Discerning the Bible

[Clintpauljohnson]

Hello, I need discernment about all things pertaining to the Bible. I want to know that I am comprehending the Bible correctly. Can you help? I have aspergers, which is a type of autism.

 

[Tolworth John]

There are plenty of web site that teach about understanding the bible. I like toughquestionsanswered.
Otherwise ask your minister for recommendations.

As a general rule always read the whole passage, don't try to understan just one or two verses, the context is important.

Lastly you could post questions here, be warned you will get a wide range of interpretations.

 

[Clintpauljohnson]

There are plenty of web site that teach about understanding the bible. I like toughquestionsanswered.
Otherwise ask your minister for recommendations.

As a general rule always read the whole passage, don't try to understan just one or two verses, the context is important.

Lastly you could post questions here, be warned you will get a wide range of interpretations.

John 15 I would like to know about. It is my favorite verse and Psalm 23, I just want to make sure I am following the Bible correctly, along with psalm 144:1

 

[Clintpauljohnson]

Psalm 144:1 seems, IMO that the Lord will teach us to fight and defend ourselves is this correct? But then it goes on and says we should trust in him and believe that he is our shield? And he will protect us?

 

[Adstar]

Hello, I need discernment about all things pertaining to the Bible. I want to know that I am comprehending the Bible correctly. Can you help? I have aspergers, which is a type of autism.

I can read your questions and if God is willing i can answer them by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit.

 

[Adstar]

John 15 I would like to know about. It is my favorite verse and Psalm 23, I just want to make sure I am following the Bible correctly, along with psalm 144:1

John 15 has a lot in it.. What particular part has you uncertain?

Psalm 144 KJV
1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

David wrote the Psalms with His hands and fingers.. So God inspired Inspired David to write what He wrote and those words fight evil thoughts and false belief.. So God was fighting the spiritual darkness in the world by inspiring David to give Gods message through the Psalms.. I do not believe this was talking about God teaching David how to fight physical combat..

So if God is giving me the explaination above then God is inspiring me to fight with my hands and fingers as i type this to you..

When it comes to physical protection i do rely upon God to defend me and keep me from harm..

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

nothing beats putting in the time to read and study.

find a reading plan and stick to it. ask your pastor or spiritual mentor questions on things you don't understand. try to find as many theologically knowledgeable people as you can and just ask questions. find a bible study group.

 

[Clintpauljohnson]

Thank you Adstar. That makes sense, evil thoughts and false beliefs. I get a lot of those. I also have schizo affective bi polar and ADHD. So I occasionally have delusional thoughts, and perceptions. Some times I feel that I am in tuned to a different brain frequency than most people. This makes life a little challenging.

John chapter 15
V6 says that if man not abide in Jesus, then they are cast away into the fire and burned.

What do the words "fire" and "burned" mean.

 

[hedrick]

John 15 I would like to know about. It is my favorite verse and Psalm 23, I just want to make sure I am following the Bible correctly, along with psalm 144:1

John 15 appears metaphorical. It compares us with branches of a vine. That's pretty obviously a metaphor, since we're not literally plants. When a vine isn't fruitful, it is destroyed. Since the vine is a metaphor, presumably the fire is as well.

So what does it mean? Jesus talks about judgement a lot. In Matthew (which has the most teachings about judgement), the most common cause for people being judged is not bearing fruit. This is also obviously a metaphor, since we'd not literally trees. So what is fruit? It's good things coming out of our lives. Jesus talks a lot about the kinds of things we're supposed to do: loving others, and forgiving them. So it's reasonable to think that the "fruit" he's talking about is actions that help others.

So in summary, Jesus is saying that God expects us to be useful to others. Note that he doesn't say anything about keeping track of our sins and rejecting us if there are too many. Rather, we're judged based on whether we are useful to others. But there's no suggestion of God sitting there counting good and bad deeds.

So what happens to do those who don't show any results of their faith? Since we're not actually branches, we aren't thrown into a literal bonfire. Just exactly what it means is something Christians don't agree on. The traditional view is that people without faith in Christ are tormented forever, though probably not with literal fire. I don't actually think that's right. I think those who aren't, but that topic is controversial enough that it can only be discussed in the forum "controversial Christian theology."

Just so you know, there are two questions on which people disagree:
* Are the rejects punished forever, or just for a time? If it's just for a time, are they eventually forgiven, do they stop existing.
* What are the criteria for judgement. Jesus teaches both that you can be judged for not bearing fruit and for rejecting him. Does this mean that all non-Christians will be rejected. A majority of Christians appear to believe that at least some non-Christians will be accepted.

Answers to all these questions can't be gotten from John 15. They require studying how judgement is talked about across the whole Bible.

 

[hedrick]

John 15 I would like to know about. It is my favorite verse and Psalm 23, I just want to make sure I am following the Bible correctly, along with psalm 144:1

I'm fairly sure Psalm 144:1 is meant literally. David was, after all, a king who was involved in wars. The Old Testament is clear that God helped Israel, at least when it was faithful. Psalm 144 sees God as helping the king be victorious.

It's worth noting that good people don't always end up victorious. There are other psalms that makes that clear. So does the book of Job, and for that matter the crucifixion of Christ. For that reason people sometimes understand victory as some kind of spiritual victory. That's appropriate for many people. If you're not literally a warrior like David, you can think of this psalm as talking about spiritual
But David was a great warrior. He gave God credit for helping him gain victory in war. So I think the original meaning was literal.

 

[Dirk1540]

Hello, I need discernment about all things pertaining to the Bible. I want to know that I am comprehending the Bible correctly. Can you help? I have aspergers, which is a type of autism.

Have you entered the world of commentaries? For the NT i'm a big fan of BECNT (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) because it's as technical as you can get without knowing Greek (IMO). Even if the author does not agree with a certain viewpoint he/she still presents their arguments...so they at least properly represent the viewpoints that they disagree with, along with their own viewpoints.

 

[hedrick]

Have you entered the world of commentaries? For the NT i'm a big fan of BECNT (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) because it's as technical as you can get without knowing Greek (IMO). Even if the author does not agree with a certain viewpoint he/she still presents their arguments...so they at least properly represent the viewpoints that they disagree with, along with their own viewpoints.

There's a lot to be said for that. I'd rather not recommend a specific commentary without knowing the OP's theological orientation. E.g. for the United Church of Canada, that wouldn't be my suggested commentary.

 

[Dirk1540]

There's a lot to be said for that. I'd rather not recommend a specific commentary without knowing the OP's theological orientation.

I agree. I like BECNT because they tend to entertain many viewpoints in a single volume. Commentaries are expensive, the price would really add up if each commentary you had to buy only represented the author's viewpoints.

 

[Clintpauljohnson]

There's a lot to be said for that. I'd rather not recommend a specific commentary without knowing the OP's theological orientation. E.g. for the United Church of Canada, that wouldn't be my suggested commentary.

A commentary would be nice. I will be finished the New testament soon. I just need help picking one up. Here in Canada we have a book store I like called Chapters. Can I get one there or is it best to buy online?