it's called the original languages, pescador. greek and hebrew.
it's not that hard to translate when you have a concordance at hand...
and of course he was writing about the US Constitution, since they didnt even exist then... however, the Bible is what we follow, and yet it is not the paper nor the words that do these things, but rather those that follow them, yet we still revere the Bible. the same goes here.
the Constitution and Bill of Rights is the highest power of this land, and all must abide by it... why do you think even the president is sworn in to uphold and defend it?
but Paul was not saying that we as Christians should deny our faith when the government tells us to... and that is the crux of this entire discussion...
if this government commands us to turn away from our faith, and do something that violates our faith in Christ, should we...
i'll put it this way, because this is the exact same way Christ put it to me...
"Whoever will confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever will deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven."
i admire Kim Davis when she stood for her faith, and did not give in to secular pressure.
our history is ripe with men and women of the faith who gave their lives for Christ when their own government commanded them to deny Christ, and they chose not to.
This is a long post to respond to but fortunately I have some time.
I assume that you're not an experienced academic bible translator, as that's what it takes to translate both the words and their meaning (in context) accurately. Using a concordance to translate the original words and meaning of the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic text copies (plural - the originals don't exist)
will definitely lead you into all kinds of errors. That's what this thread is about. The words and meanings of ancient languages can be very difficult to decipher and translate, especially in context. If somebody unfamiliar with English read messages on this
forum about
posts and
threads, they would have no idea what we were talking about, and a dictionary wouldn't help them. (
Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city;
Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing;
Post, a strong piece of timber, metal, or the like, set upright as a support.)
As I said before, Paul was not talking about
documents, he was talking about
governments, specifically law enforcement. You can talk about the Constitution all you want, but that is a separate topic. The Constitution has no power of its own; it must be
enforced by the authorities.
When you say "Paul was not saying that we as Christians should deny our faith when the government tells us to... and that is the crux of this entire discussion..." you are going very far afield. Paul said "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities..." He did not say anywhere at any time that we are to mindlessly obey the authorities no matter what. We are not told by the government to deny our Christian faith, nor has that occurred at any time in US history. Freedom of (all) religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment. (Of course if you're a Muslim and Donald Trump gets elected that will be a different matter.)
Kim Davis was 110% in the wrong, and she deserved to go to prison. She was (and is) a government employee who
swore under oath to uphold Federal and Kentucky law. Paul said," if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." By not doing her job -- issuing marriage licenses to people that the Supreme Court ruled were entitled to them -- she violated not only the law, but also her spoken personal oath that she would uphold the law. Matthew 5:37 says "Let your word be 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no.' More than this is from the evil one."
She was not told to deny Christ, anywhere or at any time. If she used the phrase that she must obey God rather than men, then she was using it out-of-context (which is the subject of this thread). It was said by the Apostles to the Sanhedrin, who told them not to teach in the name of Jesus Christ. In other words, violating the concept of free speech. Nowhere in the New Testament does it say that we should violate the law, give false oaths, etc.
Again, the basic subject of this thread is what does the Bible really say,
in context, according to the words and meaning of the best translations. Just 1) opening a concordance to determine the meaning of words, 2) citing Romans 13:1 to say that documents, including the US Constitution, are what Paul was referring to and 3) justifying the breaking of the Federal and State laws by a government employee, underscores why it is so important to determine what the Bible
really says, not what you (or I) would like it to say.
