If all Christians can rightly divide the Word of Truth, then why are there so many different interpretations? This is the linchpin of my argument which you have ignored.
There are at least three operations that explain the differences in interpretation: What evil/lie of Satan that a people or person has to fight, how learned and intelligent someone is in the Scriptures, and the fact that we are doing this operation with fallen fleshly brains.
We are on a live-fire battlefield having to make relatively quick decisions to deal with our struggle against "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places." (Ephesians 6:12) At least, that's the way it has been for my whole life. These enemies are
fallen angels. Without the Holy Spirit, we would have no chance. As it is, the Holy Spirit has to deal with fallen processors that are
damaged by both sin we commit and sin
committed against us. We're fortunate that we don't have worse divisions than we do. Nevermind that well over half of the population has to be dedicated to labor to sustain our fallen bodies, making it difficult for most people to have an in-depth knowledge of Scripture.
But another problem I'm noticing here is that the reasons cited that other people are misinterpreting the Bible are as diverse as the misinterpretations we think the other people are doing. For example, my failure to keep the law in the matter of ham and swiss cheese sandwiches probably doesn't fully explain my CPTSD, which probably is why I would interpret Ephesians 6:4 differently than someone else. Someone else with loving and friendly parents could take a different view of that passage. The real answer is probably "all of the above and more that we didn't mention".
Meanwhile, my literary background is trying to take me by the hand and pull me toward "let's research all the denominational viewpoints, understand the history of how they got to a certain viewpoint and take the average, because that stacks the most brain cells on the problem and eventually we'll figure it out." But we're dealing with God here, so even if I could read every piece of Biblical scholarship ever produced (impossible), God's knowledge would still exceed my own by orders of magnitude.
Basically I would stress the need for minute-by-minute guidance and prayer for each aspect of spiritual warfare.
Proverbs 3:5-6 said:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
If we rely on our own understanding (or even the understanding of others) to interpret Scripture we are already doomed anyway. We must take knowledge from Scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit to interpret the Scripture, and we must ask for God's help via prayer so His Sovereignty may illuminate our view.
I find it interesting that there are over 45.000 Christian denominations that disagree on at least 45,000 different Theological points; but they all share one belief in common. They all believe that they are led by the Holy Spirit.
I'm pretty sure all of them are, except the ones that are no longer in operation. I was recently on the
ARDA website researching SDAs and Presbyterians, and I noticed a lot of links in their historical family trees that were no longer active. So the 45,000 number may need to be adjusted to reflect active and current denominations, not just every one in history. We don't need to deal with churches that no longer exist.
Regarding the OP, I simply pointed out that YHWH gave authority to the Sons of Zadok to judge controversy in matters of scripture.
And how am I supposed to find a "Son of Zadok" today?
How many times did our Lord rebuke the Israelites for their incorrect interpretations of His Word in the Prophets, or rebuke them for completely disregarding His Law altogether?
What nation had the Pharisees leading them? How many times did our Lord rebuke them and pronounce woes on them?
How many times did the Judaizers disrupt Paul's ministry and unsettle his Gentile converts?
I cannot accept an unqualified Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures as THE authority to which all other interpretations must submit. While they might have a better knowledge of Hebrew than other theological professionals (like those at the Dallas Theological Seminary or in the halls of the Masters' College) the Jewish people have a long historical record of glaring Scripture misinterpretation. I can convey on them no particular advantage in this regard.
On one who understands Hebrew and Greek better than I do convey an advantage; that's just a matter of respect.
Matthew 18:18-20 said:
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Now, the context of this is confronting people who are sinning - a context where Scripture interpretation is vital to be correct! And the Lord says He will see to it that His Word is interpreted correctly.
How? Clearly, a multiplicity of interpretations must be admitted, and we must be slow to act, not acting quickly and rashly. (Proverbs 29:30)
Yah's law is Yahshua's law.
(CLV) Jn 7:16
Jesus, then, answered them and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sends Me.
(CLV) Jn 7:17
If anyone should be wanting to be doing His will, he will know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God or I am speaking from Myself.
(CLV) Mt 19:16
And lo! one coming to Him said, "Teacher, what good shall I be doing that I should be having life eonian?"
(CLV) Mt 19:17
Yet He said to him, "Why are you asking Me concerning good? One is good. Yet if you are wanting to be entering into life, keep the precepts."
Do you believe that those Gentiles who confess Christ as Lord and do not keep the Law will fail to inherit the Kingdom of God?
I could mount a debate against that, but I want to be sure that's what I'm debating against.
James 1:1 said:
James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:
Greetings.
James 4:11-12 said:
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
I most certainly would not want to be judging the law in disobedience to this verse, which I believe your position states that it applies to me. Ironically, that is the standard interpretation my church uses, to claim all of James as prescriptive for believers in Christ. That is why we do not rebuke our brothers and sisters in Christ who chose to keep the Torah literally as a cultural matter and therefore the matter is otherwise a stalemate. The reverse applies as well, since James was literally written to literal Jews.
As James wrote, we are all guilty of all of the Law because we have all stumbled at one point; all need Christ to save them, and the veil in the temple was torn in two. Nobody can actually keep the Law anymore anyway, the temple and sacrifices are gone. It is the moral law, the Decalogue, that remains, along with the prohibitions against sexual immorality and blood drinking. Which, in God's sovereignty, I believe releases the Jewish people from the Law if they choose to walk free; but if they want to keep other parts to honor the Lord, I am not in a place to judge.
