Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclone3483
agreed
We agree to disagree as I take the Bible to be the Word of God written by people who had the indwelling of the Spirit of the Most High. I use the Bible to interpret the Bible. When trying to understand it, I use other passages within the Bible to help explain it. Taking any information other than the Word of God to help interpret the Bible can lead to potential misinterpretation.
|
Ah but octothorp is only using the Bible to raise the point, what other sources is he using? The Bible was written by many different people across many years, and different parts of the Bible present Satan (or whomever) as very different entities.
Enough difference that it would have a huge impact on doctrine!
So if different authors writing different things at different times reflecting their beliefs at that time isn't the reason for the very different definitions of Satan, what is the reason?
I've read the Bible for 30 years and I don't have a different answer.
I also think that if you don't read the Bible in view of the authors and their contexts you miss a LOT of information. For example rather than reading the gospels horizontally, try reading vertically. Read one whole gospel without referencing the others.
You'll find that Mark's view of Jesus is very different from Luke and Matthew's (who used Mark as a source), and John is very different again appearing not to use much of the other gospels as a source.
Mark portrays Jesus as very human, read the passion in Mark thinking about how human he is. While Luke goes out of his way to portray Jesus as almost not human; or at the very least in complete control, never suffering, never in doubt. You can even see places where Luke was changed over history to try and make Luke harmonize with Mark a bit more.
Another example is Paul's attitude towards women in ministry (favorable), but in the letters that were written by someone other than Paul but in Paul's name (books of Timothy) you see a different doctrine towards women. Or even changes made over time to Paul's original letters to try to suppress women in accordance with a later belief that women were inferior.
Any, just an example of the kinds of things that can be missed if you read it as one big work rather than recognizing
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclone3483
agreed
We agree to disagree as I take the Bible to be the Word of God written by people who had the indwelling of the Spirit of the Most High.
|
I guess the question is then which Bible? Which version?