• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

So what exactly is Biblical?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes

Mama Kidogo

Τίποτα νέο μυθιστόρημα τίποτα
Jan 31, 2014
2,944
307
USA for the time being
✟27,035.00
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Reborn Yet Again said:
Hmmm would you say biblical would be truth through scripture though?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that's the implication of the word. But in reality the word is used rather subjectivity. I think when you see it used in a place like a forum the words 'to my understanding' should be read into it.
 
Upvote 0
F

fhansen

Oldbie
Sep 3, 2011
16,196
4,044
✟399,315.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married

It's whatever the author intended by his words.
 
Upvote 0

Radagast

comes and goes
Site Supporter
Dec 10, 2003
23,896
9,865
✟344,561.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
topcare said:
Whatever someone thinks it is. In protestant thought each man is an island and can determine for himself what is and is not Biblical
Click to expand...

That's not true. Protestant denominations frown on individual interpretations that contradict the historic Creeds and Confessions.
 
Upvote 0

Mama Kidogo

Τίποτα νέο μυθιστόρημα τίποτα
Jan 31, 2014
2,944
307
USA for the time being
✟27,035.00
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Radagast said:
That's not true. Protestant denominations frown on individual interpretations that contradict the historic Creeds and Confessions.
Click to expand...

Some protestant denominations don't even know there is a Creed. Protestant is a very broad term. I take it from your statement that you are not of the Word of Faith denomination.
 
Upvote 0

Radagast

comes and goes
Site Supporter
Dec 10, 2003
23,896
9,865
✟344,561.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Mama Kidogo said:
Some protestant denominations don't even know there is a Creed. Protestant is a very broad term. I take it from your statement that you are not of the Word of Faith denomination.
Click to expand...

Well, "Word of Faith" is a loose movement, not a denomination.

The denominations I'm aware of accept several Creeds (usually the Apostle's, Nicene, and Athanasian) and generally have one or more Confessions that spell things out in more detail. For example:

Anglican -- 39 Articles
Baptist -- various Baptist Confessions (see Wikipedia's list)
Lutheran -- Augsburg Confession
Methodist -- an edited version of the 39 Articles
Presbyterian -- Westminster Confession
Reformed -- Belgic Confession
 
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
39,755
29,422
Pacific Northwest
✟823,503.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
Radagast said:
That's not true. Protestant denominations frown on individual interpretations that contradict the historic Creeds and Confessions.
Click to expand...

Mama Kidogo said:
Some protestant denominations don't even know there is a Creed. Protestant is a very broad term. I take it from your statement that you are not of the Word of Faith denomination.
Click to expand...

Both statements are true.

Because there ultimately is no such thing as "Protestantism", there is instead a number of Protestantisms.

Those churches which trace themselves to the [Magisterial] Reformation (e.g. Luther, Calvin, etc) are very much devoted to keeping the integrity of the faith as confessed in the Creeds, and the Creeds are necessary.

But there are a number of Protestantisms that aren't, arguably most today.

Particularly those traditions which have arisen out of the American Revivalist and Charismatic traditions which place a stronger emphasis on personal conversion and personal spiritual experience; where reading and understanding Scripture isn't the corporate work of the Church with feet firmly planted in the confession, and tradition of the historic, catholic faith but instead an individualistic task with the idea that somehow God regularly and supernaturally intervenes through the Holy Spirit to grant the individual the proper understanding, with or without any necessary concern for appropriate context. And without necessary care for how the great cloud of witnesses have, historically, approached and understood the Written Word.

Protestantisms. There is no real such thing as "Protestantism".

-CryptoLutheran
 
Upvote 0

Radagast

comes and goes
Site Supporter
Dec 10, 2003
23,896
9,865
✟344,561.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
ViaCrucis said:
Because there ultimately is no such thing as "Protestantism", there is instead a number of Protestantisms.
Click to expand...

No doubt, although I stand by my carefully worded sentence.

By and large, a Protestant denomination has a Confession or Creed. Various non-denominational movements may not.
 
Upvote 0

ChristsSoldier115

Mabaho na Kuya
Jul 30, 2013
6,765
1,601
The greatest state in the Union: Ohio
✟34,002.00
Faith
Baptist
Marital Status
In Relationship
We seem to cherry pick verses to justify injustices. Wars, social inequalities, greed, or the blanket sin of omission are good examples. Taking verses out of context is the biggest crime of modern interpretation. So, this is why I asked, "What is biblical?"

The worst crime of interpretation is the abuse of the OT for examples. Ancient Israel is not a prime example for what it means to be a loyal to God. They fail time and time again, which is why God had a messiah planned from the beginning.
 
Upvote 0

Targaryen

Scripture,Tradition and Reason
Jul 13, 2014
3,431
558
Canada
✟36,699.00
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Single
Politics
CA-NDP


I'd say it's understanding the context and meaning of the writ in question and applying it to current factors one faces, not discounting reason and awareness of the world around them.
 
Upvote 0

hedrick

Senior Veteran
Site Supporter
Feb 8, 2009
20,503
10,870
New Jersey
✟1,353,760.00
Faith
Presbyterian
Marital Status
Single

Pretty much everyone agrees that something is Biblical when it’s in accordance with what the Bible teaches. But beyond that, there’s no agreement, as you’ve seen.

Even the reason there’s no agreement is debatable. I’d say it’s partly because of the nature of the Bible, partly because of our separation from it in time and culture, and partly because people read it through the eyes of their own traditions, which vary a good deal.

But others have a faith commitment to the idea that the Bible is clear, and that time and culture are no barrier. They tend to be more inclined to think that everyone other than them is biased or even unfaithful. Or they are committed to the concept that the Bible is part of their tradition, and needs to be read in accordance with it.

My preference is to separate understanding what it says as much as possible from our own faith, though in the long run for Protestants at least a change in that understanding is going to change our faith. But that means seeing it as secular scholars see it, which bothers many Christians. Still, I think the closest we’ve come to an unbiased understanding (and I admit that it’s far from perfect) is the product of a community that is largely ecumenical and non-religious, using Enlightenment methods to the extent that it’s reasonable for this kind of material. The very fact that Protestants, Catholics and agnostics all have pretty similar understandings of what Jesus, Paul, etc, were talking about makes this effort look a lot more promising than those that somehow always find that Scripture is saying what they’ve already believed anyway.
 
Upvote 0

shturt678s

Regular Member
Dec 11, 2013
2,733
118
✟25,797.00
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Single

The adjective "Biblical" paints a broad picture, however decades ago found out that if one posits that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God resulting in anything "Biblical" is the former, the money and Christians will flock in and you'll have a large following quickly with lots of brothers and sisters in Christ.

On the other side of the coin if Bibles are translations and extremely interpretive just by default by being translations then anything "Biblical" may not necessarily be inerrant, infallible, and inspired resulting in no following, no money, and all your brothers and sisters in Christ quickly disappear for some reason.

Don't pay that much attention, old Jack just thinking out loud again...never did run with the majority, secure in the crowd routine...did win a most unpopular Christian contest one time.

btw this thread is as Biblical as it gets.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

BobRyan

Junior Member
Angels Team
Site Supporter
Nov 21, 2008
53,410
11,947
Georgia
✟1,101,772.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
SDA
Marital Status
Married

Those who merely want to "bend the Bible" will argue that it is "literal where their liberal views will allow it" and it is "Symbolic' - everywhere else.

Those who want to let the Bible interpret the Bible will allow it to be literal except when an obvious symbol is in use.

For I example "I am the vine you are the branches" - spoken by literal Christ to literal followers of Christ - but using symbols.

in Christ,

Bob
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

What is Calvinism and its beliefs?
Replies
14
Views
749
General Theology
BobRyan
United Methodist African bishops reaffirm support for biblical marriage: 'Sexual ethic rooted in Scripture'
Replies
1
Views
178
Current News & Events (Articles Required)
RileyG
OSAS - I was wrong...again
Replies
45
Views
2K
General Theology
Guojing
G
When Aquinas said that we know God by analogy what did he mean?
Replies
19
Views
814
General Theology
The Liturgist
Introduction: 100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura
Replies
0
Views
164
One Bread, One Body - Catholic
Michie
Menu
Log in
Register