| “Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” Raymond Chandler 1945 Should the man of faith choose Bible Study or Theology? |
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THE
LIFE OF A BIBLE BELIEVER
Biblical examples: David,
Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah.
David.
If you’ve read the Psalms you know David, after he came to power, was very
lonely. He was unpopular with his fellow Christians because of his zeal for the
cause of Christ and his commanding knowledge of the word of God. Absalom’s
successful political campaign against David won the hearts and support of the
majority of God’s people (2 Sa 15:2-6); David knew the majority of
people supported Absalom (2 Sa 15:12,13); all the elders of Israel
decided David, must die (2 Sa 17:1,2,4); a vast Christian army was
formed from all cities in Israel, from the city of Dan in the north to
Beersheba in the south, to overthrow and kill King David (2 Sa 17:11).
Elijah
felt persecuted and alone, and his life was in danger (1 Kin 19:14).
Isaiah
depended on God to give him the strength to stand up to the persecutions of
theologians who rejected the word of God (Isa
50:4-9).
Jeremiah.
Because theologians rejected the literal word of God delivered by Jeremiah,
they locked him in stocks so he could be publicly reviled. In despair, Jeremy
cried to the Lord that He’d deceived him by not letting him know preaching
God’s word would subject him to so much persecution that he’d actually consider
quitting his preaching. Jeremy had no true friends, so he referred to them as
“familiars” who wanted to prevail over him. He cursed the day he was born into
such misery, and asked God to let him see God’s vengeance on his persecuters.
But Jeremy found he simply couldn’t stop preaching the word of God (Jer 1:7,8,17-19; 15:15-17; 20:1-18).
THE
TOOLS OF A BIBLE BELIEVER
1. The Holy Spirit: The Bible says God
will help us with His word. And He does. It’s a shame that so few Christians
trust Him to do so.
2. The King James Bible: This is really all
a Bible believer needs. It is the only Bible manuscript and Bible version in
existence that has no errors or contradictions of any kind. It’s inerrancy is
important because it makes the KJV the only book on earth that meets God’s
own description of His inspired, holy word.
3. Concordance: When studying the
Bible it can be frustratingly time-consuming looking for verses whose location
we can’t remember. And we’ll want to see how God uses certain words, such as clamour. A concordance is a quick and
convenient way to find words in the Bible. (Note: If the concordance has a
section in the back with Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, the Bible believer
never uses it because – unlike theologians/skeptics/unbelievers – he does not doubt
that what the Bible says is what God put there…and we dare not “correct”
it by choosing one of the various alternatives suggested in dictionaries.
4. English dictionary: Because the KJV is
written in English, it’s helpful to look up certain words. A good example is
“meet.” It does not mean anything close to “mate” or “partner”; it means
“suitable”, “suited to”, “good”, or “fit for” – as is made plain in Jer 27:5.
Bible
study relies on God, because it is based on faith in what the Bible says.
Let men of faith that have ears that hear, hear.
THE
LIFE OF A THEOLOGIAN
Biblical
examples: The Pharisees and Sadducees
These Bible preachers were
popular men with lots of friends. They had many followers and supporters. They
were politically active and had enough political influence to have Christ
tried, convicted, and crucified because He dared to correct their theology by
quoting the literal, written word of God – with
no regard for the teachings in all their books on theology! These
theologians also despised and persecuted all the Bible believers at left.
THE
TOOLS OF A THEOLOGIAN
1. Flesh and blood: Everybody who
thinks the inspired, inerrant word of God doesn’t exist in any book on earth, has no alternative but to turn to other men for God’s
truth.
2. NAS, NIV, RSV, NRSV, KJV, NWT, etc:
Skeptics consult a number of versions in the hope that they’ll find something
they can live with. The value of multiple versions is in the fact that they
suggest that no Bible version should be taken literally as God’s word…because
God failed to preserve His inerrant word like He said He’d do.
3. Greek and Hebrew dictionary: This is one of the
quickest ways for a Christian to find alternative choices to the wording in any
Bible version. He believes spending 45 seconds looking at the several word
choices in the dictionary makes him able to definitively correct all Bible
versions, which makes him much smarter than the professional language experts
and theologians who have devoted their lives to the task over the past 150
years. Yes, most Christians think the pros on the Bible version committees
weren’t smart enough to spend 45 seconds in some dopey dictionary!
4. Interlinear Bible: Most men who took a
course or two on the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic that were used in old Bible
manuscripts remember very little of it. Interlinears
provide them with convenient excuses to reject the wording in any Bible
version…and give them a number of alternate choices from which to choose.
5. Books by other theologians about their beliefs about various
subjects: Never underestimate the power and allure of
reputation, popularity, and peer pressure – particularly among theologians.
Reading the works of other guys like them who didn’t believe God’s inspired,
inerrant word exists on earth is widely thought to be an excellent short-cut to
knowledge and understanding. And quoting the works of other men is extremely
popular because it makes the quoter seem educated and
sophisticated. These books can cover any and all topics.
6. Concordance: The Hebrew and
Greek dictionaries most Christians consult are in the backs of concordances.
But I didn’t list concordances with the dictionaries above because most
theology-worshipping Christians mostly use their concordance as a way to get to
the Greek or Hebrew definitions in the dictionary in the back. Why don’t they
use concordances as much for word studies? Because looking up where and how God
uses certain words in His Book is pretty much a waste of their time…because
they don’t think those words are necessarily God’s wording/the correct
translation.
7. Topic-specific books: If a man has a
particular interest in an area (such as evolution/creation, Biblical
archeology, Greek syntax, proofs for various Bible doctrines, etc.) there are plenty
of books available. (Except for the doctrine of the immortality of unregenerate
souls: Only 4 men have ever tried to prove the unsaved have everlasting souls:
Plato in 400 B.C.; Augustine in 400 A.D.; Albertus
Magnus in 1250 A.D.; and Rev. Luther Lee in 1850 A.D. Because of their glaring failures nobody else
has published anything substantive about the subject, which is why the topic is
conspicuously absent from church “Bible studies” and all theological
books and curriculums .)
8. English dictionary: So many Christians
claim the reason they don’t like the KJV is they find it difficult to
understand all the “thees” and “thous”
in it. For example, look at Acts 8:37: “And
Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” That verse is an
excellent example of the biggest problem modern Christians have with the King
James Bible: It has thou, believest, thine, and mayest all
in one sentence and is sure to send preachers and pewsters
scampering for their English dictionaries in an attempt to decipher the meaning
of this “difficult” old formal English verse!
Theology relies on man,
because it is based on skepticism about
the written word of God.
Let men of faith that have ears that hear,
hear.
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| Standing for the truth, the authority, and the necessity of the Bible. |
| Standing for the truth, the authority, and the necessity of the Bible. |
