How did you arrive at your view of what the Bible says? Was it by deep study or by influence of others?

Most people I talk to have some funny ideas of what the Bible really says. Their words tell me they did learn doctrines from others and just accept positions they acquired by rote. I have seen this in Theists, Atheists, and Agnostics.





Is this the new age of information present today imposing the concept to just accept what others say as being truth and not seeking the real truth as it is. That is today is the "in thing" to join and accept rather than to study and seek the truth?.

How did you arrive at your view of what the Bible says? Was it by deep study or by influence of others?
I arrived at my view of the bible by both deep study and influence. I will listen to someone point of view but I always check them to see if they are right or just blowing smoke. Often times people will interpret a verse without taking the rest of the bible into context and so they are not speaking truth, just a little bit of truth with a whole lot of lies which sounds enticing. I always check first, believe later.
Reply:Interpretation of scripture is a gift from God. The Bible says to try all spirits to see if they are of God. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of "knee mail" back and forth with God.


Be very careful these days there are many wolves in sheeps clothing.
Reply:Nothing really clicked until I internalized the fact that I had experienced unconditional love. It wasn't a dream, hoax or hallucination. In fact they were the most real events of my life which I can recall at any instant in minute detail. the rest of my life seems like one big blur in comparison, more like a dream that takes great effort to recall. Then came the epiphanies. If I internalize the epiphanies by incorporating them into my life, then I get more. If I don't act on them, they stop. trying to read/study the bible only led to distraction and confusion because there is truth mixed up with bogus. the Spirit of truth only leads me to the bible for specific purposes, not for general understanding.
Reply:I grew up in a mixed culture. My dad is Chinese and my mom is Irish and raised as a southern baptist. I didn't go to church growing up, but my mom read me bible stories. I still practiced the Chinese holidays too. So I think it made me more open. I have studied many religions and I'm into archeology and antropology. So while I take in others opinions I form my own conclusions. Like I don't believe the universe was made in 7 literal days. I think God creates and changes through evolution. I teeter between science and faith. I noticed when I studied with Jehovah's witnesses the ones that grew up in the religion knew less than those that converted as adults. I think religion itself it too mature for children, because they "blindly" follow like your were saying whatever their parents beliefs are. I think more people are too lazy to take religion seriously, that if they just show up on Sunday they are just as knowledgeable as the person next to them that studies on their own as well. I think if you going to say you are part of a religion, than know what the hell your religion actually is. =)
Reply:I was in a really good Bible study and learned the Bible very well. I also go to a church where the Bible is taught.
Reply:Studying the Bible is what made me a skeptic. I took my faith very seriously and believe that a real God can withstand honest scrutiny. It depends on the person though. When I try to talk about the Bible in its historical context and the problematic portions and criticisms even Biblical scholars have literalists/fundamentalists tell me I didn't pray enough for guidance when reading. Apparently I don't have enough holy spirit to understand it the way they do. This may be true, there is no way to prove it. On the other hand it may be the case of people making up their mind to believe what they want and bullet proofing their minds to contradictory evidence.
Reply:I agree with you that we live in the age of the soundbite where consumer's attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. We are being bombarded by stimuli from every angle giving us more breadth, but less depth of any one thing.





Thomas Paine would agree with you that: "The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed."





The problem is the bible is so full of contradictions and metaphors and parables, facts and fiction, it's impossible to know the "truth". That is why the bible is so popular. Anybody can interpret it in any number of different ways to suit their own agenda. Case in point: Jerry Falwell saying: "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh's charioteers."





"No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means."


— George Bernard Shaw





The man who has no mind of his own lends it to the priests.


— George Meredith, (1828-1909)





Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.


— Isaac Asimov, (1920-1992)
Reply:I believe since 15 years. G really exist. But G is very good hidden in life.You don't see him.But he exist in you, in me, in the good people,and in the bad people.The soul and the spirit of the man are eternal.Man continues to exist after the death.There is no death - The life continues after death
Reply:I studied for years in darkness. I gave up and turned to Wicca then discovered Gnosticism but still didn't understand then one night in an instant I KNEW love, I knew god. It happened as I prayed it was the defining event in my life. The entire scripture took on new meaning but only those that are Children of god understand it. Being "Born-Again" or baptized doesn't help.


The only thing I could tell someone to do that may assist is tell them to love, but sooner or later they will anyway, if not in this life then in another. I wish I could make people wake up to being Children of God but they come when it's good for them and God and not a second before then. No one has ever been "saved" against their will. If I could I'd wake us all up to enlightenment but it's not in the order of things. Only ego lets someone go against the scriptures on such a thing. It does say no one comes to the father unless the Spirit draws them.





It's my duty to minister if asked...


make no mistake though it's all between you and God.





You can tell the Children of God by what they do (I don't refer to silly taboo things) the spiritual do things for spiritual reasons. The carnal do things for carnal reasons. So if someone comes to you as if to instruct you in the ways of God use good judgment, if it doesn't feel right then brush them off. You'll do the right thing...eventually.





♥Blessed Be♥


♥=∞