If The Bible is God's perfect word...?

Question

...why is it that different Christian sects can't agree on its meaning? Its most ardent believers still debate the translation and context of countless verses 1800 years after the NT and 3500 years after the OT. In some cases they're still killing each other over the debate. Shouldn't God's perfect word be perfectly clear?

Answer 1

The Bible says that some will come and twist it.  Blame them.  

Answer 2

Alot of the Bible is spiritually discerned, that is why we have so many different denominations, it takes many years of study and prayer and dedication to the Lord to understand what the scriptures say, I believe this is one of the main reasons of the differences we have today in Christianity, but of course it all still gets back to one main point, salvation, Do you believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour? I was saved many years ago, Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord? He died on a cross for you and me to wash away our sins, When He arose from that grave alive He forever abolished the penalty of sin for all who will call upon His name and believe. Romans 6:23 says For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. All you have to do to be saved is humbly bow your head and ask Jesus to forgive you of all your sins and ask Him to come into your heart and save you. If you are sincere in your heart He will come in and make you a new person and give you a renewed joyed and purpose in life that no one can take away from you. And it will secure you a future home in Heaven someday. Praise the Lord.

Answer 3

It is perfect.  Our understanding is not.  The more time you spend with it, the more you'll see that it's right.  The seeming contradictions should not make you give up.  They are there to teach you.  Two apparent contradictions added together equal one correct doctrine.

Answer 4

Dear Friend,

True many are confused about what is the proper translation of the words of Scripture. However, God's truth within it is perfect, immutable, and all encompassing. Being that God's truth is perfect, immutable, and all encompassing do you not think it would take man time to learn what it is. God's truth is perfect in the Scriptures, but man's mind cannot comprehend it all in one sitting (so to speak), which is why mankind continues to study the Scriptures, critique its content, and strive for accurate translations so such an enormuous truth can unfold. And from one generation to the next God's perfect truth continues to be learned. We may get some of it right within this age and more of it be more correct in the age to come. Therefore, the perfect Truth of God in the Scriptures is always there, but mankind must be both docile (meaning disposed to let it teach them) and patient. Also, man must be critical and deligent in their study of the Scriptures so we will not read it without a reasonable and realistic mindset.

           Yes mankind can be most adamant about how they understand the Scriptures and even come to violence in pushing their point, but if they were to be patient and charitable then such a realtionship and dialogue would yield greater understanding. May the Lord bless and keep you. May the light of His face shine upon you.

            God's and your beast of burden

                            Fr. john

Answer 5

We as people don't really "get" anything that much especially

things moral and spiritual!

We are mostly spiritually blind and only see dark shadows or

reflections of the reality of the supernatural - yet we also are

a reflection of it - a childish, silly one!

Enjoy?

So yeah, how do we know the Bible is true if we can't

consistantly interpret it's truth?

True- we are in the process of learning from it,

we have not already learned - it does seem like

a paradox.  Then again, life is a paradox.

We do see how it is powerful in our lives, though,

and we trust that the creator made it available for

us to find spiritual truths and continue to find them!

I think it is a process - there is still absolute truth

and we are finding it.  The Holy Spirit, God's presence

on earth is our teacher.  The Bible points to the "what"

and the Holy Spirit teaches the "how to".

So, is the Bible perfect?

Language is imperfect, but what the Holy Spirit teaches

does not contradict what the Bible says and we will just

continue to learn more and more!

We trust God more than we trust our interpretations

anyway and we go by a system of priority - some things

are not as important as others as we are still learning.

I don't have to agree with my brothers and sisters in

Christ in every little thing - we can debate - there is room for it - but there are very key elements/priorities in which we can and should agree such as who Jesus is and His mission - what He came to do and what our main responsibilities are.

No two people ever agree fully on anything!

Many of us agree that the Bible is powerful and has proven

itself in many ways -

the things spoken in the Bible actually do have many meanings and applications in one statement!

It is that deep!

Answer 6

the flaw is not with Gods Word but rather with the interpreters. It takes Wisdom and Knowledge from God to understand His word

Answer 7

No matter how clear God has made His Word, the weakness and stubbornness of men will always disagree on its meaning.  The truth is that a significant number of Christians agree on the central truths of the Bible.  The debates on Bible interpretation normally are in realms of minor points in theology and not in major areas.  

Typically, the translation is not debated.  Nearly all significant translations of the Bible have exceptionally few differences.  In fact, with all the translations, not a single major translation has a dispute that concerns any major doctrine of Christianity (unless one considers snake handling a major doctrine).  

God's Word is perfect, it is in its central theme perfectly clear, but the clarity and truthfulness of God's Word is obscured and repressed by men who either intentionally or non-intentionally misunderstand it.

Answer 8

Every thing is perfect. It's either perfectly Good or perfectly Bad .

Answer 9

Romans 1:22-23

"Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man..."

people are going to twist the word of God...that's why its so important to know the word for yourself. there are different versions to help you understand.

Answer 10

Well me and Chris and the other non-denominationalists agree on what the bible says, and it's because we didn't use preachers to tell us, we actually read for ourselves. :)

Answer 11

that's why i don't read that sh*t.  f*cks up my mind.  d**n!

Answer 12

The Bible was written by man so of course it is not perfect.  The main thing is to take from it what you need and leave the rest.  Don't get caught up in all the silly debates us humans feel the need to get involved in.  It is there to help guide us through this crazy life so use it for that and try and not worry about the other stuff really it is not important.  Whats important is each persons indiviual message.

Answer 13

That's humans for you and has nothing to do with the infallibility of the Bible.

What other philosophical belief has total unity?  Or any other field, for that matter?  LOL

Answer 14

The bible is all, but ´´perfect gott´s word´´

http://godisimaginary.com/i45.htm

Answer 15

cuz humans arent God..

Answer 16

Nothing can be perfect.  It just can't happen.  Not with a Religion, Book, or person.

Religion is based on faith in something.

Of course back in the day of Jesus, the main people he preached too and converted to his ways were poor people, sick people.  Those that needed someone to look up to.  Needed saving from their miserable lives.  He was their Savior.  He helped them and they loved him.  

Anyone who went into the slums of a 3rd world nation and helped them, fed them, clothed them, healed them, would be their Savior.  They would tell stories of him/her for years to come.  How that person came in and made life much easier for them.

Answer 17

It's the words of men, adapting myths and legends from different peoples in the Middle East. And they gave authority to their patriarchal laws by invoking their god as the author.

They're neither God's words, nor perfect. People who for some reason consider them moral (stoning rebellious teenage boys to death, selling your unbetrothed daughter to her rapist for 50 gold pieces to be his wife, and lots of other nice moral behaviours), consider the Bible as their moral compass. And some even go so far as to believe it's literally true.

Answer 18

Because Bible translators are not perfect. In fact most are biased.

I'm a Codicologist.

That means I examine ancient Greek and Coptic manuscripts and collate them into Greek and Coptic master texts; which are used by translators world-wide. I have been translating Greek for over 35 years and Coptic for over 20 years.

There are supposed cases of conflicts (contradictions) in the Bible. But when you examine the subject and context of both passages, the "conflict" is often resolved.

Moreover changes in the English language since the days of King James have created what appear to be conflicts when view in the light of current English.

There are also false conflicts created by sectarian translators. English Bibles are sectarian and translators often "slant" meanings to support their religion's teachings. Where the Greek can have two or more different (or even divergent) meanings, choices must be made. Even if the translator honestly footnotes the alternate meaning(s), he or she must decide which meaning goes in the main text.

So, translation bias, ignoring context, and/or linguistic changes are thus the source of virtually all Bible "contradictions."

When in doubt, consult what the texts say in the original Greek, again taking context into consideration, examining variants in the Greek Master texts (UBS4 or NA27), and if possible, comparing translations made while Greek was still the world language; i.e. Coptic, Aramaic, and Latin.

Answer 19

How come a technical manual can be provided by a VCR manufacturer (assumed to be a perfect document) but some people cannot program the VCR?  It is all about the reader and not the author don't you think?

Answer 20

It's not perfect.  Only irrational Christians say that it's perfect.  Rational ones will realize that it's pretty much impossible to be "perfect", as it has been in the hands of old, rich, white men too long.

Answer 21

Every single religious tome is supposedly the word of God.  People wrote those books.  

Answer 22

One of the problems is that doctrines are created that have nothing to do with scripture and then scripture is twisted around to try to make those doctrines make sense.  It's nothing to do with God's word.  It's how people choose to use it.  

Answer 23

I agree, it's far from perfect. Like, a few light years away.

Answer 24

A perfect god might have developed a better, more miraculous way to communicate other than written words. Words will be translated, mistranslated, edited and then interpreted in all kinds of ways to mean most anything.

.  

Answer 25

The word of God is perfected and understood when one receives the Holy Spirit.

Choice - Choose - Chosen

Remember that there will always be the believers as the chosen and the non-believers as the not chosen.

AMEN!    GOD BLESS!     SHALOM!

Answer 26

Humanity. What more needs to be said? Your question misses the point entirely if you fail to factor this into the equation.