How to reconcile all scripture together

[peace4ever]

I've found that one of the biggest reasons for divisions among Christians is that many people are not interested in reconciling all scripture together. So they ignore many verses that disagree with their interpretation of the bible and only quote the few verses that seem to verify their interpretation of the bible. This is the wrong way to read the bible since God never contradicts Himself. The following is how we should read and understand the bible:

1) Know that every single word in the bible is true
2) If you don't understand a verse, then instead of changing the bible to fit your understanding, you need to change your understanding to fit the bible
3) That is done by reconciling all scripture together with other scripture since God doesn't contradict Himself
4) Do not add to or subtract words from the bible

Assuming you have been born again of the Holy Spirit, then if you follow the above very simple steps, then you will have no problem understanding what God has called you to understand. It will then be very easy to spot which teachings are true and which are false. The following are examples of false teaching that we can discern by reconciling the bible together:

1) The notion that one can lose his salvation is a false teaching because that belief contradicts; Romans 8:1, Romans 8:38, Romans 9:16, 1 Corinthians 1;8, Jude 24, 1 John 3;10, 1 John 5;18, John 10:28, etc. But when you reconcile those verses with the verses about falling away, you get; those who fall away are the 3 kinds of people whom Jesus was talking about in the parable of the sower who have no root. So Jesus is not talking about born again Christians when he talks about falling away because of the many verses that belief contradicts. So the knowledge that one cannot lose his salvation is a true teaching since it comes from reconciling all scripture together.

2) The notion that man has free will who can overpower a sovereign God. That is a false belief because it contradicts; Romans 9:11-16, Jeremiah 10:23, Proverbs 16:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 5:8-9, Romans 7:13-25, 1 John 4:4 and many other verses as well. But if you reconcile the above verses with the few verses that talk about choice you get; God always tells us by whose power man can choose anything; either by the power of the Holy Spirit, or the sinful nature. So it is a true teaching that man has no free choice since that belief comes from reconciling all scripture together. We are either slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness as Romans 6;7 explains. If you do not like being slaves, then again, instead of changing the bible to fit your understanding, you need to ask God to change your understanding to fit the bible.

The above are only a few examples of how to differentiate true teaching from false teaching by reconciling all scripture together; not simply wanting to believe what itching ears want to hear.

 

[wayseer]

Assuming you have been born again of the Holy Spirit, then if you follow the above very simple steps, then you will have no problem understanding what God has called you to understand.

Thank you for the lesson. Your whole thesis is built on an 'assumption' - an assumption that is not made clear. What do you mean by 'born again of the Holy Spirit'? I have seen any number of interpretations. Which one are you punting for?

Or, do you mean that there are so-called Christians and there are 'real' Christians?

It will then be very easy to spot which teachings are true and which are false.

So there are 'false' teachings in the Bible. Enlighten me please. Where might I find these 'false teachings'?

How about 2 Timothy 3:16 as the basis for Biblical interpretation - "All scripture is profitable for teaching". Well, if scripture was all so easy how come we get it so wrong so frequently?

We get it wrong because we assume, as you do, that the Bible is one seamless discourse from God to man. A moments reflection will uncover the inadequacy of such assumption.

The Bible is a collection of essay by various authors written in a particular cultural context dealing with issues within that space and that time and addressing particular listeners within that social context. To give the same weight to all scripture is therefore a mistake. To then claim that these authors, who knew nothing of the world in which we live, wrote for our time/space is a further mistake. The falseness with which you are interested is the false assumption that we can run a simple slide rule over the writings and come up with an singularity. Such an assumption is absurd.

But at another level you have a point if you are searching for what we might term 'universal' truths that might be contained in the Bible. The good news is that this work has already been done and for starters you can find it in the Nicene Creed. If you want to go deeper you will find many others creed like statements within the Catholic and Anglican traditions - both traditions which inform the various denominations. Then you might realise that there is more in common between the various churches than differences.

So, if you are truly interested in 'reconciling' scripture go to a Catholic or Anglican prayer book - it's all there in black and white.

 

[peace4ever]

Thank you for the lesson. Your whole thesis is built on an 'assumption' - an assumption that is not made clear. What do you mean by 'born again of the Holy Spirit'? I have seen any number of interpretations. Which one are you punting for?

Or, do you mean that there are so-called Christians and there are 'real' Christians?

fFirst of all I didn't write the bible. So my statement isn't my assumption, it comes from God's word. You can find the truth from God's word also. So read the parable of the sower. The first 3 that Jesus talks about had no root. Then read Romans 11:16-18 to see who the root is. Then you will know that the root is the Holy Spirit which means that only those who can fall away are not born again. Jesus also tells us in Matthew 7:21-23 that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. That means that not everyone who calls himself a Christian is a Christian. They are called "wolves in sheep's clothing", i.e. masquerading as sheep.

That is how you read the bible. But you first need to read every word in the bible before you can reconcile the bible together. Since none of us can quote the whole bible for you, it would behoove you to read the whole bible before you come here to discuss the bible.

The bible is not a collection of essays like an essay or poem book. It is God's infallible word as John 1:1-2, John 1:14, and Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16. However, if you don't believe that the bible is God's infallible word, then how do you know where to find God's word and thus how can you know who He is? Born again Christians know because the Holy Spirit inside of us is the same Spirit with which the bible is written so we know that the Word is as alive and eternal as God is as John 1:1-2 explains.

Ah, there are no false teachings in the bible. I explained that those who interpret the bible to contradict itself are false teachers because God does not contradict himself.

 

[unkern]

It was very bold to start a thread on here like that. By the way do you read Hebrew?

These words are all in a Hebrew understanding, even if its in Greek it is in a Hebrew understanding. So, many are not reconciled together because they refuse to go back to its Hebrew understanding and only accept its American understanding.

For example: you have an american view of being saved or salvation, but the Hebrew understanding is like being saved from a tree falling on you, meaning you can be saved several times and from different things, the Hebrew letters themselves reveal amazing truths as well, like the word saved means that you are saved from something with the hopes that you will turn your eyes to it and follow it. You'll notice this since Hebrew letters are suppost to look like a hand or an eye, etc.

Another thing is if you look at what Christian really means was actually those in Antioch calling the first believers names and that was not a good name to be called, Christos-ian slave of Christ.

Always study to show yourself approved a workman who needs not be ashamed.

 

[MrPolo]

I've found that one of the biggest reasons for divisions among Christians is that many people are not interested in reconciling all scripture together.

This is one of the first, most basic principles when reading Scripture--to interpret it in the whole of Scripture.

 

[peace4ever]

It was very bold to start a thread on here like that. By the way do you read Hebrew?

These words are all in a Hebrew understanding, even if its in Greek it is in a Hebrew understanding. So, many are not reconciled together because they refuse to go back to its Hebrew understanding and only accept its American understanding.

For example: you have an american view of being saved or salvation, but the Hebrew understanding is like being saved from a tree falling on you, meaning you can be saved several times and from different things, the Hebrew letters themselves reveal amazing truths as well, like the word saved means that you are saved from something with the hopes that you will turn your eyes to it and follow it. You'll notice this since Hebrew letters are suppost to look like a hand or an eye, etc.

Another thing is if you look at what Christian really means was actually those in Antioch calling the first believers names and that was not a good name to be called, Christos-ian slave of Christ.

Always study to show yourself approved a workman who needs not be ashamed.

Actually, your post proves how much my OP was needed! What you're saying is that God isn't going to make sure that He passes His word along in every language. Sorry, friend, but God doesn't just impart knowledge to those who speak and understand Hebrew. So you need to re-read what happened at pentecost to see that God makes sure that people of all languages can find and understand His words without a knowledge of only one or two languages.

 

[unkern]

Actually, your post proves how much my OP was needed! What you're saying is that God isn't going to make sure that He passes His word along in every language. Sorry, friend, but God doesn't just impart knowledge to those who speak and understand Hebrew. So you need to re-read what happened at pentecost to see that God makes sure that people of all languages can find and understand His words without a knowledge of only one or two languages.

ah Pentecost, you mean the festival that took place 7 Sabbaths plus one, the one where they took the sheafs from firstfruits and cooked every grain by fire in a bronze tube with hole which was later reference to the holy spirit coming like fire onto every tongue, is that that festival that they ground the grain into a fine flour and baked two loaves of bread and was the only festival to use leavening since it represented the holy spirit coming into the whole body who on that day was to be united which was a picture of the holy spirit coming onto all of the believers in Acts that were together as one. I dont know maybe I need to re-read what happened at Pentecost, lol.

The Lord does pass down his word in every language, but every time someone gets ahold of it they put there own spin on it and twist it, so dont you think the Lord expects us to learn his language, the one that created the world with? The bible was written to hebrews, the hebrew culture, they had their own metaphors and such. Do you think the Hebrews during that time wouldve understood the many things we say for example "I got a frog in my throat" They had their own like "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi" and many of the things written in our bibles are exactly that and will not be understood the same way. Another example would be unequally yoked, This was used to describe two oxen tied together that were of different heights, but we could not understand that in an american concept.

 

[ebia]

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[peace4ever]

ah Pentecost, you mean the festival that took place 7 Sabbaths plus one, the one where they took the sheafs from firstfruits and cooked every grain by fire in a bronze tube with hole which was later reference to the holy spirit coming like fire onto every tongue, is that that festival that they ground the grain into a fine flour and baked two loaves of bread and was the only festival to use leavening since it represented the holy spirit coming into the whole body who on that day was to be united which was a picture of the holy spirit coming onto all of the believers in Acts that were together as one. I dont know maybe I need to re-read what happened at Pentecost, lol.

The Lord does pass down his word in every language, but every time someone gets ahold of it they put there own spin on it and twist it, so dont you think the Lord expects us to learn his language, the one that created the world with? The bible was written to hebrews, the hebrew culture, they had their own metaphors and such. Do you think the Hebrews during that time wouldve understood the many things we say for example "I got a frog in my throat" They had their own like "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi" and many of the things written in our bibles are exactly that and will not be understood the same way. Another example would be unequally yoked, This was used to describe two oxen tied together that were of different heights, but we could not understand that in an american concept.

By your reasoning, then the authors of the Hebrew and Greek bibles could have put their own spin on God's word too. So if you don't know that God is just as present during translations as He was during the penning of the Hebrew and Greek bibles, then you will have no idea where to find God's Word and thus can't know who God is.

But it's easy to know that modern-day translations are God's word as well since the modern-day bibles do not contradict themselves. And that's why it's imperative when reading the bible that your reconcile all verses together which can be easily done in modern-day translations. That proves that those are God's words because only God is infallible and doesn't contradict Himself.

 

[ebia]

The above are only a few examples of how to differentiate true teaching from false teaching by reconciling all scripture together;

What do you connote by the word "reconcile"? Because I don't think you are using it the way I would understand it.

 

[peace4ever]

What do you connote by the word "reconcile"? Because I don't think you are using it the way I would understand it.

I'm using it to mean, "make God's words all agree with each other instead of contradict each other."

 

[ebia]

I'm using it to mean, "make God's words all agree with each other instead of contradict each other."

How can I "make words agree with each other"? The only think I'm entitled to change is my understanding.

Surely what you actually mean is more like "arrive at an understanding that takes full account of all of scripture".

 

[peace4ever]

How can I "make words agree with each other"? The only think I'm entitled to change is my understanding.

Surely what you actually mean is more like "arrive at an understanding that takes full account of all of scripture".

No, because many people take a full account of scripture and still have interpretations that contradict other scripture. What they need to do is know that every verse is true.

So when they quote a verse such as; "Seek and you will find" and put it together with Romans 3:11, "...there is no one who seeks God," then instead of claiming those 2 verses contradict each other, they need to find an interpretation that makes those verses agree with each other.

And the only interpretation that makes those and other verses agree with each other comes from other verses like, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Philippians 2:13, etc. and you get; man's sinful nature does not seek God, only the power of the Holy Spirit leads man to seek God. That makes both those and other verses agree with each other. So it's a correct teaching.

 

[ebia]

No, because many people take a full account of scripture and still have interpretations that contradict other scripture.

Then they haven't taken "full account of all of scripture", which is what I said.

What they need to do is know that every verse is true.

So when they quote a verse such as; "Seek and you will find" and put it together with Romans 3:11, "...there is no one who seeks God," then instead of claiming those 2 verses contradict each other, they need to find an interpretation that makes those verses agree with each other.

As stated those two verses do contradict each other. Changing the meaning of one or both is twisting what it says. What one needs to do is arrive at an understanding that takes into account both.

And the only interpretation that makes those and other verses agree with each other comes from other verses like, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Philippians 2:13, etc. and you get; man's sinful nature does not seek God, only the power of the Holy Spirit leads man to seek God. That makes both those and other verses agree with each other. So it's a correct teaching.

We aren't disagreeing substantially on your conclusion, but they way you describe your method. Scripture isn't some huge jigsaw puzzle of pieces that need some forcing to get together, but the story of God's involvement with and for the world told through limitations that go with human language, communication and conceptual thinking.

 

[peace4ever]

Then they haven't taken "full account of all of scripture", which is what I said.


As stated those two verses do contradict each other. Changing the meaning of one or both is twisting what it says. What one needs to do is arrive at an understanding that takes into account both.


We aren't disagreeing substantially on your conclusion, but they way you describe your method. Scripture isn't some huge jigsaw puzzle of pieces that need some forcing to get together, but the story of God's involvement with and for the world told through limitations that go with human language, communication and conceptual thinking.

That's correct. But the bible warns of false teachers who will lead people away from understanding God's word. One of them is called universal reconciliation which is the belief that everyone will be saved. They will go to hell for a short while, then jump out of the fire and go to heaven.

That is a dangerous false teaching because it passes along the biggest lie of Satan "You will not surely die, you will go to heaven eventually. So enjoy the pleasures of sin because you won't be in hell forever. So come, follow me."

Unfortunately, that's a very popular teaching and universalists try to justify it by making scripture contradict itself. But those who don't know the whole bible are duped into following their lies. And judging by the popularity of that false teaching, it shows that most people don't know how to read the bible.

So when people don't know how to read the bible, they can't spot a false teacher if he stood right in front of them. And since God tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:15 and 2 Peter what happens to false teachers and those who follow them,(and it's not pretty) then it's imperative that people know how to read the bible or they'll follow Satan straight into hell.

 

[unkern]

By your reasoning, then the authors of the Hebrew and Greek bibles could have put their own spin on God's word too. So if you don't know that God is just as present during translations as He was during the penning of the Hebrew and Greek bibles, then you will have no idea where to find God's Word and thus can't know who God is.

But it's easy to know that modern-day translations are God's word as well since the modern-day bibles do not contradict themselves. And that's why it's imperative when reading the bible that your reconcile all verses together which can be easily done in modern-day translations. That proves that those are God's words because only God is infallible and doesn't contradict Himself.

You are correct in that all scripture does go together, and must line up.

Some of the authors that did create our Hebrew and Greek translations did put their spin on it. They match them together to try and get the the best interpretation possible, the original scriptures were only to be passed down by Levites.

Here are some examples of bad translations the Septuagint and the Dead sea scrolls.

The Septuagint was said to have been created by 72 Rabbi's(not Levites) and written in 72 days all exact to each others copy. It is said to be created before Christ, but only one text is BC compared to the rest that were created around 100 AD.

The Dead sea scrolls are gnostic.

In regular writings Goliath is 9'6 in the dead sea scrolls he is 6'9. Archeology confims that he was 6'9.

This is one example of the twists and turns that are written, however it is the Spirit who is able to help us clear up this mess.

 

[peace4ever]

You are correct in that all scripture does go together, and must line up.

Some of the authors that did create our Hebrew and Greek translations did put their spin on it. They match them together to try and get the the best interpretation possible, the original scriptures were only to be passed down by Levites.

Here are some examples of bad translations the Septuagint and the Dead sea scrolls.

The Septuagint was said to have been created by 72 Rabbi's(not Levites) and written in 72 days all exact to each others copy. It is said to be created before Christ, but only one text is BC compared to the rest that were created around 100 AD.

The Dead sea scrolls are gnostic.

In regular writings Goliath is 9'6 in the dead sea scrolls he is 6'9. Archeology confims that he was 6'9.

This is one example of the twists and turns that are written, however it is the Spirit who is able to help us clear up this mess.

Some of the authors that did create our Hebrew and Greek translations did put their spin on it. They match them together to try and get the the best interpretation possible, the original scriptures were only to be passed down by Levites.

So then you don't believe that the bible is the infallible word of God. Is that correct? if so, then where do you find God's Word?

And if you don't know where to find God's word, then how do you know who God is? Or is your faith in the human writers of the bible who are as fallible as every other human being? If so, then putting your faith in people can't save you because people can't save you. Since people are fallible then your faith can only be as fallible as people are.

But the fact of the matter is, God's word in the bible is as alive and eternal as God is as Hebrews 4:15 and John 1;1-2 and John 1:14 explain. Those who have the indwelling Holy Spirit know that because the Spirit inside of us agrees with the bible because they both come from God's Spirit.

 

[ebia]

Here are some examples of bad translations the Septuagint and the Dead sea scrolls.

I'm not sure where you are getting your information from, but...

The Septuagint was said to have been created by 72 Rabbi's(not Levites) and written in 72 days all exact to each others copy. It is said to be created before Christ, but only one text is BC compared to the rest that were created around 100 AD.

I take it what you mean is that only one surviving manuscript is before Christ. That's not quite true - there are fragments of several. The only more or less complete manuscripts are significantly AD, but that compares very favorably with the mainstream Hebrew texts, where the oldest surviving complete manuscripts date from around the 10th Century AD! I.e. it demonstrates nothing except that papyrus manuscripts do not survive long.

The Dead sea scrolls are gnostic.

This is simply wrong. The dead sea scrolls are the product of the Essenes. Not exactly a mainstream Jewish group, but not remotely gnostic.

 

[peace4ever]

The Septuagint was said to have been created by 72 Rabbi's(not Levites) and written in 72 days all exact to each others copy. It is said to be created before Christ, but only one text is BC compared to the rest that were created around 100 AD.

If you believe that the bible was written by people instead of by God's Spirit, then you can never trust that the bible is true because people are fallible and not omniscient. So you have no access to God if you are reading a book that you consider came from the human mind, rather than from the mind of God. All the words from human minds die when they die. So if you believe that the bible came from human minds then you can't believe that Christ's words will last forever since you claim they came from the minds of human authors. How sad.

 

[Windlord]

So then you don't believe that the bible is the infallible word of God. Is that correct? if so, then where do you find God's Word?

And if you don't know where to find God's word, then how do you know who God is? Or is your faith in the human writers of the bible who are as fallible as every other human being? If so, then putting your faith in people can't save you because people can't save you. Since people are fallible then your faith can only be as fallible as people are.

But the fact of the matter is, God's word in the bible is as alive and eternal as God is as Hebrews 4:15 and John 1;1-2 and John 1:14 explain. Those who have the indwelling Holy Spirit know that because the Spirit inside of us agrees with the bible because they both come from God's Spirit.

Hebrews 4:15, John 1:1-2, and John 1:14 are all talking about Jesus NOT the Bible. I don't know were you got the idea that they're talking about the Bible, but I suggest you drop it, that's heresy. Jesus and the Bible are not one and the same. The Bible did not become flesh and dwell among us.

Jhn 1:1-14, the whole section, not just three verses without the rest included. If you really took God's Sacred Words seriously you wouldn't pick and choose.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Not sure why you mentioned Hebrews 4:15. I think you meant to mention Hebrews 4:12. That's generally the verse that's often misunderstood to be talking about the Bible when it's actually talking about Jesus. Let's take a look at the whole of scripture instead of cherry picking, shall we?

Hebrews 4:12-15
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.


Logos = Jesus, Rhema = Scripture.