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CAN
THE BIBLE BECOME AN IDOL?
by
Terri L. White
Below
is an email I sent to a friend that I thought might be of interest to
others:
I
have been thinking about some of the things we talked about regarding
studying the Bible and going into the original language, and want to
share my experience in that. Steve and I have studied the original
languages with a friend of ours who really opened a whole new Biblical
'vista' to us. It broadened our understanding of God and put the
Bible in its proper place. Most Christians claim that the Bible is
the infallible, inerrant 'Word of God', and they worship it. In
fact, for many, it is on the throne instead of God Himself!
However, ONLY GOD is infallible and inerrant!! Not the Bible!
I trust God, not the Bible. God uses the Bible, but it is not Him
anymore than a letter that I write to Steve is me.
If
I write a letter to my husband today, and a few hundred years later,
someone else finds it, they are going to have linguistic, cultural, and
geographical hurdles to overcome. For example, I might say that it
is 'raining cats and dogs', which is an idiom. If that is
translated literally, consider the grossly distorted picture the reader
will get of my communication in the letter. (Biblical example:
"good eye" and "evil eye" are idioms for generous
and stingy.)
Also,
language changes - while God does not. Many words
that mean one thing in Old English, have different meanings today;
some even have opposite meanings. (i.e., naughty used to mean
'nice', but its current usage is 'bad'.)
Then
there is the problem of translators (knowingly or unknowingly)
translating from their own religious perspectives. This is
certainly the case with KJV. King James (and this is public
record) ordered the scholars to translate within the accepted religious
doctrine of the Church of England. In these cases, some words were
not even translated, but transliterated (i.e., baptism, apostle, angel,
evangelist, etc.) which means that the
sound is transferred from one language to another – not the meaning.
(A translation denotes that
the meaning is transferred from one language to another.) If one
does not want people to understand that 'baptism' means immersion, then
it is transliterated, because no one ever checks the original language
or even considers that the translation may be incorrect (after all,
it's inerrant - or so they thought).
Then
there is the problem of choosing the wrong words in the translation.
Gal.
2:20
is a good example of that. Consider how major one little
preposition plays in understanding this scripture. We KNOW that
the correct preposition is 'of' and not 'in' because of the original
language and understanding something about correct grammar usage
("... I live by faith OF the Son of God.."). There are
lots of other examples, too. (i.e., forever, eternity - the
original Greek word actually means 'ages', an unknown length of time; it
does NOT mean without time in any way. Consider how that could
change stuff!!)
The
whole point is, understanding original language does matter. NOT
as in intellectual pursuit, or as a way to prove one's doctrine, but as
a means to find TRUTH as guided by the Holy Spirit. When God
speaks to me, He first drops a seed in my spirit and lets it gestate a while
before I begin to study it out. That way it is INITIATED by the
Holy Spirit. I don't believe that God is hung up about doctrine in
the least. We have been there, done that, and DON'T want to go
there again! However, doctrine DOES shape people's understand of
the character of God, and THAT is what is important. Most
Christians have camped around 'scaffolding' all their lives, and don't
even know it: They can't conceive that God can be TOTALLY in
control because the devil has become so powerful in their doctrine. God
couldn't possibly use suffering because Christians are supposed to be
blessed. They can't wait to be raptured because everything is so
bad on this earth. They are 'dying' (sorry for the pun) to get to
heaven and live in a shack up there and then dance on literal streets of
gold. Not to mention that there will only be a handful of the
faithful in heaven and 75% of the entire population of all time will be
in everlasting torment! And, of course, heaven must be a literal
city. They couldn't possible believe that the
whole religious system built around the hierarchical system is in error creating
a lethargic church dependent on man instead of God. What an
IMPOTENT God most Christians serve -- and all because of their false
doctrines!!
This
is where I come from in my understanding of the need to go into the
original language AS GOD LEADS ME. I am NOT dogmatic about it
in the least because God uses individuals according to His plan, not
mine. How He uses you will be different from how He uses me.
That way, God can reach out to all the different kinds of folks with
different experiences and needs.
So
we journey on. . . loving one another and watching God reveal Himself in
all His fullness! How exciting!!
IIS
THE BIBLE THE "WORD OF GOD"?
Anonymous
Author
The Word
of God is a Person not a book. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in
the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him
was not anything made that was made. The Word is God! The Bible
is not God, although the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ does
speak through the Holy Ghost inspired Scriptures. Many Christians have
confused the Word of God with the Bible and by doing so, many have
formed a deeper relationship with a book than they have with THE WORD
Himself, Jesus Christ!
This
is idolatry.
The
Bible must be seen for what it is. It is a medium of
exchange between God (who is Spirit) and the spirit that He has
placed within men. The Holy Scriptures are inspired words that have
been given to people in the past so that they might be recorded and
then used as a means of communication between God and His people.
These words are SPIRITUAL WORDS intended to impart the life of Christ
to God’s people, not words compiled to be used as rules for God’s
people to try to live by.
If
the Scriptures are not read and received with the same spiritual
inspiration in which they were originally given, if they are accessed
over the threshold of the carnal mind of a man and not his spirit,
there will be a breach in the communication with God. If the
Spirit of the Lord does not breathe His Life upon the words of the
book that is called the Bible, those words will have no more life in
them than any other book, for they will be nothing more than dead
letter, mere fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
fruit that brings death to man’s understanding of God’s heart,
mind and ways, by feeding his carnal mind and not his spirit.
Feeding
upon this fruit can make men religious ,
but not righteous. Feeding upon
this fruit can make men into Pharisees ... but not sons of God.
Is
the Bible the Word of God? It certainly can be, for when the Spirit of
the Word is ministered through it and the breath of God is upon it,
the Bible can be used to impart the very life of Christ to those who
read it or hear it .
It can become the very Word that proceeds from the
mouth of God to a person or persons. On the other hand, if the
anointing of the Spirit is not upon the word that is being read or
spoken, not only can it fail to impart the life of Christ to those who
hear it, but it can also become a tool in the hand of the enemy, the
“accuser of the brethren," and then used as what the
apostle Paul referred to as ...The letter that
kills.
Is the Bible the only medium of exchange between God and men? Of
course not; there are many. What is another common means of
communication that God uses to speak to men? I'll give you one ...
people.
Beloved, God is speaking in many, many ways to His people in this day.
Make sure that your spiritual ears (this includes your
heart) are open so that you may hear what He has to say. We are a very
blessed people to have been chosen for such a time as this.
RECOMMENDED
READING:
Understanding
the Bible
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