i haz a problem...

[thereselittleflower]

forgive my lack of clarity on this; were the Atheneans brothers in Christ? Re: the unknown altar, was he speaking to Pagans about the "unknown" God that they paid homage to?

I'm speaking of when Paul brought the gospel to the Atheneans.

And yes, he used the altar of the unknown god they paid homage to.

He did not use scriptures.

 

[brinny]

I agree.
Where care is necessary is apply what Hashem says to the applicable person.
For instance...
Lumping someone with a brood of vipers (see Matthew 23:33) when they clearly weren't among those who killed the prophets just doesn't apply to anyone on this forum. At least, the header for GT says 'Christians only', so it had better not apply to anyone here!

But, that is what God incarnate spoke!

pardon my slowness, but i am not following you. Do you mean using Bible verses to insult others?

 

[brinny]

I'm speaking of when Paul brought the gospel to the Atheneans.

And yes, he used the altar of the unknown god they paid homage to.

He did not use scriptures.

Were the Atheneans Pagans?

 

[seeingeyes]

(sorry seeingeyes, i edited and added to my post.....my first comment was taken out cuz it didn't express what i was tryin' to say.)

No problem. I edited my response as well to avoid confusion.

The bottom line is this, that God doesn't much care about anything else. It's written though-out His entire Word. We can do nothing to impress Him. We cannot argue or debate souls into embracing a God Who is Solely the One Who is able to win souls, hearts, and minds through His Spirit. We are to LOVE each other (and the precious ones who do not know Him, yet) and with ever-growing grace that He imparts to us, we learn to be gracious to one another and put ourselves aside and see the big picture through His eyes. And the big picture is this, that we are all flawed and in need of forgiveness and His grace. The realization brings us to our knees before Him and thankful that He has shown us mercy and His grace of which we do not deserve. The Alpha and the Omega LOVES us soooo inexplicably that we cannot fathom its entirety with our finite vision.

Is it possible to do what is listed above and speak the Word of God without quoting the Bible directly?

 

[VictorC]

pardon my slowness, but i am not following you. Do you mean using Bible verses to insult others?

I provided an example of applying what God said to someone it has no applicability to.
And yes, doing so would be insulting.

Both are a misuse of Scripture.

 

[brinny]

No problem. I edited my response as well to avoid confusion.



Is it possible to do what is listed above and speak the Word of God without quoting the Bible directly?

I'm listening. How is this done?

 

[brinny]

I provided an example of applying what God said to someone it has no applicability to.
And yes, doing so would be insulting.

Both are a misuse of Scripture.

You raised a good point. Perhaps it is our motives in using scripture then?

 

[thereselittleflower]

Were the Atheneans Pagans?

What does whether they were pagans or not have to do with anything? of course they were - and some became believers because of Paul's words using their pagan altar to teach from.

Why were scriptures unnecessary?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Were the Atheneans Pagans?

Yes. There were traditional Hellenists, but also we're told there were many philosophers there, specifically of note were Stoics and Epicureans. Epicureans were, if I understand rightly, primarily materialists. They didn't put stock into the role of gods or divine power, regarding it mostly as worthless superstition. Stoicism was, again if I'm understanding it right, in some sense pantheistic, God was equated with the natural universe, the cosmos itself was in some sense divine. They would have been slightly at odds with the prevailing Hellenism with its pantheon of many gods; but in a lot of cases the various schools of philosophy and Greek religion tended to exist in some sort of balance of some sort (though, as the lesson of Socrates--who was accused of teaching impiety to the youth--can be learned, the philosophers were often seen as threats to the established religion and piety of Greece).

-CryptoLutheran

 

[thereselittleflower]

I'm listening. How is this done?

Isn't that exactly what Paul did when he spoke the word of God to the Atheneans?

 

[brinny]

What does whether they were pagans or not have to do with anything? of course they were - and some became believers because of Paul's words using their pagan altar to teach from.

Why were scriptures unnecessary?

Aah, yes. Ok, good point. I understand why scripture might not be used for unbelievers. Jesus gave an example of this also.

For believers, however scripture is our manna, our spiritual bread. My question was regarding believers using scripture and why it would be un-welcome.

 

[VictorC]

You raised a good point. Perhaps it is our motives in using scripture then?

No, you've missed my point. When I mentioned 'both' misuses of Scripture, you focused on how it can be used to insult others. That would be motivational in character.

My whole point was that the example I relied on is a misuse because it is misapplied to someone it has no applicability to. This point still eludes you.

 

[brinny]

No, you've missed my point. When I mentioned 'both' misuses of Scripture, you focused on how it can be used to insult others. That would be motivational in character.

My whole point was that the example I relied on is a misuse because it is misapplied to someone it has no applicability to. This point still eludes you.

if it's misapplied, then wouldn't that include motive?

 

[thereselittleflower]

Aah, yes. Ok, good point. I understand why scripture might not be used for unbelievers. Jesus gave an example of this also.

For believers, however scripture is our manna, our spiritual bread. My question was regarding believers using scripture and why it would be un-welcome.

God's word is our mana. . . scriptures is one tool to convey God's word, and not the only tool, and never absolutely necessary to convey God's word or Paul would have needed to use scritpure with the Atheneans.

Did Paul share God's word to the Atheneas?

 

[brinny]

God's word is our mana. . . scriptures is one tool to convey God's word, and not the only tool, and never absolutely necessary to convey God's word or Paul would have needed to use scritpure with the Atheneans.

Did Paul share God's word to the Atheneas?

Paul used an opportunity to witness to Pagans and relate to them where they were, and using the example of the "unknown" god to do so. He was a missionary. He wasn't speaking to believers. Same here, when i speak to drug dealers, and peeps hangin' out on the street i don't quote Bible verses, i meet them where they are and engage in conversation that is relational to where they are, right then.

For believers, using Bible verses for edification builds us up. It encourages and "feeds" us and God uses the verses powerfully to minister and intervene in dire circumstances.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

I remember reading the power under the words .

after a while i just wanted to soak in the power and the revelation from that .

 

[Gregory Thompson]

the bible's good . but imma post a good example later on why it isn't always necessary . balance is good .

 

[brinny]

would you care to share?

 

[brinny]

the bible's good . but imma post a good example later on why it isn't always necessary . balance is good .

Therese shared a good example of when scripture is not used. I could see where she was coming from. Looking forward to your examples too

 

[thereselittleflower]

Paul used an opportunity to witness to Pagans and relate to them where they were, and using the example of the "unknown" god to do so.

Exactly.

He was a missionary. He wasn't speaking to believers. Same here, when i speak to drug dealers, and peeps hangin' out on the street i don't quote Bible verses, i meet them where they are and engage in conversation that is relational to where they are, right then.

For believers, using Bible verses for edification builds us up. It encourages and "feeds" us and God uses the verses powerfully to minister and intervene in dire circumstances.

Yes, it does all those things, and while it is helpful towards that end, it is, not in itself, absolutely necessary any more than it is absolutely necessary to use when witnessing.

And so to answer your question in the OP, while it would be helpful to use scripture, it is not necessary to use scripture to speak God's word and someone might need to see God's word spoken in such a manner.