“The writers [of the Bible] were inspired, moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), and their resultant writings were inspired ones, as if breathed or spoken by God (2 Timothy 3:16).”

 

Well, as far as this claim is concerned, I would once again listen to the Bible itself on this matter – a Bible that tells us all that we are to not blindly accept each & every passage or verse in the Scriptures (or at least not every interpretation thereof), but are rather to “test the Scriptures” in our own lives and then hold only the interpretations thereof “that are Good” (1 Thessaonians 5:21) – to test the Scriptures to see which ones actually bear the Fruit of the Spirit (see Matthew 7:15-16 & Galatians 5:22-23), and thereby know which ones are truly “of God” and which are not …

Again, please consider the Word of God on this matter:

 

“And why do you not judge for yourself what is Right? … Do not judge by mere appearances, but rather judge with righteous discernment … Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.  In the same way that every good tree bears good fruit, bad trees bear bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 12:57 + John 7:24 + Matthew 7:15-16)

 

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” ~ 1 John 4:1

P.S.   As it turns out, if a Christian believer does not do as the Bible encourages and does not test the Scriptures for his or her self; if he or she does not establish a hierarchy for deciding which Scriptures are “of God” (to be taken literally – like most of the words of Jesus in the Gospels) and which are “of man” (to be taken metaphorically – like most of the book of Revelation); if he or she chooses instead to blindly believe each & every verse conservatively & “literally”, then the sanctity of the texts becomes heavily tarnished by the over 400 contradictions that still exist therein to this day … Please consider the following 439 examples thereof (examples which are listed in an easier-to-read format on pages 377 to 379 previously, and/or that can be individually accessed & explored online at www.bibviz.com/#contradictionList):

P.P.S.   Please note as well that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is a highly intriguing pair of verses, if for no other reason than they open up a series of interesting conundrums for the conservative, “literal” believer … You see, this verse states quite plainly that “all scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness”.  And what makes this so interesting is that there were quite a few texts not present in our modern, church-sanctioned Bibles that were accepted as valid, “canonical” Scripture at the time 2 Timothy was penned; many of which that also remained valid & “holy” for several hundred years afterwards.  And one of these texts was The Apocalypse of Peter.  Indeed, the Muratorian Fragment – the oldest known listing of the modern-day books of the New Testament – notes that The Apocalypse of Peter (written at roughly the same time as 2 Timothy) was considered to be the binding holy Word of God  as late as the 4^th century A.D.  … And what makes this so intriguing is that The Apocalypse of Peter – among other things – states quite clearly that all Souls will be eventually released from Hell, and that all of them will ultimately be allowed into Heaven; that no one (homosexual sinners included) need suffer for eternity in torment; in essence, that God is indeed at least moderately just and at least partially merciful …

Please consider:

 

“My Father will give unto them all the life, the glory, and the Kingdom that passeth not away … It is because of them that have believed in me that I am come.  It is also because of them that have believed in me, that, at their word, I shall have compassion for all men … Behold now what shall come upon them in the last days, when the day of God and the day of the decision of the judgment of God cometh.  From the east unto the west shall all the children of men be gathered together before my Father that liveth forever.  And He shall command Hell to open its bars of adamant and give up all that is therein.” ~ Jesus Christ (The Apocalypse of Peter – Coptic)

 

Filed under: Burnishing Bigotry by Scaughdt