triple the excitement.
ok, so this blog really has 3 main parts. 3 parts that could easily be made into 3 seperate blogs. however, from past experience, i have learned that 3 consecutive blogs will lead to neglect of the first 2...so, you get a 3-for-1.
number 1. me.
today, i had a realization. i'm not sure how big it was. i suppose time will tell. but...i think i'm realizing more and more how to identify the sin in my life. and attempt to eliminate it. i never really thought that my laziness or lack of ambition could be used by satan in such ways. i've never seen how much it hinders me. or how much i could be doing and am not. i'm smart. not ridiculously smart, but smart enough. smart enough to never fail a class. smart enough to get alot of stuff done. and it's stupid for me to not. not only is it stupid, it's irresponsible and immature. and i definitely did not think it would be the largest obstacle for me to overcome is my college years. but, there's alot of stuff i didn't think about.
number 2. sorry chris, but you earned this one...
hybernator11 (12:15:15 AM): you should include me in your blog!
kleptokaty (1:09:48 AM): about to write it.
hybernator11 (1:09:55 AM): mention me!
number 3. deep spiritual insight. is what i need.
i'm not a biblical scholar. i have no trouble admitting this. and alot of times i get confused on what is truth and what is just what i've been taught. with that said...a friend brought up a question. and i don't have an answer. so now, i have a question.
what did paul mean in colossians 1:23 when he said "this is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven"? because the gospel has not been proclaimed to every creature. (yes...creature, not person...cats, perhaps, shauna?...just maybe.) and i know in romans 1:20 it talks about God being revealed from "what he has made". but...this isn't the gospel of Jesus revealed, so...once again...what is paul meaning when he says that every creature under heaven has heard this?
i'm confident that a few of you have an answer. and i would like that answer.
last time i posted a biblical question on my xanga, i got real gay responses that didn't answer my question. however, this is a much better audience. and i expect much better things.
number 1. me.
today, i had a realization. i'm not sure how big it was. i suppose time will tell. but...i think i'm realizing more and more how to identify the sin in my life. and attempt to eliminate it. i never really thought that my laziness or lack of ambition could be used by satan in such ways. i've never seen how much it hinders me. or how much i could be doing and am not. i'm smart. not ridiculously smart, but smart enough. smart enough to never fail a class. smart enough to get alot of stuff done. and it's stupid for me to not. not only is it stupid, it's irresponsible and immature. and i definitely did not think it would be the largest obstacle for me to overcome is my college years. but, there's alot of stuff i didn't think about.
number 2. sorry chris, but you earned this one...
hybernator11 (12:15:15 AM): you should include me in your blog!
kleptokaty (1:09:48 AM): about to write it.
hybernator11 (1:09:55 AM): mention me!
number 3. deep spiritual insight. is what i need.
i'm not a biblical scholar. i have no trouble admitting this. and alot of times i get confused on what is truth and what is just what i've been taught. with that said...a friend brought up a question. and i don't have an answer. so now, i have a question.
what did paul mean in colossians 1:23 when he said "this is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven"? because the gospel has not been proclaimed to every creature. (yes...creature, not person...cats, perhaps, shauna?...just maybe.) and i know in romans 1:20 it talks about God being revealed from "what he has made". but...this isn't the gospel of Jesus revealed, so...once again...what is paul meaning when he says that every creature under heaven has heard this?
i'm confident that a few of you have an answer. and i would like that answer.
last time i posted a biblical question on my xanga, i got real gay responses that didn't answer my question. however, this is a much better audience. and i expect much better things.
posted by katy at 1:25 AM
7 Comments:
So, yes... I have reviewed the text and come up with my answer.
I am sorry mywittyname, but I do not agree with your answer at all. Do not take me as rude in anyway, but the bible is all completely God inspired. (Isaiah 40:8, Proverbs 30:5-6...perhaps read through Revelations 22) I am not sure what you mean by "even after interpretation," but everything in the bible is truth. I have a little more faith in God, then to say that He could not control man enough to get His own words written down correctly and truthfully.
In regards to the blog...
Starting w/ Romans 1:20, Romans 1:19 says, "because that which is known about God is evident within them" I think that this builds up to verse 20. All humans have an innate understanding of some supreme diety. Even those whom have not heard of Christ's great news have some concept of a greater God figure. Tribes whom have never had exposure to other human life often are found to worship the spirits of the earth or sky. Just because people haven't heard about the Christ, does not mean they do not have feelings of His presence. This may be because of God's "invisible attributes," as mentioned in verse 20. To go even farther, this thought may be brought to the idea that I presented last night about how God does not need us to do His work of spreading and faming His name. He is more than fully capable of exposing Himself to others on His own accord.
Now, to turn our attention to colossians 1:23... I belive that your trusty NIV has done you in and left you with questions. If we refer to the NASB, which is found to be closer to our old king james version, we would read... "which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, was made a minister." In some sense I can see where the NIV gets "proclaimed to every creature" because God's presence and therefore, his gospel, is seen in every aspect of this earth. For example, in every blade of grass or blow of the wind. Every creature has access to God's gospel through His creation. I think the NASB terms of "proclaimed in all creation," make it a little easier to understand where I am coming from. Even the trees and flowers are filled with the glory of God and will praise His name. If you look at it in these terms, the hope of the gospel is in fact proclaimed in all creation under heaven. In all nature, in all believers, or maybe even surrounding and innately in all nonbelievers.
sooo... I hope that I was able to put into words what I was thinking. Hope you can at least get where I am coming from through all this rambling.
sorry about the super long comment =)
well...i certainly plan on reading over this scripture and doing some research so that i can comment on your question katy...but for now i'm just going to give a quick little response to shauna.
Shauna, hi. i have more to say but not much time at the moment so i just wanted to say that the old king james version is not at all what we hold as a standard for accuracy. in fact, the king james is one of the least accurate of any translation from the original greek. NIV is much more accurate, although I wouldn't say the MOST accurate translation that we have now.
like i said, i want to do some research and respond later
ok...so i've done some research and this is what i think. i believe that paul's statement that the gospel has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven is hyperbolic in nature. i believe that what he is saying is that the message is universal and he is urging his audience to spread the gospel thoughout the roman empire and the world. this is supported in vs.6 when he says that "all over the world the gospel is bearing fruit and growing." if the gospel is growing then it is obviously not everywhere yet. paul's statement that every creature has heard is a gross exaggeration and i don't believe that it was meant to be taken completely literally.
in regards to mywittyname's comment, i'm going to agree with you in that i believe that the bible is God inspired and man written which means that the likelihood of error is inevitable. this doesn't mean that God COULDN'T make sure every word was completely accurate...i just don't think that he DID. anyone upon careful observation of the word finds certain discontinuities but this does in no way negate it's validity.
shauna, in your argument for the inerrancy of the word cited Isaiah 40:8 which is a statement that the plans and purposes of the nations will not prevail against the plans of almighty God. He is not arguing for the validity of scripture, he is referring to the state of israel at the time. i can see how you could draw your conclusion from that verse but i believe you are taking it out of context and using for your own purposes. proverbs 3:5-6 is a reference to the writings of moses in deuteronomy 4:2 when moses tells the people neither to add to nor subtract from the commands that he was about to give them from God. this is where some contradictions can come into play because they are added to and changed later on in the bible. In regards to revelations 22...that book is so incredibly obscure i would hardly reference it in an argument for the validity of the rest of the bible.
anyways...sorry about the extra long comment. i like this blog though...conversation is good
Shauna,
I use to feel that the bible was infallible as well, but then as I matured, I saw some ideas in the bible that were contradictory. The bible is clearly affected by the culture of the time period. For example, slavery is deemed acceptable. I agree that the bible is God inspired, but also affected by the people who wrote it. And I believe that the important parts of our faith were agreed upon by all of the authors. I have faith in a God who could control what became His bible, but then did those men who wrote His books possess free will? Now, with the idea of fallibility you have to ask yourself, "How do I know what to trust?" God gave us a faculty by which we judge and filter to determine the parts of the bible we should follow. It's called common sense. While you may say you don't pick and choose parts of the bible to abide by, you do. Everyone does. While you are arguing about the absolute authority of the bible, you are really arguing about the superiority of the grid through which you read and interpret the bible. Should we really bash our enemy’s children against rocks? Well, I'm not going to, but David wrote a Psalm about it.
This whole conversation is a circle without an answer. We could debate forever and never agree. But the great thing is, we don't have to agree. We can choose to apply free will here and decide on our own what we believe. So, if you don't agree with me, that's fine. I'm not at all offended. I don’t expect you to change your mind just by reading a post on a blog. Everyone is entitled to their own ideas and opinions. That is what's so amazing about our God.
I do not understand how you come to some of these conclusions and claim to be followers of the same almighty, omnipotent, and omniscient God as me. You are totally doubting God's sovereignty.
Josh...
I am sorry that I mentioned Isaiah 40:8. I did not mean to make it part of my argument, I only mentioned it for reference. Perhaps to demonstrate the power and stability of God's word.
Regarding the bible translations, if you truly understood what I was saying to Katy... you would know that her and I kid about bible translations with one another all the time. I do not read the king james version, but I do not disregard it as any more inaccurate than other versions. I do believe that the NASB is more literal and therefore more "reliable" in some senses than the NIV. I do not see why you would think that the NIV is much more accurate. Just because it is easier to understand in English?
Anonymous...
I really don't feel like getting into some free will debate or anything, but I am not so much an advocate of free will. I guess that is where a lot of our disagreement starts. I do not imagine any falliibility, therefore when I ask myself 'what do I know what to trust' I trust in God and the God inspired word that he has provided for me.
and who are you anyways?
sorry if I came off rude in any ways... this is not my intent. I wish only to take a stance for what I believe on the issues at hand.
Hey guys...I've posted my response to this discussion here.
http://www.chedspellman.blogspot.com
Although, probably nobody follows up on comments of previous posts and therefore no one will see this comment or follow this link...Oh the perplexeties of this mode of communication! :)
Jesus was wrong (alot)
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