Back in Post #31 on Page 4, the idea of unencumbered Bible study was floated (without that term actually being used).
It was suggested, among other things:
The primary principle is simply to read the Bible as God had it written. That means reading the Scriptures carefully and with deliberation. Look at ...each verse..., ...each phrase..., ...each word... and ...each passage..., without rushing, slowly. See what they actually say. Note any differences between what they say and what we thought (had been taught) they meant. Note how some of them must be interpreted to line up with the established doctrine you are used to.
Generally speaking (and this is the primary principle), understanding God's Holy Revelation to us is less a matter of interpretation and more a matter of reading the Bible as God penned it.
(Older translations such as Young's Literal and Rotherham generally have less doctrinal bias written into them than modern ones.)
However, a few summarised background pointers may help us take the step back that is needed for that fresh, unencumbered look.
1. If you find a verse that, when looked at carefully, seems to be internally inconsistent, (in fact, whenever you do, because you will), look at the God-inspired verse or verses immediately preceding it or immediately following it. Look at them (it) carefully. See what they reveal (it reveals). Do not simply brush them (it) aside. God put that verse (those verses) there deliberately.
2. The Greek word theos and the Hebrew elohim, both translated “God” or “god” in English, have something in common. Their meaning is broader than the English equivalent. Both words can have the sense of a great, superhuman being, and even someone who has the power of life and death over you, or a person who can at least dramatically affect your future for better or for worse. (Elohim can also be translated “gods” at times; it depends on the context.)
3. Languages do not merely have different sounding words (vocabulary). They have different structures as well. For example, some languages have two words for “our” – a word for “our including you the hearer” and a separate word for “our excluding you the hearer”. (That is actually clearer than English.)
Now, neither Greek nor Hebrew has the equivalent of “a” or “an” in English. That means that context is sometimes important for capturing correct meaning. As a simple example, in the original vowel-less written Hebrew (consonants only) one particular written word could mean “a dog”, “dog” or “Caleb”.
There are more important examples waiting to be discovered in the English translations of our Bibles. For instance, if you find a verse that contains self-contradictory ideas when looked at carefully, maybe the insertion of an “a” or an “an” will clarify how the verse should be translated to overcome the inconsistency. At times, the same insertion will also lead to that verse harmonising with a verse or verses before and/or after it.
4. I used to have significant contact with a Greek person who knew modern and ancient Greek well. He informed me that impersonal things which display dynamism are sometimes referred to in personal terms. For instance, a strong wind, a raging storm, a wild sea, could be referred to using personal terms (he, or she, or as if possessing sentience and will). Such terms would not be used of a table or a chair. It happens in English, too. I have heard operating systems in a large computers being referred to as “he”.
5. A quick search through the Old Testament to gain understanding with respect to what the term “Father” meant in the Jewish mind (and therefore Jesus' mind and the apostles' minds) with respect to God, might prove enlightening.
I offer these thoughts as aids to anyone in whom the thought expressed in Post #30 strikes a chord:
Turning Christians into warring against each other?
Hardly.
Rather, it was inviting those who are willing, to join hands and explore God's Holy Revelation as one.
