to take a text out of its proper context. As the adage goes, “A text out of context is a pretext.” One can prove anything from the Bible by this mistaken procedure")
- Mistake 5: Neglecting to Interpret Difficult Passages in the Light of Clear Ones.
(For example, James appears to be saying salvation is by works ( James 2:14–26 ), whereas Paul taught clearly that it was by grace ( Rom. 4:5 ; Titus 3:5–7 ; Eph. 2:8–9 ). In this case, James should not be construed so as to contradict Paul. Paul is speaking about justification before God (which is by faith alone), whereas James is referring to justification before men (who cannot see our faith, but only our works).
- Mistake 6: Basing a Teaching on an Obscure Passage.
(Some passages of the Bible are difficult to understand because the meaning of some key word appears only once, or very rarely. At other times, the words may be clear but the meaning is not evident because we are not sure to what they refer. The rule of thumb in Bible interpretation is “the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things. Second, when a given passage is not clear, we should never conclude that it means something that is opposed to another plain teaching of Scripture.)
- Mistake 7: Forgetting that the Bible Is a Human Book with Human Characteristics.
(The Bible also manifests different human literary styles, from the mournful meter of Lamentations to the exalted poetry of Isaiah; from the simple grammar of John to the complex Greek of the Book of Hebrews. Scripture also manifests human perspectives.)
- Mistake 8: Assuming that a Partial Report is a False Report.
(inspiration does not exclude a diversity of expression. The four Gospels relate the same story in different ways to different groups of people, and sometimes even quote the same saying with different words.)
- Mistake 9: Demanding that NT Citations of the OT Always Be Exact Quotations.
(It was then (and still is today) a perfectly acceptable literary style to give the essence of a statement without using precisely the same words.)
- Mistake 10: Assuming that Divergent Accounts Are False Ones.
(Matthew ( 27:5 ) informs us that Judas hanged himself. But Luke says that“ he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out” ( Acts 1:18 ). Once more, these accounts differ, but they are not mutually exclusive. If Judas hanged himself on a tree over the edge of a cliff and his body fell on sharp rocks below, then his entrails would gush out just as Luke vividly describes.)
- Mistake 11: Presuming that the Bible Approves of All it Records.
(The truth of Scripture is found in what the Bible reveals,not in everything it records. Unless this distinction is held, it may be incorrectly concluded that the Bible teaches immorality because it narrates David’s sin ( 2 Sam. 11:4), that it promotes polygamy because it records Solomon’s ( 1 Kings 11:3 ), or that it affirms atheism because it quotes the fool as saying “there is no God” ( Ps. 14:1 ).)
- Mistake 12: Forgetting that the Bible Uses Non-technical, Everyday Language.
(The Bible is written for the common person of every generation, and it therefore uses common, everyday language. The use of observational, non scientific language is not un scientific, it is merely pre scientific.)
- Mistake 13: Assuming that Round Numbers Are False.
(Three and fourteen hundredths can be rounded off to three. That is sufficient for a “Sea of cast metal” ( 2 Chron. 4:2 ,NIV) in an ancient Hebrew temple, even though it would not suffice for a computer in a modern rocket.)
- Mistake 14: Neglecting to Note that the Bible Uses Different Literary Devices.
(The Bible reveals a number of literary devices. Several whole books are written in poetic style (e.g., Job, Psalms, Proverbs). The synoptic Gospels are filled with parables. In Galatians 4 , Paul utilizes an allegory. The NT abounds with metaphors(e.g., 2 Cor. 3:2–3 ; James 3:6 ) and similes(cf. Matt. 20:1 ;James 1:6 ); hyperboles may also be found (e.g., Col. 1:23 ; John 21:25 ; 2 Cor. 3:2 ), and possibly even poetic figures( Job 41:1 ). Jesus employed satire( Matt. 19:24 with 23:24 )and figures of speech are common throughout the Bible.)
- Mistake 15: Forgetting that Only the Original Text, Not Every Copy of Scripture, Is without Error.
(Inspiration does not guarantee that every copy of the original is without error. Therefore, we are to expect that minor errors are to be found in manuscript copies.)
- Mistake 16: Confusing General Statements with Universal Ones.
(The Book of Proverbs is a good example of such an issue. Proverbial sayings by their very nature offer only general guidance, not universal assurance. They are rules for life, but rules that admit of exceptions.)
- Mistake 17: Forgetting that Later Revelation Supersedes Previous Revelation.
(For example, the fact that a parent allows a very small child to eat with his fingers, only to tell them later to use a spoon, is not a contradiction. Nor is the parent contradicting himself to insist later that the child should use a fork, not a spoon, to eat his vegetables. This is progressive revelation, with each command suited to fit the particular circumstance in which a person is found.)
Common words translated "scripture/word/gospel" (with Strong's definitions and examples)
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