We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:16–21, NIV 1984).
My Musings – “Whenever I read the Bible and come across something that I disagree with, I have to assume I’m wrong.” (Francis Chan).
“It’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.” (Alan Shepard, first American astronaut in space).
Today, there is much that our culture finds in the Bible that they disagree with. But rather than assuming that they are wrong, they assume that the text is wrong. So, they construct “cleverly invented” alternative interpretations that they can agree with. Interpretations that satisfy the “will of man,” but contradicts several millennia of internally consistent and near universally accepted interpretations of Biblical scholars.
My Advice – To paraphrase Alan Shephard, it’s a very sobering feeling to grow up in a culture and realize that its eternal security is being determined by the most recent, convenient and agreeable interpretation of the Word that contradicts the plain meaning of the Biblical text, including eyewitness accounts. That’s a pretty huge assumption to base one’s eternal destiny upon.
One should ask themselves, which is more likely, the text has suddenly changed, or the culture has dramatically changed? That the interpretations closest to the actual events or farthest removed from the actual events are more accurate? That truth is unchanging or relative to the constantly changing whims of the culture? Which truth did the Son of God die for? The truth He proclaimed or the truth that the culture prefers? If you disagree with the most likely answers to these questions, assume you are wrong.
The Brew Is A Musing 