Originally posted by DocCas:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Pastor Bob 63:
Doc,
I have read your post and I respect your views. I just can't seem to believe why God would give us something that would necessitate digging into the gender and tense and other gramatical areas to find the meaning.
Why did not God just say what He meant if He did not mean what He said?
God said exactly what He meant! The problem is that translating from one language to another is never an exact word for word endevour, especially when the rules of grammar and syntax for the two languages are different. Hebrew (and Greek) relies on different genders of pronouns to allow the reader to know the antecedent of the pronoun. English does not. So, when we are in doubt, we refer to the Hebrew to give us a better understanding of the English. That does not "correct" the English, it just helps us to understand the English better, and to understand the intent of the passage in question. That is one reason I believe every Pastor, if at all possible, should be seminary trained. All too often Baptists have looked down their noses at men who were seminary trained as if they had departed from the faith. That is the error of anti-intellectualism. God wants us to be the very best pastors and teachers we can possibly be. Spending a few years in solid preparation for our monumental task it not, in my opinion, too much to ask of us.
</font>[/QUOTE]DocCas,
This is an excellent reply! AMEN! Ignorance is not bliss, nor should we be 'stupid Christians'. The Bereans searched out the Scriptures to see that the things Paul preached were 'right'. God gave us His Word, but they were written in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages, *not* English, and especially He did not give it to us in the KJV (providentially, miraculously, or otherwise inspired).
Perhaps Pastor Bob should read the books written by James White and D.A. Carson regarding the KJV issue. I have read all of the [stuff] written by Ruckman, Waite, William Grady, Riplinger, and the like, so I *know* what I am talking about! KJV-onlyists don't read what the opposing view says, and so they are 'stunted' in their understanding of the issue. The kind of people I have written of above are nothing but [name-calling deleted]. It is disturbing to me that even those who are moderately KJV-only, and don't subscribe to their false views, nevertheless accept some premises of the charlatains. They make others two-fold the children of hell themselves, all in the name of 'defending' the Bible from liberals. I am certainly no liberal, but rather an Independent, Fundamental, Sovereign Grace Baptist! The KJV is a great translation, but not the best one that is available today--- and that's only my *opinion*! I am not shoving my beliefs upon anyone about that, nor am I "NASB-only" (my favorite English translation).
Please, Pastor Bob, don't bury your head and think that all of this is 'too hard to understand'. Baloney! Your congregation is better than that!
[ September 11, 2002, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: DocCas ]