If the Bible was written more clearly, would there be a need to preach? (page 2)

AGuest

What does THE BIBLE say about that? This:

"You are searching the scriptures because you THINK that by means of THEM you will everlasting life. And these are the very ones that bear witness... about ME...and yet, you do not want to come... TO ME... that you may have life."

"Come to ME... all you who are loaded down and toiling."

"If anyone is thirsty, let him COME TO ME... and drink..."

"This is my Son, the beloved. Listen... to HIM."

"MY sheep KNOW my VOICE."

"The anointing that is IN you, that will teach you."

"The Spirit of the Truth. THAT one will teach you all things... lead you into ALL truth." [I may not have quoted this precisely - too tired to break out the Bible - will correct, if necessary...]

'I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life."

"NO ONE comes to the Father, EXCEPT through me."

"I will write my law... UPON THEIR HEARTS."

"And his name... is THE WORD OF GOD."

"The Word... became flesh."

"You are searching the scriptures because you THINK that by means of THEM you will everlasting life. And these are the very ones that bear witness... about ME...and yet, you do not want to come... TO ME... that you may have life."

The problem is NOT the Bible, dear ones. The problem is people who do not have Law written on their hearts, who have not received the promised Holy Spirit... keep telling folks to go to the Bible... and folks keep listening to them... rather than to God... and the One He sent forth. Once you learn... accept... and put FAITH in this truth... and then DEMONSTRATE that faith... BY LISTENING... you will come to know that the Bible is for UNbelievers.... while holy spirit... is for believers. THAT is how you KNOW the Truth... and receive the truth. Truly, there is NO OTHER WAY.

May those with ears hear what the Spirit and Bride KEEP saying:

"Come! Take life's 'water'... the holy spirit of God, the Most Holy One of Israel, whose name is JAH of Armies, which holy spirit is poured out from the inmost part of His Son and Christ, my Lord, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH... FREE!"

I bid you all peace... and ears to hear, if you so wish it.

A slave of Christ,

SA

jaguarbass

KISS

Keep is simple Stupid.

real one

The Bible was written for belivers. You need the Holy Spirit to help you interpret the Bible.

Switch

I think it's about time the stones cried out. That would get everyone's attention.

But in reply he said: "I tell YOU, If these remained silent, the stones would cry out." Luke 19:40

oompa

This is especially true if "God does not wish any to be destroyed." Some map...............oompa

Robdar

Part of the reason there are so many divisions and opinions and versions of the Bible is because, quite honestly, alot of it just doesn't make any sense. It's full of symbolism, metaphors, allegories, parables, and even some of the narratives conflict with themselves. The book of Revelation makes no sense at all. Wouldn't it have been more efficient for John to have visions that he could write down matter-of-factly without it seeming like he was smoking something? If Jehovah had just said what was going to happen and when, instead of making vague prophecies that could be applied to just about anything, wouldn't we have a much easier time of it? Instead we have thousands of years of confusion.

I find nothing wrong with symbolim, metaphors, allegories and parables. I find them to be life enriching. The arts are full of these things.

If the Bible was written straight on and factual, I wouldn't enjoy it. Perhaps the Bible is written the way it is for a reason--to make you think, to cause you to ponder.

If everyone could read the Bible and understand it (and not need help from anointed JWs, as suggested by the WBTS), wouldn't life be that much easier?

I don't think life would be easier. Besides, who said life should be easy?

Now, I could do without fundies telling me what to think. Which is why I stop them before they can get going. (I had to do this at Walmart last week, of all places). Even if the Bible was easy to understand, there would still be people trying to tell you what to do and think. I find examples of this daily. Even this forum is packed with know-it-alls.

MissingLink

The Bible was written for belivers. You need the Holy Spirit to help you interpret the Bible.

Good plan. The last thing you want is a bunch of non-believers being converted to christianity! You could say the same thing about any book: "Its only meant for the people who get it". What a load of bull. It was written for suckers to keep them under control of the church.

fjtoth

Greater men and women than most of us have had good things to say about the Bible, and that's likely because they read it and in some cases made a study of it.

For example, Ulysses S Grant said, "To the influence of this book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide for the future."

"This great book is the best gift God has given to man." -- Abraham Lincoln.

"The New Testament is the best book the world has ever known or will know." -- Charles Dickens.

"A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education." -- Theodore Roosevelt.

"Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness." -- Helen Keller.

"If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today." -- Mahatma Gandhi.

It's easy to mock the Bible if we haven't read it and if we listen to others who have a compelling need to ridicule. But many persons have seen its value to the extent that they have been motivated to make the Bible the most widely translated and distributed book the world has ever seen.

And is it really that hard to understand? Even the meaning of Revelation, a book filled with mysterious symbolic language, becomes crystal clear after we discern that those symbols are based on similar language in earlier writings within Hebrew culture.

Jesus thought it was a good idea that some cannot understand God's message. He said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21) Whether we like it or not, God is examining the hearts and even the kidneys of all persons to determine their character. Our acceptance or rejection of the Bible is doubtless a determining factor in whether or not we will receive the glory and immortality he has promised to those who love him.

jgnat

Well, yes, it's been done. We have a Reader's Digest Bible. Religious people didn't like it very much.

http://kenanderson.net/bible/html/readers_digest.html

WTWizard

There is a reason for all the metaphors. Jesus was speaking to a people that had no ability to think on their own, and he was trying to give them that ability. To do that, he needed to use illustrations and metaphors. To those people, there was nothing confusing about the Bible.

However, when someone is able to think independently and misinterprets the metaphors literally, that's when the message begins to get confusing. Discrepencies will appear, and people will interpret it in different ways. Some will interpret it to mean that they need to obey a group of people, hence the Catholic church and the Jehovah's Witlesses. And, since most of us have the innate capacity to think today, Jesus' parables are too easy to misinterpret. Especially when you have Paul's mistakes and the churches teaching for their own purposes, you are going to have serious problems with poor interpretations.

Put in simplest terms, Jesus' message was to not be dependent on external authority figures to do your thinking for you.

If the Bible was written more clearly, would there be a need to preach?

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