As an agnostic, I don't see the correlation between drowning and interpreting the Bible. I know that as a Christian you believe you should try to "save" someone, but a person's beliefs are their own. You believe they are drowning, but perhaps they are simply treading water.
It looks like @Beth Gallagher beat me to it. What if the person isn't really drowning, but just appears to be? I see many who throw out what they think is a lifeline, but instead, it is a loop that tightens and strangles the perfectly afloat person's neck. Isn't it a judgment whether a person is drowning and that the lifeline one threw is what they need to stay afloat? With so many throwing lifelines, how do they know which one to grab? I do get what you are saying @Bobby Cole that you toss out what you believe to be the path of salvation and was for you and it is up to the listener to study further or reject it. At least you don't waterboard one into a confession.
That’s the thing. I do not like those who constantly seem to beat people over the head with a Bible. I don’t recall any part of scripture that epitomizes Jesus as being that kind of person and I do not picture him as an evangelist more than a teacher which is a major part of Him that I try to be. Now, the Master DID send his disciples out to spread His teachings but He also told them that if those in a town were to shun His teachings for them to go to the edge of the town and shake the very sand off of their feet. In other words, He Did Not tell his disciples to burn the town down, He told them to simply forget it and move on. So far as multiple lifelines go, I (like many others) have that happening even at this time in my life. I still get knocks on my door from this denomination and that denomination with people all declaring that their way is the only way. My goodness, we had a couple who knocked on the door whilst I was away and told my wife that seeing how I’m an ordained Baptist but now non-denominational teacher/preacher that she would go to hell if she didn’t divorce me and join their denomination. They had been to this house many times and the four of us had many very good talks but after hearing about the incident, the next time they came I told them never to come back to this house again. Bottom line is that there will always be choices to make and we have to do what we have to do in order to decide which rope is strong and which ones will break. II Tim. 2:15 is my standard go-to verse that pretty much explains how to make that choice. “Study to show thyself approved unto God; a workman who needeth not be ashamed and rightfully dividing the word of truth”. To me, the old Jewish saying that “above all else, God is just”, prevails above all translations, all religions, all cultures and our own perceptions of what truth really is. He knows the heart….He tries the reins.
Well, sort of like, I think, those folks that will sin all week long, in whatever sin/sins they do, then go to church on Sunday morning. My step-dad went to church every Sunday, except Sunday's that we were visiting my step-mom's sisters in Michigan. Basically because my step-mom made him. Due to her eyes, she couldn't drive. When it came to the Sermon, he'd fall asleep and step-mom would have to wake him up. During Sunday School, I went to Sunday School, while they visited friends in the area. They would come and pick me up and, if my step-dad got upset over something, he didn't have a problem, right in the church parking lot, saying the Lord's name in vain. Step-mom definitely didn't like it, but dear old step-dad was the "breadwinner".
Adhering to God's Word is possibly the best help and hope any nation or group or person could or can have, properly.
Talk about translation misinterpretations that just about everyone repeats. Ex 20:7 doesn’t read, thou shalt not say the Lord’s name in vain. It reads, thou shalt not TAKE the Lord’s name in vain. Most certainly, using God in a curse is definitely taking His name in vain but that’s pretty much small time compared to the other ways one can Take His name in vain. Without going into a very long dialog about what the verse actually means, in order to Not take God’s name in vain, one should live and act in accordance to the teachings of He who we claim to be the Father. He makes the rules, we listen, we learn and honor His word and any deviation would be to take His name in vain. Kinda like a kid who was raised to know right from wrong by a good family and yet turns out to be a punk. In essence, the kid is taking his family name and teachings in vain. By the bye Cody…….good thread.
Men have been making millions from interpreting the Bible for eons. One of the most interesting rags to riches interpreters of the Bible is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society LLC, which started with an individual printing and selling pamphlets with a chart he derived from the scriptures predicting the wrong date for the end of the world, and it has now grown into a billion dollar corporation. At one point the President of the Watchtower told his followers they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and the name stuck. Today JWs purchase and peddle the Watchtower publications, and donate money and labor to the corporation. The Watchtower Corporation built a big spread on Blue Lake in upstate New York and put a sign out front that said Jehovah’s Witnesses World Headquarters, but the deed to the property says Watchtower. I can’t find any legal organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. All the money is with the Watchtower. It’s an interesting dynamic.
Though men have been responsible for many offshoot translations, let us not forget Mary Baker Eddy who profited highly by founding the sect called Church of Christ Science or rather, Christian Science.
I think anyone who can read can interpret the Bible for themselves. The teachings of Jesus in the Gospels are straightforward and easy to read. Just hard to follow. Especially without a support group. And most churches don’t have classes, sermons, or Bible studies on the Gospels. They focus on the Old Testament and Revelation.
If students use a fully recognized, free from sectarian interpretations Bible, I don’t think it’s truly a matter of interpretation any longer so much as the outstanding view that the Bible somehow contradicts itself. In short, it doesn’t if one understands the very foundation of Grace, the final solution for how God deals with sin. Note: To my first sentence, as an example: many of the problems stem from reading versions such as the NIV that have omitted 21 New Testament verses of importance. The JW’s have a version of the KJV that completely reinterprets John 1:1-3 to suit a different narrative in relation to the deity of Christ. Now, I’m wondering what kind of foundational Christian churches are there that do not concentrate on New Testament teachings @Rose Flowers? Certainly, the Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Catholics etc are all fundamentally based on the New Testament so I’m curious as to which sects are not? Perhaps I might be able to help clear up some confusion?
'He who is convinced against his will ,is of the same opinion still", everyone in the world now knows about Christianity so we don't need to try and force it on them. I'm a Chrisitan believer but not too religious and open to debate.
That quote sounds good, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." However if he is of the same opinion, he wasn't convinced.