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Alex here, I'm back. I'll make a SAFemail ASAP for those who'd like to contact me. 1-8-16

File: 1458018475398.png (3.07 MB, 1212x1497, 404:499, 63692541.png)

d36a30 No.260734

How can I read the bible? I always try but I cannot take anything from it and I always lose interest. How can I make it more interesting?

73cd0a No.260735

YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.

Find some good commentaries for whatever book you're reading. There's a lot of complexity, allegory, symbolism, and beauty in the work itself.

Obviously you shouldn't read it from front to back, I'd recommend starting with John and reading the rest of the NT from there before you go back to the OT, using commentaries and guides to help you along the way, especially for Romans and Revelation.

Watching some videos on theology, Christian philosophy, etc. Can give you a better overview of the work.


a1c313 No.260736

>>260735

> that video

It's expected that Romanists would compromise on scripture since you guys have a plethora of pagan and unbiblical beliefs. Ie. purgatory, Papacy, Mary's coredemptrix, what not.

http://creation.com/william-lane-craig-vs-creation

Grab a MacArthur study Bible or an ESV Study Bible and start with St. John's gospel. Move to Acts, Romans, Ephesians, 1 Corinthians, Hebrews and 1-3 John.

My favourite synoptic gospel is St. Lukes


73cd0a No.260738

>>260736

I'm not even a Roman Catholic, I just think the video gives some insight into different interpretations of scripture. Insisting its all meant to be taken literally is ludicrous.

"22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar." Galatians 4:22-24


a1c313 No.260746

>>260738

Yes there is obviously parts that indicate allegory or metaphor. But they can be discerned by being compared against other Hebrew or Greek texts. The context and if it a comparison.

Also not Roman Catholic, probably Eastern Orthodox. Same kind of heretic.

Read the link. It literally answers why you can't have a Darwinian creation.

EO are heretics that affirm semi-pelagianism so they can co-exist with the Darwinian but the Bible teaches Adam imputed his sin onto all of us.

Below is cited from; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegorical_interpretations_of_Genesis

In The City of God, Augustine also defended the idea of a young Earth. Augustine rejected both the immortality of the human race proposed by pagans, and contemporary ideas of ages (such as those of certain Greeks and Egyptians) that differed from the Church's sacred writings:

Let us, then, omit the conjectures of men who know not what they say, when they speak of the nature and origin of the human race. For some hold the same opinion regarding men that they hold regarding the world itself, that they have always been… They are deceived, too, by those highly mendacious documents which profess to give the history of many thousand years, though, reckoning by the sacred writings, we find that not 6000 years have yet passed.[20]

St. Augustine also comments on the word "day" in the creation week, admitting the interpretation is difficult:

But simultaneously with time the world was made, if in the world's creation change and motion were created, as seems evident from the order of the first six or seven days. For in these days the morning and evening are counted, until, on the sixth day, all things which God then made were finished, and on the seventh the rest of God was mysteriously and sublimely signalized. What kind of days these were it is extremely difficult, or perhaps impossible for us to conceive, and how much more to say![21]


7c2136 No.260757

https://www.youtube.com/user/jointhebibleproject

good start. for me I found this a good order

>4 Gospel books

>Acts

>Pentateuch and Joshua

>Psalms/Proverbs

>All the Epistles (you can try small, short ones to get the idea of how they're written first, order isnt important)

>Rest of the OT


d36a30 No.260857

Thank you all, I'll check some of these out. I'm still not decided on which denomination to go for yet either.


f92a9e No.260865

>>260734

I hope for you that you understand what is wrong with your situation when you cannot read a book thatcontains information that might lead to yoursalvation and serving God better. If you cannot muster the will to read a book that does not entertain you, how will you resist temptation?

can the Protestants with trip codes stop misleading people and inform themselves? You guys are really being autistic.


6e5e49 No.260966

>>260734

You do not have to pick a denomination to read the Bible for all it's worth. But I would suppose if you're going to attend a church group, you may have to.

Read it for all it's worth, that is exegesis rather than eisegesis. Do not look at the text with presupposition, but rather let the text guide you in what the context is.

books: A Popular Survey of the Old Testament by Norman L. Geisler

Revelation, Four Views, A parallel commentary by Steve Gregg

A lexicon or Concordance

Also many of those sources are available free on www.biblehub.com

Rules like always read scripture in the light of scripture (ie. ' comes(coming) on clouds'– find other instances of word for word or close to it in other scripture.

Look up how to do inductive reasoning study of scripture. Hermeneutics — some audio videos on youtube of Walter Martin explaining and giving some examples of hermeneutics.


6e5e49 No.260967

Also, figuring out the writer's intent is helpful.

You may see a historical account wrought full of metaphor or allegory or even poetry. Understand when something is hyperbolic language or figurative or symbolic. Those things will help. Good luck and Grace to you and peace from Him, who is who was and who is to come….


7da884 No.261052

Start one story at a time. A gospel is always good. Reading in order is hard, Try reading looking for things in a certain POV. Look for patterns and meanings.

Mark for instance was used among the Ebionites who had no virgin birth and believed Jesus was a sinless man who became possessed by God and became the vessel of Christ. The lack of an ending may be because they cut it off before sending out copies. The ending we have was added from Tertulian's harmony gospel of the the other three. Also this is the first one written, you see Jesus prophecy the temple being destroyed more than 30 years prior to it happening.

Matthew was written to Messianic Jews and Samaritans in Syria. It goes out of it's way to show Jesus as the completion of the law of Moses. Great reading for someone well verses in Judaism.

Luke/Acts was written by the companion of Paul to a Roman official. You will see it portrays Christians as ideal citizens. Also it was popular among the Marcionite cult who believed Jesus faked his humanity and was a God who surpassed God the father. Although his version was heavily edited cutting out ALL praise of the OT God and of it's scripture.

John was the last one written. He points out stories the others forgot. By the time he wrote it the temple was already destroyed and he had just expelled all Docetists (Gnostics) You will see he makes an extra hard point to show Jesus had a physical body that ate and bled. To drive home the fact he as an eyewitness knew Jesus had a body. This was likely written AFTER Revelation as the Greek is much better, (he was out of prison by this point so probably had a good scribe) and the prediction of the temple being destroyed is mentioned as fulfilled, meanwhile Revelation doesn't even mention this as it was likely not yet destroyed.


6e5e49 No.261053

>>261052

How do you come to the conclusion that the temple had already been destroyed at the time of the writing of the Gospel of John ?


7da884 No.261056

>>261053

Mainly because most scholars place it near the end of John's life about AD 85. Several years after the temple is destroyed.

http://www.theopedia.com/gospel-of-john

It is mainly conjecture, but everything makes sense. Faulting the Jews, which in Revelation he did not. Jews kicked out all Christians after they failed to fight in AD 68. Could be retaliation. In Chapter 20 he talks third person about his own death, that verse could be added by his successor before mailing it out. Complaining of Gnostic Doctrines which were not prevalent until the following century (They did exist since 35 BC, but they were not trying to get in on Christianity until much later)

Earliest guesses say AD 50, but most scholars go even as late as 90. Iranaeus claims he wrote it while staying in Ephesus which is where he died.

I really can't prove anything.


7da884 No.261057

>>261056

Also John chapter 2 he mentions the temple being destroyed, but specified that by rebuilding it he was referring to his body as the rebuilt temple.

Could go either way, but might be John was pointing that out so people don't claim Jesus is a liar because Herod's temple was not rebuilt.


6e5e49 No.261059

>>261056

Ok, thanks, I understand the timing of the writing as thought of by biblical scholars varies from 85-95 A.D. And as you mentioned as early as 50 A.D.

I think it is incredible that the most apocalyptic event in Jewish history would have no mention in either the Gospel of John or Revelation. The demolition of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple at the hands of Titus were of great significance.

And as far as John chap 2 and Jesus saying destroy this temple and i will raise it up in 3 days – well, John here gives the explanation and the reason – observe John 2:19-22 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.


6e5e49 No.261146

>>261057

Mathew mentions specifically that " the Temple " would be destroyed, that Jesus Himself claimed it to come( as judgement). Then they asked " When ?' these signs of judgement would come.–

1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” – Mathew 24


97c76f No.261155

>>261052

There is no reason to believe that the same man wrote both John and Revelation. The Greek of Revelation is so whacked and profoundly different that it can't just be chocked up to his having a good scribe, or learning a little more.


97c76f No.261156

>>260746

Augustine did think that a young Earth was plausible, but encourages Christians not to get in debates over creationism in his essay On the Interpretation of Genesis.


7da884 No.261183

>>261146

Didn't Jesus in Mark chapter 13 both predict the Temple AND Jerusalem would be destroyed?

In 68 AD the Romans did destroy 75% of the city as well as the temple and kicked out the Jews. I'm gonna call that prophecy right on the money.

Keep in mind this book was already codified long before that war even started.


bb89bc No.261185

>>260734

Don't read it from cover to cover. Start with the Gospel of Luke and move on to Acts. From there read Genesis and Exodus. You can read Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers if you like, but it's not super necessary for the non-scholar since they mostly consist of laws that we're no longer bound by. I would just skip over those for now and read them later once a deeper understanding of God is developed. After Exodus, read the historical books in order: That's Joshua, Judges, Ruth, both Samuels, both Kings and both Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and both Maccabees :^). From there you can read the prophetic books - everything in the OT not already mentioned except for Psalms and Proverbs - in whatever order you like. Now read the Gospel again, this time all four of them: go Mark, Matthew, Luke, John. Feel free to read Acts again too if you want. Now read the epistles and finish off with Revelation. Psalms and Proverbs should be read from a little bit every day while doing this. If you feel you still don't get it, read the Gospel again; the whole point of the Bible's existence is to tell the story written in the Gospel.


6e5e49 No.261187

>>261155

The language of Revelation is Apocalyptic and as such should be understood as Apocalyptic language. Much of it has direct allusions to O.T. apocalyptic language, and near east ancient hyperbolic language as well. So a good rule or measurement here, is to read the Revelation in light of O.T. prophets such as Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel, Hosea, etc.. The Mount Olivet discourse you find in Math 24 for one reference is full of hybperbolic and judgement language such as ' coming on clouds'. Every time on of the O.T. prophets used this type of language it was meant to tell of a coming judgement by God.

In this same discourse you find Jesus saying specifically to his followers that the Temple would be destroyed…so that when it happened they believed. Just as He'd said. And when He said it, they understood it as judgement language, thus prompting their questions of when, and/ or what signs will be so that they knew when the judgement was manifesting.


6e5e49 No.261188




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