Why do Christians

[ilovejcsog]

The difficulty is that there are many, many opinions on what certain passages of Scripture mean.

We see dozens of threads in the General Theology forum debating everything from the deity of Christ, to whether a Christian can have sex before marrying, to whether baptism is salvific or totally optional, to whether the Real Presence is True, to what the End Times will look like....

On and on. Often, Scripture does have what should be a clear answer to or at least inference on the issue, but we still debate it. Other times, it's extremely unclear. And debatable. This is why the body of Christ, the Saints, men and women very close to God while on earth, have also given us the meaning of Scripture through their writings, and life.

You and Emerson are very wise Christians. Sometimes it is easy to tell. I wish it was always obvious.
HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE AND GOD BLESS THIS COUNTRY!

 

[Chris35]

ilovejcsog is spot on, should rely on the holy spirit more then the answers from people. There is alot of debate on even the most simplist of scripture.

When looking for answers, paul redirects us to the spirit of God.

God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?

Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.


What was the source of Paul's wisdom?
The spirit of God.


For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.


Alot of different denominations, alot of different beliefs. If you are lacking the holy spirit, you should pray to God and ask him for it.


If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.”

 

[Sketcher]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man. Isn't Gods opinion enough? I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

Godly council is a Biblical principle.

 

[Cis.jd]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man. Isn't Gods opinion enough? I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

Because God isn't limited to 1,200k pages. Take a look at the resurrection of Jesus. The best support of it is not in the Bible but the historical documents of the Apostles and the first Christians (their Martyrdom). It's social science that states that people show they truly believe and while skeptics use this, what they can't do is find any martyrdom over a claim such as the one for Jesus (resurrecting after a roman execution). None of this is found in the Bible to use.

Everybody has made claims about what the Bible says, and it ended up with new denominations or severe extremity such as the Salem Witch Trials, Slavery and The Dark Ages. All convinced about their views of the Bible being correct.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

I don't think God is confined to the Bible.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man. Isn't Gods opinion enough? I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

The flesh is weak. This is why Christ did the work for our salvation. Once we know that in full, we will walk in His Holy Spirit and our actions and desires will reflect as such. Meanwhile, many still search high and low because they are not guided by His Spirit. It is rare indeed to walk in the Holy Spirit.
Blessings

 

[Carl Emerson]

Thank you for your input. After reading several of your other topics I would be likely to lean toward your interpretation than most. You are a good witness for God. There are a few very few that I trust to lead to Gods truth. See I too am influenced, I am just saying it can be dangerous.

Believe me I am learning like anyone else and the trick is to always be honestly open to correction rather than holding to what you think you know. I do try to share from what I have personally received rather than holding onto the words of others. You will read in the OT that God hated the prophets who steal one-anothers words. I also try to keep the gnosis and epignosis seperate. I took about 5 years to study scripture with no other input to get a yardstick in my heart. This helps me to see if a proposition rings true. because of my background I had to base my interpretation of reality on scripture alone. We are blessed with some great and gentle minds here, you can sniff them out with the nose of your heart !!!

 

[Swan7]

Jesus actually quotes from "outside" the Bible because back then the Bible did not exist as we know it today. The reason is for historical purposes and we need context in order to understand what the background was about. For example, when Paul speaks about women being quiet in the church. Many quote this out of context and have no understanding of what it actually means.
God's Word is enough and always will be enough for faith: Romans 10:16-17 and Abraham: Hebrews 11:8 (Genesis 22)

 

[devin553344]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man. Isn't Gods opinion enough? I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

We have medicines and doctors now in this day and age, all of which I think is inspiration from God, but clearly is outside the scope of the bible. And doctors clearly heal illnesses of the people.

But for spiritual matters the bible is sufficient.

So I'm kinda left wondering what specifically you're unhappy with. Some of the posts already answered sufficiently the OP.

 

[ilovejcsog]

Devin said:
"But for spiritual matters the bible is sufficient"

Thank you, that is the crux of it.
Everything you need to know spiritually is in the word.

Sometimes I talk to much.

 

[Daniel9v9]

All Church bodies follow one tradition or another, whether the members can appreciate it or not. For example, the Lutheran Church, which I hold to, very obviously follow in the steps of Luther but can be traced back even further to Augustine. If you're Non-Denominational, chances are high that you're following in the steps of the reformer Zwingli, who certainly has some very distinct ideas, and who with Calvin, not only emphasise the Bible, but also the use of reason. So it's not just the Bible alone, but Bible, reason and tradition. Or if you belong to a Charismatic body, then it's Bible, reason, tradition and prophecy/revelation.

Even if a Church body or movement claims "no creed but Christ!" or "no doctrine, only the Bible!" and the like, they still have an inherited theology, even if kept loose. This becomes very apparent when you ask someone what their belief is with regards to the nature of Christ, the Gospel, Baptism, the Eucharist, sin, justification, sanctification etc. Whatever your answer is to any of those questions, that would be your creed or doctrine, that is, your confession of what you believe the Bible to say.

All that aside, I agree that we should go by Scripture alone. Sola Scriptura is fundamental. The Bible should always be read and understood in light of itself, as it is the highest authority - being the very Word of God - above all tradition, reason and any kind of revelation, mysticism and extra-Biblical sources.

 

[Theophilus2019]

Because I find what God has said or shown to others who are wiser, more experienced or closer to Him than I am, helpful. I’m re-Reading John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress at present and his insights into the Christian life are very enlightening.

 

[Carl Emerson]

We must understand however that the Written Word while absolute, does not replace His Word living Word within us - both are essential.

 

[Peter J Barban]

Because your interpretation of the Bible is not the same as God saying something.

This response needs an emoji for "Harsh, but true".

 

[Lost4words]

The difficulty is that there are many, many opinions on what certain passages of Scripture mean.

We see dozens of threads in the General Theology forum debating everything from the deity of Christ, to whether a Christian can have sex before marrying, to whether baptism is salvific or totally optional, to whether the Real Presence is True, to what the End Times will look like....

On and on. Often, Scripture does have what should be a clear answer to or at least inference on the issue, but we still debate it. Other times, it's extremely unclear. And debatable. This is why the body of Christ, the Saints, men and women very close to God while on earth, have also given us the meaning of Scripture through their writings, and life.

Totally agree.

Plus, we have the 'Church'. Sacred Tradition, Apostolic succession, that is able, via the Holy Spirit, to explain scripture, to give meaning to the word of God when faced with questions.

The problem with those that read scripture and 'go it alone' is that put 50 of those in the same room with the same passage from scripture and you will probably get 50 different opinions!

The church is there to guide and teach. Not being part of 'the' church, is like being in a boat without a rudder!

 

[Matt5]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man. Isn't Gods opinion enough? I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

How would I learn this if I only looked at the Bible:

Maybe the Antichrist and Islamic Mahdi are the Same. And Islamic Jesus accompanies the Mahdi to Convert the World to Islam

You mean a fake Jesus comes along doing miracles a few years before the real one shows up? Does he fool the foolish virgins and get them to join Islam?

 

[Strong in Him]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man.

If you're asking why Christians use commentaries to understand the Bible, most of the time it's just that; to understand.

To understand/read Scripture correctly we need to know the context in which it was written - is the author writing history, for example; poetry prophecy, parable, wisdom literature or apocalyptic writing? Was he giving advice to churches over certain problems? Were they writing to correct false teachers who had been teaching heretical doctrines? Scripture doesn't always tell us this kind of background, or the cultures and practices of the times.
Neither does it tell us about language, or explain the meaning behind Greek/Hebrew words. As the Bible was not written in English, it is important to know what the writers originally wrote and what they meant by it.

Isn't Gods opinion enough?

Obviously.
As long as we are clear about what we are reading and whether or not it IS God's opinion.
For example, some read, and apply, every word of Scripture literally. I have seen arguments in these forums which say that God has commanded women to cover their heads in worship/men to have short hair/women not to speak, at all, in church. I have seen people write that we MUST speak in tongues, or we don't have the Holy Spirit/that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy etc and tongues are not proof of salvation. People argue for and against infant baptism and a whole host of other things - all quoting Scripture and saying this is what God says, or his will.

I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

Obviously God is enough.
No commentator would claim that they are replacing, adding to or rewriting the word of God - just seeking to throw some light on it. I am grateful to commentators for their factual, academic knowledge, but I don't always agree with their conclusions.

 

[Newtheran]

need to go outside the bible for answers? I see it every day and I don't understand. I can see that if in doubt of what they are reading they need further clarification but most are needing an additional opinion from man. Isn't Gods opinion enough? I find if I look outside the word It only confuses me in most cases and that is when the question comes up. Why isn't God enough?

Let me ask you a question.

Does your church teach that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine of communion?

If not, and they teach that it is merely symbolic, why are they adding man's opinion to the clear teaching of the verses in and around John 6:50-60?

Do you baptize infants? If not, do young children who have not prayed the sinners prayer and die go to heaven? At what age does this auto-salvation of fallen man end? Where is this age found in the bible?

It's very easy to say "don't add the addtional opinions of man to scripture." What that fails to account for though is that when we use the bible alone not illumined by the historic teachings of the church triumphant that we're adhering to the 20th century opinions about what it says. Which is why there are literally tens of thousands of churches today who disagree about what the Bible says not just on doctrine but increasingly on morality.

The alternative to scipture + tradition is not scripture alone. It's invariably scripture + reason, scripture + culture, or something else of the sort.

If it's new, it's not true. If it's true, it's not new.

 

[Albion]

Unitarians also recognize the Bible as word of God, so once again, interpretation matters/

Of course interpretation matters.

 

[Albion]

If I went and asked ten people their interpretation of a given text in the Bible, I would probably be given different answers.

Each person will claim that their own understanding is correct.

I believe that the best way to understand the scriptures is through the lens of tradition, reason and experience.

This is going to confuse even more people, I think, but your reply here, Anthony, is actually a rejection of Sacred Tradition and an endorsement of the principle of Sola Scriptura.