THE WORD OF GOD – THE HOLY BIBLE

Having recently had a lengthy discussion with a Roman Catholic, I was quite
surprised to see how much she discards a large part of the Bible as pure fantasy.
Genesis, according to her is just a story given for the primitive mind that she believes
did not understand science and therefore would not be able to understand evolution;
the Darwinian process of human’s evolving to what we are today. She fails to
understand that God created humanity, ‘in His likeness’. Genesis 1:26. Is God’s
likeness that of a primitive species of microbe, which grew in a swamp and eventually
transformed into a fish, a lizard and then larger creatures and eventually to humans?
That is what evolutionists believe. If the book of Genesis is fantasy, then why did
God include creation in the 4th Commandment?

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy. Six days you shall labour
and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
your God: in it you shall not do any work, you nor your son, nor your
daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor
the stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the se and all that is in them, and rested on the
seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it
holy. Genesis 20:9-11.

The Ten Commandments were not written by Moses, they were written by the finger
of God. Exodus 32:16. The written tablets confirmed Genesis 2:2-3. When Moses
came down from the mountain and found the people committing sinful acts he was
angry. He threw the tablets containing the Ten Commandments on the ground,
breaking them to pieces. Exodus 32:19. God then had to write the Ten
Commandments again on a tablet of stone for the people. Deuteronomy 5:22. Were
the Commandments only for the Israelite’s or for all people of God? The very fact
they were written upon stone shows their permanence. The Commandments are
also a transcript of the character of God.

Adam and Eve

If Adam and Eve were not created by God’s hand, then the Patriarch’s, Prophets and
Apostles have perpetuated a fable throughout the Bible and all the references to
Adam in scripture should be removed. These are:

Deuteronomy 32:8; Joshua 3:16, 19:33; 1 Chronicles 1:1; Job 31:33;

Ezekiel 3:9; Luke 3:38; Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 15:45; 1
Timothy 2:13 & 14;Jude 1:14

Difficult Passages of Scripture

There are many things in the Bible, which are hard to understand but with an
enquiring mind and the Holy Spirit, many of these difficult passages have, over time
been interpreted and brought to our understanding. Through each century, God has
revealed His mysteries to chosen individuals or groups. What is logical to the mind
of God may be illogical to the human mind. Can we ever fathom the mind of the God
who created us? No, but He does give us the necessary information to know Him and
that is why He gave us the Bible which testifies about Jesus. It was collaboration
between humanity and God. From creation until now He has revealed himself to us
and those with whom He spoke directly were instructed to write it down for future
generations. Then Jesus came to fulfil the law and show us God in human form.

Why do we read the Bible?

We read the Bible to get to know the God who loves us and to learn from the stories
and experiences of others. By reading we also discover the truth about God, Jesus
and our heavenly home.

The Bible is not just an instruction manual, it contains many kinds of literature,
including: Poetry, narratives and romantic prose. Where passages of instruction
exist, these may contain figurative or symbolic language, therefore we have to
compare scripture with scripture and look at the context and setting of the passage
we are trying to understand. At first glance we may not understand a passage
because it may have to be read symbolically rather than take it literally. It is only
through diligent Bible study and prayer that we can receive the answers to our
questions. It also contains many ethical and moral issues relevant to the author’s
day, much of which is still relevant today but there are some issues the writer put
down on paper that he was not aware of how relevant it would become in our day.

There are many questions for example, how do we view the pages of history about
our origins; what about prophecy that has been fulfilled and still has to be fulfilled;
what relevance is there to my life and how I should live it. We can read of God's many
promises that are still relevant for us to give us hope, peace and confidence. When
reading the instructions in the Bible for our lives, it is not always black and white;
there are many grey areas.

For Example, Jesus said:

"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to
be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off
and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than
for your whole body to go into hell" (Matthew 5:29, 30).

That clearly is an instruction, but we have to ask ourselves, "Did Jesus mean it to be
taken literally?" No of course not. Temptation comes when we look upon
something that we would like to have. We see through our eyes. Were the disciples
immune to the same temptations as us. If so, there are no records of any one of them
putting their eyes out! Origen, one of the early church fathers, who lived around 186
A.D, did take this passage literally, but instead of his eyes, he emasculated himself.
Do we really believe that it's God's will that His followers maim themselves in pursuit
of righteousness? Or was Jesus speaking in a "hyperbole," which is a figure of speech
in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, for example: ‘I could sleep for a
year’, or ‘this book weighs a ton’. Some people today—both Christians and non-
Christians—place faith and reason in opposition to one another. This should never
be done. We should never have blind faith that defies reason. Isaiah 1:18 declares,
“Come now, and let us reason together,' says the Lord." Unless we reason as we
read, we will fail to understand what we're reading. We need to engage the Word
with our intellect and God will give the understanding.

Passage Context

We must consider the context in which a particular verse or passage occurs. Context
is so important that we cannot even pronounce certain words with certainty unless
we know the context.

Logic

We have to ask ourselves, what is the point of the passage? By asking this question
can save us from a lot of misunderstandings. When Joshua asked for the sun to stand
still (Joshua 10:12, 13), he simply wanted more so he could pursue his enemies. He
did not ask for, nor did God give him, an explanation of celestial mechanics. For us to
draw conclusions about the movements of the sun and our earth based on that text
would be a misuse.

How do we reconcile the "turn the other cheek", which Jesus told us to do, with the
Old Testament "an eye for an eye." To understand what He meant by "turning the
other cheek" requires that we know how it compares with the other items on the list:
giving your coat as well as your cloak and going the extra mile. When studied in the
correct logical context these passages have no contradiction.

Cultural and historical context

In fact, if we study the cultural and historical context of "turn the other cheek," we
discover that all three behaviours were considered insults that the occupying Roman
soldiers perpetrated against the Jews.

Balancing evidence

Some critics of the Bible love to point out what they see as "contradictions." For
example, although Jesus clearly said, "Do not resist an evil person," several Roman
centurions appear in the New Testament, and not once did Jesus or any of the
disciples tell them to change their employment. The Roman army was brutal, yet
Paul declared they were God’s servants in restraining and punishing evil (Romans
13:1-4).

It appears that Jesus did not intend for His followers to ignore rapacious and lethal
force; rather, He meant that we should not retaliate against insults or attempt to get
even. Protecting ourselves and other innocent people from injury and death is not at
issue. Indulging our lust to make others hurt as much as we do or to salvage injured
pride is.

Perspective

Clearly, God wants us to use our reason in understanding His Word. But we can
reason ourselves into mistakes. So, as a safeguard, we should always pray for
the Holy Spirit to guide our reason as we study, to help us see God's perspective. We
should read large passages and broad themes as well as the small details. This will
give us a broader textual perspective. It's also wise to share our interpretations with
others in order to get their point of view. Not everything that makes sense to me
makes sense to others. And Peter reminds us:

"no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation" (2

Peter 1:20).

None of us has a monopoly on reason. We also know that there is safety in seeking
counsel from more than one person (Proverbs 11:14). Before we do something like
picking up a poisonous snake to validate our faith or injuring ourselves physically, we
should consider whether others find our reasoning compelling.

It will also help our understanding if we can look at some difficult passages or words
in Greek or Hebrew, as some do not always translate exactly as the translators of the
Bible into English wanted them to. For example: the Hebrew word ‘ruach’
translated in some passages as ‘spirit’, actually means ‘breath’.

Should we question God or not?

God gave his character and His image to His human creation. He also gave us
freedom to question Him and to learn from Him. He is not unapproachable and we
do not have to go through other humans to ask Him questions. (That does not mean
we cannot ask other learned Christian’s their views on difficult passages of
Scripture – or search the many writings of others who have researched topics we
are trying to make sense of).

God wants us to question Him that is why we have the Bible. He wants us to ‘reason’
with Him. He loves our discussions and our grappling’s to understand Him and the
more we dig into His Word, the more we learn. If we do not search for an answer to
our questions and just accept the word of others, then we will only see God through
their eyes. Ministers, Pastors, Priests may be ordained by churches, but they do not
have the monopoly of understanding about God. We can see this in the many
Christian denominations we have today – all with some different understanding of
God’s Word.

If we therefore discard large sections of the Bible to suit our own church doctrine or
understanding, then we throw the baby out with the bath water.

Learning about God through the Bible, which is His divine Word is an exciting
journey of discovery, which will bring us great rewards of understanding. We must
remember that Christianity is not a static religion; it is like a winding, flowing river
that leads to eternity. We can either row the boat and enjoy the journey or tie
ourselves to the bank and stay with cherished beliefs that have never been proven by
the Word. Each one of us has the choice to get close up and personal to our heavenly
Father. He is waiting for you to call on Him and you can be one hundred percent
sure, He will answer your searching questions. Ralph Jackson 2019