In the words of Huck Finn (mostly), "You can't learn a [dispy] to argue, so I quit."
Something about this statement caused me to want to make a reply,
so I decided to make this my final one in this thread:
For the record,
I've never had any use whatsoever for Dispensationalism, nor have I had any use for Covenantal Theology, for the most part...
Though I do see pieces of both in God's word ( moreso with Covenant Theology );
So my comments are those of someone who has never studied anything but the Bible and probably never will.
Truthfully,
I do not agree with frameworks ( like those mentioned above ) that are used for "biblical interpretation" (whatever those are and that is, I reject all of it without reservation), and firmly hold that the Bible needs
believing by those who claim to be His...
and it most definitely does not warrant constant and varying "interpretations" that oppose one another.
I also have no use for "hermeneutics", which I see as tools devised by men in an effort to try and understand what only His children have the capability of both believing and understanding ( provided they desire and study it as they should ( 1 Peter 2:2, 2 Timothy 2:15 ), which they will ) for themselves, and I reject any and all secular and extra-biblical methods that could be utilized to help them in any way, shape or form.
In other words,
I see absolutely no value in Bible colleges, creeds, confessions ( as anything other than expressions of what people see in the Scriptures ), and "seminaries"....
I see no lasting value in "commentaries", and definitely no point in even getting near a system of learning that exacts payment from a Christian's brothers and sisters for teaching one's own private understanding of the Bible to them.
God's people have
everything that they need in order to understand His words ( 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, 2 Peter 1:3, 1 John 2:20-27 ) and they always have.
That said...
God's teachers teach His children the Scriptures, and they do it for free.
God's pastors do not watch over them for a paycheck, but because they love the Lord and want to serve Him by edifying ( building up ) their brothers and sisters in the faith and counsel them in many ways.
They all then come into the unity of the faith over time, as consistent study of His word sharpens them and they grow to know all that the Lord has done for them and what He is going to do in the future.
@Aaron :
May He bless you richly, sir, with a good evening, a peaceful weekend,
and with many good and perfect gifts in the days to come.