FireGarden
Philosopher
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2002
- Messages
- 5,047
Someone tell Bill that all those Christians who do interpret the Bible literally were pretty upset with the Pope for saying that, noting "It’s a direct attack on all who believe the inerrancy of the literal Scriptures as inspired by God!" (Italics for emphasis in the original!)
(Bonus: that article also states that there is no such thing as "interpretation" of the Bible by believers, that "the Bible interprets itself", and that the Bible itself speaks against any "symbolic and spiritual interpretation" of it.
You know, the thing he claims that Muslims believe about the Qur'an, but that Christians don't believe about the Bible.
http://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=7640.6221.0.0
“no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20).
It further declares that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). There’s no instruction here to resort first to any “symbolic and spiritual interpretation techniques used by the ancient fathers of the church”!
[...] The reality is that Jesus Christ, the very Author of the Word of God, gave us the proper method for understanding the Bible.
[...] Too often men have applied some different meaning to the scriptures that reproved them. They have passed right over some scriptures that corrected and rebuked them. Instead they studied diligently to find some other scripture into which they could read a meaning that would justify their course of action.
That is how men began, centuries ago, to interpret the Bible. And so God’s Word has become perverted, twisted, wrested, distorted. And almost every false and counterfeit meaning imaginable is read into it instead of seeing the natural meaning—the plain, simple meaning God intended.