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Weight
(value, depth of thought) of different biblical texts not everywhere same. That
becomes clear when you compare, for example, John 3.16 and Acts 18.1. However, information that has no
value, in the Bible.
THE BIBLE
CONTAINS ALL WE NEED THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE BUSINESS. She is full in the
sense that has everything necessary to instruct us in this life and to help
achieve the eternal purpose: "Look for the book of the Lord, and read;
None of may be not come yet and one other not is replaced by" (Is 34.16).
THE BIBLE
NOWHERE EITHER CONTRADICTS ITSELF.
Seeming
contradictions, mainly, with careful consideration of be expllained. The main
causes of such contradictions is the eluding some biblical principles :
1. The
message of the Bible is Often compressed. So, on the treatment of Levi
(Matthew) says only one verse (Matt 9.9). The frequently asked question of the
wives of the sons of Adam can be found only in the terse, not to completeness, messages of the Bible. To
solve this problem by using the following conclusions: according to Genesis 5,
Adam had sons and daughters; the early they had intermarried with each other;
in the subsequent generation marrying cousins already entered. Immediately
after the creation of the inbreeding has harmful effects.
2. Some of
the events described in parallel locations in another plan.
Example 1:
Genealogies of Jesus by Matthew 1.1-17 and Luke 3.23-38 are not two different
objectives. In the first case is the Imperial origins of Mary David ("son
of David"), and in another case, the pedigree of Joseph.
Example 2:
Different messages about the resurrection of Jesus in some little more detail
there.
3. Some
spiritual sayings provide true meaning only as a supplement. For example, the
physics of light can be described only a complementary way (Latin
complementum-addition): on the one hand it has spread in the form of waves, on
the other hand has the properties of particles (photons). Only when both, in
fact, contradictory properties combined, you can grasp the reality.
These
complementary sayings are found in the Bible. So, for the Saviour was faith
there are two seemingly contradictory, and in fact complement with each other's
statements :
a) "We
recognize that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law"
(Romans 3.23).
b) "You
see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2.24).
4. Some
difficulties arise due to the transfer. Thus, the text of Genesis 2.23 could
not be understood without a knowledge of Hebrew words "ish" (man) and
"ishah" (woman).
Matthew 5.8
in the traditional Russian translation sounds "craft worthy fruit of
repentance", while in the Greek original, it is written "therefore
the fruit worthy of repentance". Rom 10.4 actually said not "the end
of laws - Christ", and "the purpose of the law is Christ"
(Greek. "telos" - purpose).
5. In some
cases, to find out the seemingly contradictions is difficult but possible.
Examples:
the death of Judas (Matthew 27.5 - Acts 1.18); the contents of the Ark of the
Covenant (1 Kings. 8.9, Heb 9.4); the death of Saul (1 Sam 31 - 2 Sam 1). In
Matthew says that Judas hanged himself, the Court said that
"rasselos" womb. They seem to be contradictory, but fit together if
the second statement well take as strong, colorful description.
6. For a
full explanation of the Bible any subject it is necessary to take a few tech specialists
and map them. WE pull up a text out of context (chapters) and build the
teachings on it.
Aphorism:
"PEOPLE REJECT The BIBLE Because IT
CONFLICTED With Cheat ITSELF, But Because It CONTRADICTS THEM".
The Bible
is the only book you receive prophecies that were fulfilled in time.
Definition:
PROPHECY is exact predictions of definite future development of events, which
is made not by the normal means human-cognition. It is, therefore, timely
disclosure of future events, in contrast to the descriptions of history when it
comes to the subsequent description already past events. In John 13.19, Jesus
emphasizes strengthens faith the objective of prophecy: "Now I say to you,
before it came to pass, that, when it come to pass, you may believe that I am
he".
Often God
begins his revelation with only about one detail that gradually unfolds
further. The most striking example of this acceptance are the prophecies about
the coming of Jesus into this world.
A
superficial reading of the text, there is a risk of attention to detail
statements both to the small details. For common understanding, however, they
have a deeper meaning.
Example 1 : The Roman custom to interrupt the victim's
legs, hanging on the cross, was applied to the rogues, but not to Jesus (John 18.36).
Therefore, prophetic justification for this from Exodus 12.46 bone is not
broken, "It is difficult to recognize, as did the place of Easter
lamb".
Example 2 :
Under the old testament tradition, Jesus must be executed behind the wall of
Jerusalem, because the old testament's sacrificial belly-burning of the mill
(Lev 16.27, Ex 13.11-12).
Biblical
sayings have such a deep meaning, which focus on key cannot be measured (1 Cor
13.12). Georg Huntemann concluded : "What the Bible has to say to us,
beyond the research opportunities of the human mind".
The
richness of the biblical sayings surpasses any human sense. It covers a period
of time "before the Foundation of the world" (Eph 4) until God's
Eternity (Acts 17.24-25).
Bible
answers to all the questions that science cannot answer :
- What is
the essence of death, why it exists and how long it will last?
- What is a
man? Where are we from? Why we live and where we go?
- What
awaits us in eternity?
The Bible is a special
literary work.
The richness of the
Biblical language allows to carry the message of salvation in such a variety of
literary genres, which we do not find in any other book: a poem (Ps 119), a
hymn (Col 1.15-17), a song about Love (Song of songs), a scientific message in
the language of everyday Communication (Gen 1), historical Message (Ezra),
Parable (Greek. "parabole", i.e., supplied by the side) - the general
situation from everyday life in the form of the object of comparison (Matt
13.3-23), as well as a special situation as an instructive story with
allegorical meaning (Luke 18.1-8), figurative speech (John 15.1), prophetic
figurative speech (Rev 6), prophetic speech (Matt 24), Paradox (Phil 2.12-13),
sermon (Acts 17.22-31), edification (Num 3.16-17), Doxology (Eph 1.3), Blessing
(Phil 4.7), Teaching (Rom 5.12-21), Family Chronicle (1 Par 3), prayer (Ps 35),
personal testimony (1 John 1.1-2), Dream (Gen 37.6-7), Direct message of God
(Matt 3.17), the conversation about the salvation of the Soul (John 4.7-38),
the case (Acts 15.7-21), the hearing of the trial (John 18.28-38), the Wise
sayings (Prov 13.7), the Promise (Mark 16.16), the verdict (Matt 11. 21-24),
Riddle (Judg 14.12-14), Diary (Acts 16), personal correspondence (Philimon),
monologue (Job 32-37), dialogue (Job 3-31), lyrical poetry (song of songs),
biography (Nehemiah), Prologue (Luke 1.1-4), Epilogue (John 21.25), Ellipse
(Greek. Skipping, omission of the unimportant - Matt 9.9), metaphor (figurative
meaning - Obadiah 4), inscription (John 19.19), cipher (Rev 13.18). In
addition, the legislation (civil, judicial, moral, ritual), Apokaliptika
(Danial and Revelation) and the temporary concealment of the Truth (Dan 12.9).
In contrast, the Bible
lacks: Saga, legend, myth, fairy tale, fable, satire, irony, comedy, joke,
Utopia. Only stylistic methods of hyperbole (exaggeration) and irony (changes -
2 Cor 12.11) are sometimes used as clearly recognizable.
There is no such rich
palette of expressive means in any historical book of the World, and no book is
so truthful in its statements. The Bible uses the richness of expressive means
of language. Along with the most common form of direct speech, we find in the
Bible numerous specific speech forms:
1. Phenomenological
language. When the causes of a phenomenon are unclear, it is described from the
viewpoint of the Observer: Modern astronomy, like the Bible, speaks of sunrise
and sunset, although this phenomenon is not explained by the "Running of
the Sun" but by the rotation of the earth.
2. Idiomatic
Revolutions. Brief speech revolutions occur in certain situations more often
than estimating constructions (Judges 14.18 - "you yelled at my
Telice").
3. Poetic decorations.
"My left hand is under the head, and the right side Hugs Me" (Song of
songs 8.3).
4. Paintings and
descriptions of modern concepts of science and technology. Bible describes the
technical achievements that occurred during the period of its not yet existed,
and the situations to which science has given special names:
- instead of the words
"satellite", "Space Lab" and "Orbital station"
the Bible says colorfully: "But at least you were, as an eagle, rose high,
and among the stars arranged your nest, and from there I nizrinu thee, saith the
Lord" (Obad 4).
- instead of to speak the language of
gynecology about ontogenesis (embryonic development) in the uterus, the Bible
describes the development of the child in the womb: "My bones were not
concealed from thee, when I was creating in secret, in the depths of the womb"
(Ps 138.15).
5. Specific natural -
scientific formulations. An example of this is the description of the act of
Creation when, for example, the method of measuring time and the specific unit
of its measurement are described (Gen. 1.14, 19).
6. The paintings of everyday
life serve as an explanation of spiritual truths. Thus, in the parable of Matt
13.3-23 Sower is the spokesman Biblical lead, the seed - the word of God,
thorns - obstacle, and the good soil - the open heart of man.
Given the abundance of
literary genres and speech techniques, it is attentivelly to treat each
biblical text. So, expressions should be either taken verbatim, or in a
figurative, but exact sense.
a) Verbatim : In Luke
24.44, Jesus teaches this understanding of the Scriptures: "Here is what I
have been saying to you, having been with you, that it is to be fulfilled all
that is written about me in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the
Psalms." This is emphasized in other places: "Let the said of God
come to pass through the prophet who spoke" (Matt 2.15); "Now the
scripture is fulfilled, heard you" (Luke 4.21); Have you never read in
scripture?" (Matt 21.42).
b) In a figurative but
quite certain meaning: when Jesus says: "I am the vine, and you are the
branches" (John 15.5), it is not necessary to understand this verbatim,
but in a figurative sense. In most cases, the nested meaning can be easily
learned, because the colorful turnover increases the visibility and facilitates
understanding.
In this case, a
proposal containing the main idea is added :
"You can't do anything without
me."
ABOUT THE MEANING OF
THE BIBLE'S SAYINGS.
The testimony of the
Bible is the most valuable information. Well-known evangelist Wilhelm Paals
rightly emphasizes: "The Gospel is the best tidings ever reported to
people. Never before have we, the people, been preached anything like
that". Psalm 118 repeatedly glorifies the meaning of the Word of God:
"The law of Thy mouth is better than thousands of gold and silver"
(p.72). "I rejoice in thy word as having received great profit"
(p.162).
Those who disregard the
word of God will be condemned. As the hearing of the word leads to faith (Rome
10.17), and thus to salvation, so the rejection of the word.
Leads to destruction :
1 Samuel 15.23 :
"For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and he has rejected
you".
John 8.47 : "Who
is from God, he listens to the words of God; You do not listen because you are
not from God".
Acts 13.46 : "You
were the first to be sermon the word of God; But how do you reject him and make
yourself unworthy of eternal life".
The Bible consists of
the old and New Testaments.
Both parts are equally
the word of God and one cannot be used against another. The New Testament often
cites excerpts from the dilapidated. Note that this is not always done
verbatim, but God links them to new revelations.
In the New Testament
the basic prophecies of the old are fulfilled : "And all these (people of
the Old Testament), attested in faith, have not received the promised, because
that God has provided for us something better, that they should not without us
attain perfection" (Hebrews 11.39). The Lord Jesus is already present in
the Old Testament : "Explore the Scriptures, for you think through them to
have eternal life; And they testify of Me" (John 5.39).
In
the Bible :
-
History and narratives should be perceived literally
-
also literally must be perceived laws and commands
-
The prophecies sometimes use a symbolic language. Symbols of the same biblical
Prophecy explains the
Bible itself:
1. "Sea" and
"Water" means peoples (Rev 17.15).
2. "Winds"
mean Wars (Jer 51.2).
3. "Beasts"
and "horns" mean the Kingdom (Dan 8.20-21).
4. The "Day"
in prophetic calculus means the year (Ezek 4.6).
Note: It is important
to consider how much, for example, a symbolic beast has heads and horns, if
they are mentioned, but no matter that he has 4 legs, if about them doesn't say
anything.
About
ApocryphaS
Testament apocrypha,
only 11 (Greek. "Apokrifos" - hidden, secret, not-real), can not be
considered the word of God.
They are written in the
time between the old and the New Testament.
The main objections to
equating them by the meaning of the Bible are as follows :
1. They contain some
contradictory teachings, such as Forgiveness of sins through alms (Tobit 12.9),
the approval of magic (Tobit 6.9), the forgiveness of the sins of the dead by
the prayers of the Living (2 Mack 12.46).
2. They have never been
and are not part of the Tanakh (Jewish Canon), as here about the later
additions. So, the 3rd book of Ezra generally there is only in Vulgate (Latin
Bible). So apocrypha always been the subject of controversy.
At the Trients
Cathedral in 1546, the Catholic church equalized Apocrypha with the Old and New
Testaments, which should be regarded as a reaction to the Reformation.
3. They are not quoted
by any author of the New Testament, although the New Testament cites almost all
books are old, except for four small books.
4. Apocrypha themselves
that they are not unmistakable. So in the foreword of the book
Sirah says : "So,
please, read this book favorably and Carefully and have the indulgence to the
fact that in some places we may be, suspicions, working on translation".
NOT in any of the canonical books the Bible does not have such expressions.
About the same can be
said about Testament apocrypha (the Gospel of Thomas, etc.).
Should apocrypha be completely rejected? Luther gave a good wording to these scriptures: "Although these books cannot be placed on the same footing as the Holy Scriptures, it is instructive to read them". This opinion is shared by other Christian writers. If you read apocrypha, not giving them the meaning of the Bible, and treating them as historically noteworthy books (for example, books of Makkabeyes), we dissect for ourselves a considerable benefit. Especially valuable is the book of Sirah, which touches all sorts of life situations, in content and form approaching biblical books about wisdom, without claiming to be considered the word of God.
