Opus 2026-254: Inspired Confusion

I don’t think we truly understand the difference between inspired and inspiring . It may be just because we don’t stop to think about it.  It may be because we don’t want to know the difference.

The Bible is inspired.  We have a firm statement of that.

(2Ti 3:16 KJV)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That is a statement of faith.  It is a required belief if you are going to be a Christian.  Once you get beyond that statement, you get into variations.

For instance, you get into the issue of the transmitting of the actual written word of God.  In the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, we have variations.  We have the issue of translation.  It is almost impossible to get 100% accuracy when translating from another language.  There are always nuances and assumptions that we may not be privy to.  Add to that the fact that the language we speak is changing, even as we speak it.  Grammar rules change.  Definitions of vocabulary changes.  All kinds of things are going on.  None of those effect the statement that scripture is inspired.

Scripture is not always inspiring.  Compare the 23rd Psalm with the recitation in the book of Numbers of how many warriors each tribe had at that moment.  If you find them equally inspiring, my hat is off to you.  You are incredibly insightful in your understanding of what God is saying.  Most of us would find the 23rd Psalm deeply stirring.  It speaks to our soul.  It reassures our mind.  How many warriors Zebulon had doesn’t do anything for me.  Of course that’s my personal observation.

So scripture can be inspired without being inspiring.  When you add the fact that the Holy Spirit speaks to us as we read the Scripture and speaks to us through the scripture, then that adds another dimension to how what is inspired can become inspiring.

In the same way, but from the opposite point of view, there is literature which we can say is inspiring, but it’s not inspired.  I think of something many people have read is the writings of CS Lewis.  I think of the book Mere Christianity.  Many people around the world would attest to the inspirational quality of his writings.  Others might bring up CK Chesterton.  I think of some of the medieval writings that I find very inspirational.  Having recognized that they are able to stir my intellect in my emotions, they are not inspired.  They are not on the level with scripture.

The difference is real. The difference is significant. Make a note of it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-105: Uncharted Revelation

I started off my day by plugging in my MP3 player to listen to some Christian music as I drove.  The first song up was called the Revelation song.  The title didn’t ring any bells but once it started, I knew what it was.  It’s closer to contemporary than traditional, but I really enjoy it.  It goes through a lot of heavy doctrine as the girl sings.  Wonderful song.

That got me off, thinking about Uncharted Revelation.  And that made me think about what would I do if I were preaching a sermon, entitled, Uncharted Revelation?  It would be an introductory sermon so it would have to be general and scope.

I would have to start with some disclaimers.  My mind went down the path of pointing out that Revelation is a part of scripture.  That was important to say because I’m not sure I would be praising the book as I went on and people might get the wrong idea.  Wrong ideas are easy to get when you’re talking about Revelation.

From there, I went to II Timothy 3:16 where it talks about all scripture being inspired,

(2Ti 3:16 KJV)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Revelation is clearly a part of the Bible, which makes it scripture, so this declaration by Paul applies to the book written by John.  Well, no matter how much of my speculations may be harebrained and off the cuff that is a statement of truth.

From there my mind kept traveling down past what for other people might be bizarre.  I recognized that there was no mention of eschatology or end times in that verse.  I don’t know if that is significant.  It wouldn’t be important if we were talking about the creation story in Genesis or possibly even the love chapter in Corinthians, but for Revelation that might be important.

I also noticed that it doesn’t mention anything about salvation.  Curious.  I guess both of those topics could be considered doctrine or as modern translations say, teaching.

So keep in mind that no matter how unusual my comments might be, I still think this is scripture.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-034: Starting Blocks

Where do we start?

I’m reading a book that is so full of things I disagree with that I wonder why I keep reading.  Possibly because it’s been given to me by a friend who endorses the ideas.  That troubles me.

As I read, I noticed that everything in the book goes back to a twisted interpretation of one verse.

(2Ti 2:15 KJV)  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

For over nineteen hundred years Christianity as a whole has interpreted this verse to mean that we carefully interpret what the scripture says; that we handle the scripture as it was meant to be handled.  Then somewhere around 1830 a man named Darby came out with his idea of dispensationalism.  One of his key scriptures was this.  I haven’t read Darby or followed a lot of standard dispensationalism, but I assume that they would interpret this verse to mean that you take a pair of scissors and cut the history in the Bible into segments and that there are different rules for each segment.

Most of us can see some of the logic in this.  One of the common quotes of Christians is, “We’re not under law; we’re under grace.”  That in a sense is a basic form of dispensationalism.  But this book takes it to rabid extremes.  Where they have taken this is to the point where anything not written by the apostle Paul himself is subject to suspicion and rejection.  Of course, this only applies to the verses they don’t like.

So what is my starting point?  What verses do I always come back to?  My first point of foundation would be a scripture, also from II Timothy,

(2Ti 3:16 KJV)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The second point is a little more widely spread out and it is the existence of Yahweh.  It is a belief that there is a God and that He is a personal God who created and is involved.  Everything I believe has to be founded on those two truths.

From there I might go to John 3:16.  There might be other basic scriptures that I would start branching out on, but ultimately it comes back to the two things that I cannot prove, but I have to accept totally on faith:  The Bible is the word of God and God exist as described in that Bible.  I can’t think of any rational way to explain and prove those two things.  Many people come up with all kinds of clever schemes, and I salute them, but I can’t put much confidence in their proofs.

If you looked at the Catholic Church, I think their core scripture would be where Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on this rock.  If you looked at Calvin, they would probably take the verse that says we’re saved by grace and some verses about foreknowledge and predestination.  Pentecostals would tend to go with verses about the gifts of the Spirit.

I think it’s a good question.  Where do you start?

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-479: Gods Mailing Address

I was reading my daily dose of Psalms in chapter 134.  It was only a couple of verses long and I was a bit miffed at the brevity.  Then I took a look at that last verse,

Psalm 134:3 (KJV) The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

And I got to wondering about Zion.  It’s a common word in the Old Testament.  I haven’t checked to see how often it shows up in the new, but it is assumed that it refers to Jerusalem, possibly the temple, and I would say specifically it refers to the mercy seat above the tabernacle.  That seems to be the place where God has announced His presence will be focused on the Earth.

Does that mean that God is confined to one room on one hill in one city?  Preposterous.  This is the God who created the universe with a word.  Somehow I think we forget what a miracle it is that He is willing to touchdown briefly in a location for our benefit.

I have a friend who gets all upset when we spiritualize the Old Testament.  He wants everything to be totally literal.  For him this simply means that one spot and only relates to the Jews.  Excuse me, I tend to believe that the entire Bible is there to instruct us,

(2Ti 3:16 KJV)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

So I’m going to take this and make Zion a figure of speech or an allegory for us today.  This is a reminder that God is going to bless us from His current mailing address.  I don’t know if you have been checking your political mailers lately, but I’ve gotten one from my state assembly woman and one from our state senator.  Each of them give me multiple ways to get in contact with them.  They give me an address in their capital office and one in their local office.  They include phone numbers.  I think the idea is that I can contact them at either one.

That’s the way it is with God.  Back in the day Zion may have been one spot.  Today Zion can be called upon from anywhere.  In fact, when we think about the fact that we have received the Holy Spirit and have been offered the filling of the Holy Spirit, I would suggest that perhaps Zion is as close as your heart.  Isn’t that great?  It doesn’t even require a postage stamp.  I was commenting recently to someone how it used to be.  You could worry about somebody taking your phone and making long-distance calls because the bill would be very high.  Remember when long-distance calls were very expensive?  On your new phone you can pretty much call anywhere and there’s no extra charge.

Welcome to the world of the New Testament.  And unlike our state senator, when I call Zion, I don’t get put on hold, I don’t get voicemail, I don’t get a secretary.  I get the party to whom I am addressing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-105: Basic Beliefs II: The Foundation, part 1 of 4

Where do you start when you talk about what Christians believe?  I suggest that a good place to start is where we get all of the ideas we believe in, the Bible.  

Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God, the written word, not the Word of John 1:1.   

(Joh 1:1 KJV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That is a theological statement about Jesus.  I will get to that eventually but for starters we need to look at the basic reference work itself.  The Bible is like no other book in the world.  It is like no other book in the Christians library.  It is the place where everything must start.  It is not enough to say that it contains the word.  We believe that it is the word.  Many books are inspiring but the Bible is inspired.  The key word is used one place in the Bible.

(2Ti 3:16 KJV)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The Greek phrase is a bit deeper than the English word “inspired”.  It is a compound Greek word which literally means “God breathed.”  Anything less is just human.  It is an important distinction.

To be continued...

homo unius libri