As a pastor, I spend a lot of time studying the Bible. In the last few years I decided that I would just read the scriptures without trying to interpret the meaning. Why? Because I have come to the conclusion that when anybody, including even the most studied scholar, (by the way, aren’t these the guys who tell us the Bible isn’t really the inspired Word of God!) tries to interpret the Bible they inevitably add their own opinion. It is an inescapable occurrence and there is no way around it! And guess what? God gave us the scripture for us to see Him! So as bad as this may sound, I am simply not interested in someone’s opinion or even my own for that matter other than God’s. So when I read the Bible I take it literally.
Now I know right off the bat that there are going to be those who are going to say that just reading the Scriptures without digging in to find the deeper meaning is ignorant. And that is really what is at the heart of this subject. For too long the way one views the Bible has been used as a determining factor in assigning intelligence or ignorance. Only in my ignorance would I read the Bible without considering that circumstances surrounding its writing. After all, each book of the Bible was written for a specific audience, and I agree, especially the epistles of the New Testament. Even the four books of the Gospels; I get that and acknowledge it. We are also told that the culture was different because the Bible was written at least 2,000 years ago. So when we read what the Bible says we have to take in consideration these things. Well, I am going to show my ignorance and reveal just how shallow of a thinker I am. I don’t care about those things! There I said it, well actually I wrote it, and put it on the internet to forever follow me!
Here is why. I am going to start from the premise that God gave us the Bible in order for us to have a revelation of who He is and to tell us what we need to know about Him. He gave us the scriptures so that we could discover the way to salvation. (Psalm 119:11; 2 Timothy 3:16) If God is going to reveal Himself and the way towards salvation in the cryptic way the smart people tell us He does, then God is cruel! If He really wants us to understand Him and to know the way to salvation then He isn’t going to put the barrier of interpreting His Word and hoping that we get it right! 2 Chronicles 15:2 tells us that if we look for Him He will be found. God wants us to know Him; He wants us to be able to discover Him and His truth. So if that is the case, why would He make it so hard to get at the Truth! But then again, I am taking these verses at face value!
Is it possible that God could give us His Word in such a way that the generations of thousands of years could read and understand? Doesn’t God have the ability and the insight to give us His Word in such a way that we could all read it and understand the message He has sent to us? Couldn’t He have protected His Word even through translations into the different languages so that everyone who reads it could find Him? According to Jesus in Matthew 5:18 the law will be preserved until it all is fulfilled including every dot over the “i” and every cross of the “t”. If that is the case then God has gone to great lengths to see to it that when you and I, no matter how smart we are, pick up the Bible to read about Him, He will be revealed!
Just to be clear about this I want to list come of the things I believe due to my literal view of the Scriptures.
I believe…
· God created the world in six 24 hour days, 6,000 to 10,000 years ago…
· Noah really did build and ark and that every animal was on it...
· Jesus’ mother, Mary was a virgin at his birth…
· Jesus died on the cross for my sins…
· Jesus was resurrected from the dead after three days in the grave…
· The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and filled the church…
· The gifts of the Spirit are for today–including speaking in other tongues…
· In divine healing…
· In the devil…
· In a literal hell…
· Jesus will return before the tribulation and rapture the church…
I know some of these beliefs make me sound crazy…but that is the way all these things appear in the Bible…literally!
No comments:
Post a Comment