In my lifetime I have heard and seen people taking the scriptures, and inserting all sorts of “what if” scenarios like there was some sort of recursive loop where everything repeats over and over again, and supposing that somehow, God’s will can be the same as humanities will, and that God’s understanding is equal to human understanding simply because everything appears to be nothing but another day just like the previous day.
I am beginning to consider that there just might be a Christian faction that likens themselves to the all-knowing, all-wise, who has figured out God’s plans, thoughts, and ways better than God himself. In fact, they keep changing what the scriptures say and has said for thousands of years. It is claimed that language changes and to keep up with those changes the scriptures must keep pace with those language changes. This isn’t new you know. For example:
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson has his own bible that he edited? He removed all references of Jesus’s deity from the New Testament.
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin had serious doubts about the deity of Jesus.
Did you know that the contents of our constitution and the Declaration of Independence was inspired by the protestant reformation and includes two Protestant doctrines:
The first reflected the Augustinian view that human beings are flawed and sinful by nature, therefore, can only be saved by God’s grace, that led logically to the American idea that government requires a system of checks and balances to restrain the devious impulses and desires of its citizens and officials. James Madison, one of the principal framers of the constitution, put it: “If men were angles, no government would be necessary.”
The second doctrine, “the priesthood of all believers,” was a rejection of the idea that an individual’s relation to God had to be mediated through an institution, specifically the Catholic Church. This doctrine freed individuals to define their own conceptions of God and stripped all churches of the authority to facilitate or thwart the saving of their souls. “The priesthood of believers” leveled the spiritual playing field, making all Christians—and all God’s children—equal in the eyes of their creator.
The founders were committed to the {protestant ideal of freedom of conscience and religious dissent. Without the founder’s belief in God—fiction or not—America could not exist.
The above was taken from the book Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America by David Horowitz.
Only three of the founders are mentioned, but historical records reveals that each one signer of the Constitution did not fully accept the doctrine of the deity of Christ. They all believed in the one true God, the God of Israel alone.
Many academics and laymen go as far as to propose wording changes based on the supposition of “what if’s” and a fallacy of being superior in some fashion to others and even God. What I have experienced over the years is that no matter what humanity supposes or proposes, God always disposes human attempts to subvert His narrative. Why you ask? Because God’s word means what it says and says what it means.
With all the commentaries and differing approaches to understanding the Scriptures, it should be noticeable, that all of it is nothing more than pure speculation, an academic way to explain the scriptures with their own thoughts and ideas simply to show how wise and knowledgeable they are concerning God’s thinking and ways. Does not the scripture state that God’s thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Sure, it does, look at Isaiah 55:8-10.
None of us are much different since we try to translate the scriptures in our image and finite understandings. We humans try to control everything we see, touch, read, and even what others think or perceive. We are innately arrogant, proud, fanatics about all thing’s owned, cherished, wanted, considered rewarding, and what we perceive being owed us.
I use commentaries to research what the root meaning of Hebrew and Greek words to gain context and clarity about the culture of Jesus’ and the Apostles time. Even then, things are a little murky since no one living today was alive.
What I have now come to accept is that trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit is far more important as we read the Scriptures. Why, because the Holy Spirit knows what we cannot know and understand until we are with the Lord. Instead of being wayward in thought, it is more important to trust the Lord and try hard to not insert personal meanings into His scriptures. Oh, sure we can share what we learn from reading and experience, we just do not have to authority to come up with a different gospel story.
So, let all of us keep it simple and trust the Lord and not our own reasoning.
Shalom
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