Reading the bible literally or figuratively... that is the question

Forget about the Mandela Effect. It has nothing to do with the Bible.

Why are you asking me that question, of course, trees don't contain the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2 cannot be understood in a literal way.

The tree of eternal life in the center of the garden was Jesus Christ.

Your claiming that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a real tree?

Heh, I accidentally added a tiny dot to my panel while doing the final
sizing and did not notice until after post edit window closed .

That's fit for framing.

I had to tend to a couple of tasks after dinner, but finally done. Now back to the good questions you asked me. There should be more Christians able to debunk the M.A. because some popular speakers caused a lot of doubt and confusion, mostly in conservative circles from what have seen.
When I was confronted with the Bible verse by the first friend, it shortly after became a trend in radio shows. I wondered why the shows interviewed New Age gurus instead of Bible believing preachers? I guess it was because they didn't really believe the Bible to begin with and they wanted to gain converts. They talked like their religion of mantras, vibrations and frequencies were more valid than the Bible: Then they tried to sound authoritative about their Bible knowledge. After they were done talking, I've been tempted to call in and ask if they ever started reading Genesis and made it all the way to Isaiah. Once I did call in and asked popular New Age leader David Icky how many "christs" he believed there were. He said "Many christs, blah, blah, blah". He compared Buddha to Jesus to Krishna, to Mohammad, etc. Then I got the host mad for exposing his guest.
That's ok, because God answered my prayer so that listeners would not be deceived by Icky .
Grace towards the others in these topics should be shown, but can't stand the gurus. I was deceived into Transcendental Meditation as a kid, so these topics are on my radar when others need help. Back to the verses.

It's easy to understand how "the lion shall lie down with the lamb" came about as popular thought. None of us know it all. I've been wrong about other things and sometimes
need insight that isn't obvious. I doubt there are many preachers who cover pop culture and controversial topics. Here's a brief summary that we can think about.

1. Are most people (pastors) going to memorize long and difficult verses that don't get preached on much, or easier to learn passages that get used often?

Human nature tends towards the easiest way to get a task done. There are plenty of exceptions, but the average is to cut corners.

2. When they do preach a sermon, do pastors always quote a verse correctly or do they sometimes shorten and paraphrase a verse?

3. Do congregations as an average retain what they often hear taught/ preached or what they read on their own?

There are many who are faithful to a weekly service, but few read the Bible regularly.
That allows mistakes from the pulpit to get through without going through the internal filter of familiarity. It happens to all of us. We also need the Holy Spirit to help us to understand and discern.

4. Where have I read, "the lion shall lie down with the lamb?"

I can't speak for anyone else, but I probably read it first in a children's coloring book while filling in between the lines. I've seen it on other Pictures like wall hangings and tee shirts.

Once in the 700 Club, they featured a Christian Zoo that had a lion. The owner quoted this "verse" while The lion handler fed the cat steaks. Veeeery carefully there were helpers who brought a lamb to it and placed it beside the lion while they distracted him with raw steak. 😆
Lol!
That alone would be enough for a child to memorize the very short paraphrase, "The Lion Will Lie Down with the Lamb, and a Little Child Shall Lead Them."
I've done wildlife shows, but not with lions, so I know that the misquote will have more of an emotional and mental anchor than most people's daily reading program. Many preachers simply repeat what they heard for years too and carry on the traditions, regardless of how Biblically sound they may be.

Here are the two passages many well meaning people try to quote.

Isaiah 11:6-9
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

I love that!
Here's another,
Isaiah 65:24, 25
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."

I started with verse 24 first because that is one of my current memory verses. God does this all the time. He just did this again today!
I am so blessed.
Thank You Lord!!!

One thing that we are promised is that some day, 25 will also be common too. This is the parallel passage of 11:6.

Which is easier to memorize, the paraphrase or the actual Bible verses?

See how easy it would be for people to assume that the shortened misquote is the actual Bible verse?
Preachers say it.
Early memories of color books or mom's helping children see it.
The memes are saying it.
The 700 Club said it......while keeping the lion occupied with raw Sirloin.
Now that and other similar memories trump the Bible according to the New Agers who don't believe the Bible.
They go on a campaign to undermine our accurate Bible that in KJV happens also to be the biggest seller of any book in history.


I think you agree that there are thousands of reasons to trust the Bible. It took a gal like you with the courage to seek and to ask.
That will hopefully help all the others who also had that question but never got around to seeking and asking.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
Matthew 7:7...

I was going to post this earlier, but got busy. I will post it here for you in case you want to listen. It's a faith builder about the witnesses to the resurrection of Christ.

Resurrection Witnesses

Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
📖🙂✝️...⚫

Thanks for this. I think those probably are good reasons why people think it's changed. I think they quote Amos 8:11 "...I will send a famine...of hearing the words of the LORD:" as a proof that God would allow for something like that to happen, but I don't think that's what it's talking about.

That's good that you questioned it. Too many people who I met simply believed some version of the Mandela Effect because an authority figure stated it with confidence.
I was thinking about debunking it this spring when there's enough interest to invest the hours of preparation to teach on the subject. I'll just explain a few points for now. Perhaps it will help.

When I heard this for the first time, I considered the source. It was a guy who was an unbeliever, but was into the Hebrew Roots movement mixed with some New Age. He convinced a friend that Satan has the power to change matter and to change every existing KJV Bible, Bernstein Bears books (or whatever they're called, as well as a lot of other things. The guy refused to refer to our Savior as Jesus. Although he didn't know a lick of Hebrew, the guy was very arrogant because he could speak a few Hebrew words from the 1800s. This was enough to impress his friends apparently. Unfortunately, one or two of his new friends were also my friends.

I have to ask myself, who has the power to change matter like the print on every book?
Who is all knowing and knows where every Bible is, or children's book?
Who has the power to change history?

Keep these in mind while we look at who they say has done all of this.....the Devil.
I will say that Satan is powerful, but he's not THAT powerful. Only God knows where every Bible is. Satan is not omniscient.
Only God can transform matter, such as the boy's lunch into feeding thousands of families. The only thing Satan is "good at" is taking a technology and perverting what God made. The devil will motivate people to culture a super cancer that spreads like fire and use it for evil.

God has no interest in changing His Words.
God probably care's nothing about a children's book and is not seen doing things that way. That would be a mockery of God.

Can Satan change the Bible?
Yes, I believe he can and has done that.
All the Bible versions cannot be correct..
They can't all be true.
However, there are many reasons why he cannot change God's preserved Holy Word.
God preserved it and will continue to do so forever.

" The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
Psalm 12:6-7

The folks that teach the Mandela Effect are giving far more credit to the devil for powers that he does not possess than they are to God for power to preserve His inspired words accurately.

What do they accomplish by teaching the M.E?
A:.
A. They give the devil the glory.
B. They undermine the faith of many.
C. They keep people from trusting the Lord, since they no longer trust His Word about Him.

None of this is a rebuke of you in any way.
I'm glad you asked the question.
Nobody can learn without asking questions or finding the truth on a subject.
It just sheds light on the teachers and their dark heresy, like the guy who misled my friends.
I will continue the second part right after dinner. 🍵🙂🍜

I am of the belief that the bible is Holy Spirit inspired and Satan is not able to change or manipulate the contents within it.
He may produce a similar copy to the bible like the Quran or Book of Mormon to confuse people.
If we start to second guess the bible, then we have nothing else to base our faith on.


2Ti 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,

Rev 22:18
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.

Rev 22:19
And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

I agree with you. There are a couple times that happened in the O.T., but today knowledge abounds and the word is published easily on the internet.

Those questions above were those I asked of myself in trying to find answers and understand those concepts. When I asked them, I hope it didn't come across like an interrogation. They were intended to help you understand my thought process as I came to the conclusion that the M.E. theory was not something that could change God's Word. That's one way I study new or unusual concepts.

It's good to be aware of those passages.
I can't see how a famine of the Word in the land could be used by them as a proof text.
Then again I was wondering earlier how the JWs justify their belief that Jesus didn't bodily arise from the dead the third day.

There are multiple literary devices/styles used in Scripture, so many, in fact, that listing them all with explanations and
examples could probably not be accomplished in one post (10,000 character limit). Here (<=link) is a page on them .

Point being, the Bible cannot be read in just one way or another.

I have removed the accidentally added dot, so the next time it is posted it will be better .

If we start to second guess the bible, then we have nothing else to base our faith on.

I am of the belief that the bible is Holy Spirit inspired and Satan is not able to change or manipulate the contents within it.
He may produce a similar copy to the bible like the Quran or Book of Mormon to confuse people.
If we start to second guess the bible, then we have nothing else to base our faith on.


2Ti 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,

Rev 22:18
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.

Rev 22:19
And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

Thanks for this. I think those probably are good reasons why people think it's changed. I think they quote Amos 8:11 "...I will send a famine...of hearing the words of the LORD:" as a proof that God would allow for something like that to happen, but I don't think that's what it's talking about.