What is the bible?

[VW]

I never said you were a LEADER.
It doesn't make any difference. deceiving and being deceived.

Front man for the antichrist? channeling a spirit and calling it jesus is antichrist..

Your beliefs and theology (if it can be called that) are heretical and an affront to God.

but you don't believe that: you are His chosen vessel. His servant.

And we dumb workers just can't seem to hear, we're SO DULL.

If I am seeking those to follow me, then I am a leader.

Dull, no, I don't think so. I don't think you are dumb either.

Again, who are you listening to?

 

[paulnsilas]

Why does man have to complicate it? We are full already. The lost ones have to go to his Word to find truth. They have to earn it & work for it now like the rest of us. They have to seek.

Don't pretend you give God the Glory.

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Romans 9:16
Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy.

 

[VW]

[/QUOTE]Hi VW, and God bless you for the love you have in Christ. I must just say this that God has given us all the information he wants us to know. Anything else is awaiting us with our reward.

He has given us so much and we cannot add to it. The message is simple and clear. We have to have faith and believe that he sent his son for the redemption of sins. We have everything we need to know. We know the way to salvation. His written word has covered everything he wants us to know. We know that path and the route to take. His word is used for doctrine, for reprove, for edification. His word is the source. His spirit that lives in us may reveal or guide in our personal life, but his word is complete in what he has given us. We have all the prophesies, we have history, we have his will.

Why does man have to complicate it? We are full already. The lost ones have to go to his Word to find truth. They have to earn it & work for it now like the rest of us. They have to seek.

We should never commend ourselves, but exalt the holy Father and our Lord Jesus Christ and endorse his precious words & will and not our own.
Take care. I know you love Christ.

Amen sister,

God bless you richly with and in His love

 

[VW]

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.

 

[VW]

You taint the title christian.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And just as James and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be.

What was the folly of James and Jambres, that became obvious to all?

I wish to recant of this post. It is not proper.

In Christ

 

[paulnsilas]

The veil was rent, true, but have you gone in?

You know, I have never called any one loathsome. Just who are you listening to?

No. worse.
you used CHRIST'S Name and pretending He was saying it.
shame on you.

 

[paulnsilas]

Amen sister,

God bless you richly with and in His love

From one Lawyer to another. And the recruitment continues. Good job RABBI.

 

[paulnsilas]

I wish to recant of this post. It is not proper.

In Christ

I'll use it:

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

And just as James and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be.

Stop blaspheming My Lord.

 

[paulnsilas]

Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.

Ask you?
Seek through you?
Find what?
Knock where?
What shall be opened?

This has already happened for justified christians. they knocked, he opened, and they entered in.

But you don't believe that.

 

[VW]

I'll use it:

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

And just as James and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be.

Stop blaspheming My Lord.

When have I blasphemed against the Lord Jesus Christ?

 

[VW]

Ask you?
Seek through you?
Find what?
Knock where?
What shall be opened?

This has already happened for justified christians. they knocked, he opened, and they entered in.

But you don't believe that.

The way is right there before us, but have we really entered in?

 

[jamest48]

I think when you look for fault or try to refute it you try to justify some actions.The bble is God breath and Holy Ghost inspired but it des not complete God in any way,me thinks.It is like the guy said,if every thing that Jesus did and said was recorded there would not be enough books.God bless and keep ou all in His grace,AMEN

 

[Scotth1960]

Ask you?
Seek through you?
Find what?
Knock where?
What shall be opened?

This has already happened for justified christians. they knocked, he opened, and they entered in.

But you don't believe that.

Friends, Part of the problem with this Christian Chat forum is that some of the threads (and posters) devolve into ad hominem arguments and personal attacks. This thread was suppose to give an objective answer to an objective question, "What is the Bible"? Instead, some of you are talking against each other. I don't understand how that happens. But it should not happen. God bless all of you anyway. I think we all need to change our ways, and not talk personal attacks against anyone. Take care. God bless all. In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
PS Can any of you get away from personal attacks and just give an answer to the original thread question, "What is the Bible?" How many books are in it? And what is the best OT text, the Greek OT LXX Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew, or the Masoretic Hebrew text? How do you know which one is the best version of the OT? And what is the best, or are the best, English version or versions of the NT? Take care!

 

[AnandaHya]

Friends, Part of the problem with this Christian Chat forum is that some of the threads (and posters) devolve into ad hominem arguments and personal attacks. This thread was suppose to give an objective answer to an objective question, "What is the Bible"? Instead, some of you are talking against each other. I don't understand how that happens. But it should not happen. God bless all of you anyway. I think we all need to change our ways, and not talk personal attacks against anyone. Take care. God bless all. In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
PS Can any of you get away from personal attacks and just give an answer to the original thread question, "What is the Bible?" How many books are in it? And what is the best OT text, the Greek OT LXX Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew, or the Masoretic Hebrew text? How do you know which one is the best version of the OT? And what is the best, or are the best, English version or versions of the NT? Take care!

I definitely agree the personal attacks need to stop, but i'm not sure if we can judge which is the "best" Bible. I think GOD can work through all of them if He wills it. He can do anything. God power and knowledge has no bounds. Only Man is so limited. He blessed us with His written word and that is what I believe the Bible is God's inspired written Word that tells us His promise and salvation through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ. I believe that GOD should be worshiped but the Bible cherished as a present from our divine Father.

 

[Scotth1960]

There is an erroneous belief that every word of God is contained in the bible. What,

you do not believe this? Then how can the reasoning which says that there cannot be prophecy because

the bible is finished hold up under scrutiny? Every belief we have has an end result, every single one. If

we believe that the bible is the final, finished and complete revelation of God, then we also believe that it

contains all of the knowledge of God, along with every word He has spoken. For the belief says that

there is no prophecy, because the bible is finished.

And yet, even in scripture we see that if all the words of Jesus, and all of His deeds, were written down,

that there would not be enough room in the whole world to contain them. Do you see the problem? Each

belief we have must be examined in the light of God's wisdom to see the end of that belief.

I once believed that I was saved because Jesus had died and rose again on my behalf. And while it is true

that He did give Himself for me, that alone did not save me. For while I believed in His forgiveness, I did

not draw near to Him with a sincere heart, to see sand know Him. I did just as the children of Israel did,


and hardened my heart towards God, claiming His salvation while holding myself out of His light. And who

could deliver me from my own lies? God did. It was not pretty.

If all that we know of God is what we read, and if all that we have of Him is knowledge gained by study

and teaching; then we do not know God. And if we do not know God, we have believed in vain, and the

sacrifice that Jesus made in order to purchase us from slavery has done us no good.

No, all knowledge of God is not in the bible. And all of His words are not contained therein. For God has

not lost His mouth, and He has not stopped talking. We have stopped listening. And just as God judged

those who hardened their hearts towards His voice, so He will judge us for the same thing, because He

does not change, ever; else He is not God.

Friend, What is the message of the Bible. Summed up in just three words: Christ is Risen!

Because Christ is Risen, salvation of those who believe in Him (John 3:16) is possible.


Here's some Good News writing for all of us:

"One day, we all shall die, for it is appointed unto me once to die, but after this the

judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Yet, we know that the sting of death has been removed

through Christ's resurrection. Orthodox Christians, therefore, face death with the security

that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor

things to come, no height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us

from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

"The Transfiguration of the Universe" "The life that God grants to the world through the

resurrection of Christ is not limited to human beings, however. The death and

resurrection of Christ also prefigures the transfiguration of the entire created order. The

women who went to Jesus' tomb early on Sunday morning to anoint His body found that

His tomb was empty; His body was not there. Yet, on several occasions when the risen

Lord appeared to the women and to His other disciples they did not immediately

recognize Him. This fact tells us two very important things about the resurrection f Christ

and about the life He grants to the world.

"First of all, it tells us that Christ arose in His body. Some people believe that man is

essentially an immaterial soul or spirit imprisoned in a body. But we have already seen

that man was originally created not only for an eternal relationship of love with God, but

also with the entire created order. God created man as a physical being in a physical

world. The spiritual aspect of man's existence cannot really be separated from the

physical. Therefore, for God to save man and give him the possibility to live life as God

originally intended, He must save the material world as well. The risen Christ is not a

ghost or disembodied soul. Jesus Christ arose in the flesh so that the entire physical

universe would share in the unending life of God.

"At the same time, however, we must not think that the risen Christ was simply a

reanimated corpse in the sense of someone who dies on the operating table and is

brought back to life. The second thing that Jesus' resurrection tells us about the life to

come is that it is a transfigured life. Jesus' resurrected body was transfigured by the

glory of God. To use the words of the Apostle Paul, it had put on immortality. That is why

the disciples did not recognize Jesus at first. When Jesus returns in glory to judge all

people according to their works and to abolish even physical death, the entire created

cosmos will be filled with the presence and life and glory of God -- and so will all who trust

in Him and willingly share in His life. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not

yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him,

for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2)."

(pages 51-53: Carlton, Clark. (2000). THE LIFE: The Orthodox Doctrine of Salvation -- An

Orthodox Catechism. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press.

Regina Orthodox Press Online Store

God save us: Lord have mercy - Amen. In Erie PA USA April 2011 AD Scott R.

Harrington

Take care.

 

[VW]

Friends, Part of the problem with this Christian Chat forum is that some of the threads (and posters) devolve into ad hominem arguments and personal attacks. This thread was suppose to give an objective answer to an objective question, "What is the Bible"? Instead, some of you are talking against each other. I don't understand how that happens. But it should not happen. God bless all of you anyway. I think we all need to change our ways, and not talk personal attacks against anyone. Take care. God bless all. In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
PS Can any of you get away from personal attacks and just give an answer to the original thread question, "What is the Bible?" How many books are in it? And what is the best OT text, the Greek OT LXX Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew, or the Masoretic Hebrew text? How do you know which one is the best version of the OT? And what is the best, or are the best, English version or versions of the NT? Take care!

I agree, and I hate that I always become the center of such controversy.

As to the original question, which I posed by the way, I was as always, only trying to get the people of God to move beyond the basics of the faith, and into maturity. I understand maturity in Christ Jesus to be knowing the Father, who was in the beginning.

So in a nutshell, all this disgusting arguing came about because some believe that I do not believe the bible is the word of God, because I do not have faith in the bible, rather in the One who spoke the bible. And my goal is not to know the bible, but to know the One who the bible came from. This seems to so many to be disrespectful towards the scripture, and I understand why. But what I also understand is that whenever we resort to personal attacks when we perceive that something we love is under attack, then we need to really look deeply at our objects that we love, and why we love them.

Truly, I love the scripture. I spent over 10 years reading and studying the prophets alone, under the leading of the Holy Spirit. And through that time, there were more questions needing answered than when I had begin. I find that as I read the scriptures and listen to the Spirit that in fact the scriptures become more and more something I cannot understand alone, that the depth of the truth contained therein is impossible for me to ascertain without His help, His divine instruction into the depths of our God. And over this time of study in and by the Spirit's leading, I have never lost the sense of wonder and awe that first grabbed my soul when I first read the gospel according to John with the voice of the Spirit showing the truth of our Lord's words, showing the depths of His love, and the grace that He walked in every moment of His ministry.

The bible is a book, a divine book, written and inspired by God. It is not God. It cannot replace God, nor can it replace God's voice in the heart of the believer. And the bible does not teach the child of God, for God Himself teaches us. Does this diminish the bible? God forbid, for this would be impossible to diminish anyway. It is God's. But our trust in the words rather than the Speaker does in fact diminish the bible, in ways that we just do not see now. And it diminishes us in other ways.

Anyway, I am sorry for the conflict, but some things are important enough to fight for, and to be reviled for.

In Christ,

 

[unclefester]

The first and really true sign of a cult, and a cult leader, is the desire that others follow him/her. I don't seem to recall ever asking anyone to follow me.


Of course not. Why"ask" when you can coerce the unlearned through fear ?

" I hate your assemblies. I loath your offerings. I despise your service. Your prayers I do not hear....."
_________________________________________________________________________________


"Follow Jesus, be filled with the Spirit, be lead by the Spirit, draw near to God", enter the holy place withinthe veil;

And yet another of your quotes from another thread....

"I am saying that if we think we can have all we need to know about God from the bible, then we are deceived and wrong."

Sooo.....you are "instructing" us to be filled with the Spirit, be led by the Spirit and to draw near to God etc. etc........but not to trust that God's divinely inspired Word is adequate ? We need "prophets" like you to finish for God what He has merely "started" ?


.....yes, but please do not follow me.

Ever "so humble", as always. COUNT ON IT !

 

[VW]

I definitely agree the personal attacks need to stop, but i'm not sure if we can judge which is the "best" Bible. I think GOD can work through all of them if He wills it. He can do anything. God power and knowledge has no bounds. Only Man is so limited. He blessed us with His written word and that is what I believe the Bible is God's inspired written Word that tells us His promise and salvation through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ. I believe that GOD should be worshiped but the Bible cherished as a present from our divine Father.

Amen! Thank you sister,
in Christ,

 

[VW]

The first and really true sign of a cult, and a cult leader, is the desire that others follow him/her. I don't seem to recall ever asking anyone to follow me.


Of course not. Why"ask" when you can coerce the unlearned through fear ?

" I hate your assemblies. I loath your offerings. I despise your service. Your prayers I do not hear....."
_________________________________________________________________________________


"Follow Jesus, be filled with the Spirit, be lead by the Spirit, draw near to God", enter the holy place withinthe veil;

And yet another of your quotes from another thread....

"I am saying that if we think we can have all we need to know about God from the bible, then we are deceived and wrong."

Sooo.....you are "instructing" us to be filled with the Spirit, be led by the Spirit and to draw near to God etc. etc........but not to trust that God's divinely inspired Word is adequate ? We need "prophets" like you to finish for God what He has merely "started" ?


.....yes, but please do not follow me.

Ever "so humble", as always. COUNT ON IT !

I am tempted to say one thing, but rather I will say this. In the very same scriptures we are discussing, we find the command to be filled with ............ O, the Holy Spirit.

I fail to see how this exhortation is evil. If it is to you, then I am sorry, but I will not cease from exhorting others to be filled with God.

In Christ,

 

[angelos]

A question I wish to ask of all who would answer... What is the greatest commandment?