Featured Should we read our Bible?

I completely agree. That is why I think we read the Bible and then seek help on what we have trouble with.

I have a friend who is Catholic. He says he will always be Catholic because his family is Catholic (it's a tradition). But in reading the Bible he always has to defer to what the Catholic Church tells him a passage really means.

Don't get me wrong, there are difficult things in Scripture. But the whole of Scripture is not difficult to grasp. Men make it hard because it is to them foolish (not quite up to par with their theology).


Philip encountered an Ethiopian. The man asked how could he understand the passage he was reading unless somebody guide him. Philip explained the passage.

Today that would be done by expanding on the verse, examining the words Isaiah used, unveiling theories of Atonement, and exploring the extent of Christ's death

But that is not what happened. The Ethiopian did not struggle with understanding what Isaiah was saying. Instead he could not understand if Whom the passage spoke. And Philip showed him it was about Jesus.

 

I do enjoy reading (and actually agree with) the writings passed down from the Early Church.

That said, I do not believe in apostolic succession. That is, I do not believe that we should look to a group of people (for you it would be men who lived in the 16th Century...for me it would be the Early Church) to hand down doctrine.

Instead I believe that we are to test doctrine against Scripture rather than trusting in men who "tickle our ears" (who wrote things we agree with).

The criteria cannot be whatever doctrine or tradition that was handed to us. It HAS to be Scripture. This is, IMHO, ultimately the doctrine to which Paul was referring.

We have the "doctrine handed down" in the Bible, not in Presbyterian Theology, or Catholic Theology, or even Baptist Theology. It is in Scripture, not tradition.

 

I think that is the danger of relying on people in ones own tradition to teach what the Bible "really means".

I doubt a person who just picked up a Bible and read it would conclude (based on that reading) that the Jehovah Witnesses are correct. But a person indoctrinated in Jehovah Witness doctrine may read the Bible and see support for that doctrine.

 

I agree. I had CoC friends who always said they didn't believe in theology .

The issue is the order of things.

If I am trying to find out the best solar panels for my home I need to do legitimate research...not listen to the salesman I like best.

With Scripture far too many people start with commentaries. They just buy whatever is being sold to them and interpret God's Word along the same lines.

We need to rely on God, read His Word, and then look for help when needed (or if we come up with a brand new theology).

 

Good point. I think we need to consider what these teachers God gives are given to teach (is it applying God's Word, is it spiritual growth, or is it theologies?).

I have seen Christians point to John Gill and say "God given teacher!". I've seen the same with John Wesley and Tozier.

And they are right.

 

Back in the 70's seminaries inherited a bad reputation (in the SBC). A young man would go to seminary with a zeal for God but come out philosophy driven. My mom had that concern when I went to seminary (in a way, she was justified as I came out a Calvinist....but I repented ).

Seminaries can be problematic.

For one, ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ was never intended to be a profession but instead a life. Paul spoke of evangelists being "paid" in the form of churches caring for their needs. But today we take that to mean churches should be staffed by "professionals".

Another issue is indoctrination. Some seminaries indoctrinate into one specific philosophy. Others don't, but students studying different Christian theologies normally settle on one "camp" (self-indoctrination).

There are good things as well. I went to a seminary that didn't indoctrinate into a specific theology (we did have to be Baptist with recommendations, and hold at least some common views, before we were admitted).

It was a time to study and understand what other Christians believed. It was a time devoted to work on ones own beliefs. It was a time to study Hebrew and Greek (and German). And, most of all, it was a time focused to studying Scripture and discussing Christ among ourselves.