Dumb! there is nothing holy about the book called bible, our material and idolatory nature will always make us want to associate divinity or holiness to what is seen. Once more I state categorically that the bible is not a holy book and neither is it "the word of God". SHAME!!! on you if your god's word can be found in human prints. Even the golden tablet, claimed to be given to moses directly from the creator was destroyed. That was as close as anything written in print could get to holiness. The bible is a compilation of accounts, experiences, findings etc written by men as they encountered the creator, it is a book of records that directs us to understanding the purpose and direction of humanity and just like many other books it holds useful knowledge, this I insist once more does not make it holy or the word of god. The word of God is the reason for existence of all form of life and all that exists animate and inanimate(all creation) and this word is not the bible. Read the bible like a book that it is, disabuse your mind of all association of this beautiful book with "mystery" or "secrecy" or "holiness" or "divinity" and the truth in those written words will be made evident to you in simplicity. A thief can use the same bible to steal just as the Devil quoted the bible to the Christ when he was tempted... The mere reason that there could be contradicting interpretations to the content of this book makes it once more a book and not the Word of God. Those speaking of the same bible knows it says...the word of god is the same yesterday today and forever...the word of God shall not return to him void until it has accomplished that for which it was sent...the word of God is yea and amen..hellodoes this refer to the bible? what about the lewdness of the song of solomon? some examples below...

13 As a bag of myrrh is my well-loved one to me, when he is at rest all night between my br-easts.

1 ¶ By night on my bed I was looking for him who is the love of my soul: I was looking for him, but I did not see him.

4 I was but a little way from them, when I came face to face with him who is the love of my soul. I took him by the hands, and did not let him go, till I had taken him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who gave me birth.

3 Your red lips are like a bright thread, and your mouth is fair of form; the sides of your head are like pomegranate fruit under your veil.

5 Your two br-easts are like two young roes of the same birth, which take their food among the lilies.


what the heck does your word of god have to do with the br-easts of a woman and kisses and love making? Yes dont look away! we are still talking about the same bible. How deceitful we are to use the bible to con the simple hearted to our profit and at the same time avoid such other parts of it. For all the pastors and con artists spitting rubbish here as though they had breakfast, lunch and dinner with the god...where is it written within the same bible that the bible you talk about (consisting from genesis to revelation)is the word of God? show me where in the bible that we are told that this book is the word of god. The bible is for knowledge and empowers the soul and I restate "the letter (scripture or book) killeth but the Spirit gives life.

You all claiming holy brothers and sisters, pastors, reverends, bishops, apostles, archbishops and whatever rubbish ranks exist in your religion, lets have some bible study tonight from 2Corithians Chapter 3.

5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 ¶ who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Paul categorically states that we are not ministers called to letters but of Spirit because he knew how much controversies could be dug out of letters or whatever is written i.e documented just as lawyers argue unending over interpretation of constitutions or laws. This is the reason for divisions among that religion called christianity...it is simply caused by disagreement over the interpretation of letters (the bible, scriptures), while some want to tie their hair as the bible says, others dont want to wear trousers as the bible says, some say you shouldnt wear ear rings according to the bible, others say you can marry more than one wife if you want a son, some say you can divorce if you like, others say pastor should not curl his hair according to the bible, some say pastors should have private jet, even robbers and hookers have their own bits according to the bible, some say sodomy is cursed according to the bible, others are building churches for same sex marriage and ordaining homosexuals as leaders as the bible says, so we all we like sheep have gone astray, we have driven each man to his own way and now there cant even exist a united congregation talk less of a united church because of the letters - Truly, Truly, these letters kill.

7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away

The ten commandment is what Paul refers to as the ministry of death, if you are truly a bible scholar you will note that reference to letters engraved in stones is about the ten commandment which was re-written by Moses after he broke the Golden tablets. Note as he emphasises on the passing away of the great glory of these letters. The bible similarly is simply full of letters and whoever dwells on interpreting these letters as divine or laws ministers death to himself as he said in verse 6 - for the letter killeth.


12 ¶ Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech-
13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.
14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ


Note especially verse 14 - but their minds were blinded by a veil which remains till this day in the reading of the old testament. Paul was speaking of a veil cast over the mind of the jews caused by reading and interpretation of letters in the old testament (the scriptures of then, the bible of then).He never saw the books that we carnally devised as "new testament" but condemned the letters of the old testament as casting a veil over the minds of the jews and admonished that this veil has been taken away in Christ which he considered the new testament. Today we have taken up both the veil of the old testament and combined it with the veil of the new testament and added the veil of our general overseers and archbishops....and surely we are four time blinder than the group Paul was writing to all because we seek holy books and laws. Christ is really the new testament and not the books of Matthew to Revelation.

15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

He continues in verse 15, by saying that as we continue to dwell on the written testaments a veil lies on our hearts but this veil is removed by the knowledge of the Spirit that is in the Lord (the Christ) for it is this spirit that removes the veil and liberates us (the letter kills (blinds) but the Spirit gives life). Finally, when the veil of the letters (the laws, the ministry of condemnation and death) have been removed from our eyes, we shall behold the glory in the person of the Christ and shall be transformed gradually from glory to glory by the Spirit into this very image.

I am not a pastor, nor a preacher I am not even christian nor do I practise religion, I read what was written in simplicity just as I will read my lecture notes and understood what the lecturer was saying. Its as simple as that, there is not extra holiness required, neither is there a mystery to it. Read your bible book for yourself and stop waiting for con men, false preachers, deceivers, liars to make a fool and fortune of you from their "I am a man of God" and "The word of God says" nonsense.

charlsecy4: I was with a friend last Sunday. He said that the meaning of each verse in the Bible is non-specific, that it depends on "AS PER REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" to the reader. He was like saying that two or more individuals could read a passage in the Scripture, and the Holy Spirit would reveal different meanings to the individuals.

So, let's discuss: Does Each Bible Text Have A Fixed Interpretation, or Does It Depend On What The Holy Spirit Reveals To The Reader?

A capital resounding NO! That's the root cause of confusion in present day Christendom. That's how we can claim to all be inspired of the same Spirit and have almost 50,000 denominations, some of whom have doctrines diametrically opposed to one another.

God is truth and cannot lie. Most people don't realize that truth is VERY exclusive. If God says something like e.g. The sky is blue, any one coming after to say the sky is blue-green or the sky is gray is telling a lie. So if its not God's truth then its a lie.

2 Peter 1: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Men spoke as they were moved by God, to a particular situation. Of course, there are certain principles spoken about in the bible that apply to diverse situations, like the Proverbs and so on. Applications of scripture may differ, but meaning NEVER differs.

Osgee: As much as will claim to be Bible scholars will know that no one verse in the Bible has a fixed meaning. The word of God is new every morning. If you really are in communion with the Holy Spirit, He will always teach you something new even if you read the Word a thousand times. Get this book by Benny Hinn and read- Good morning Holy Spirit- you wil undertand moreThe word of God is new every morning. It is dynamic.

This is wrong. I don't know what that book contains but it is the MERCIES of God that are new every morning, not his word. The Word of God doesn't change - if it did, that would make him a liar, don't you think? The people in the world that boast of having DYNAMIC words are deceitful ones that twist words to suit their purpose, and God does not do that.

Kamxin: The catholic church have the holy spirit(Jn 16:12-13), thats why writing and interpreting our works is possible. Let dis be clear any written works by humans is an intellectual property, and so the issue of copyright is coming into play. Thats why you can't remove a single word from the koran (pirating) legally because it is a violation of copyright.

Guy, all this talk about catholic church 'owning' the bible is borderline blasphemy. Beware. We both agree that the bible can't be privately interpreted but that private interpretation does not belong solely to any person or organization. It belongs to whoever the Holy Spirit gives it to, and this will be known by other brethren who are also in agreement with the Spirit.

No, each bible text doesn't have a fixed interpretation. For instance, you can quote a bible text and use it to emphasis more than one truth. Second, the word of God is the sword of the Spirit and it is two-edge sword, it is not a one way traffic thing. For example,

New Living Translation (©2007)
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

New International Version (©1984)
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, - Galatians 4:4

This single text can be used to show, prove, highlight and emphasis the following points:

I. There is time for everything and God works according right timing.
II. Christ was born of a woman.
III. Christ was born under the law and was subject to the law.

mollie12: Guy, all this talk about catholic church 'owning' the bible is borderline blasphemy. Beware. We both agree that the bible can't be privately interpreted but that private interpretation does not belong solely to any person or organization. It belongs to whoever the Holy Spirit gives it to, and this will be known by other brethren who are also in agreement with the Spirit.

You seem not to understand the implication of your argument. Which organization has interpreted, been interpreting and has continued to interprete the bible? The Roman catholic Church and its affiliate.

Like somebody has already said, the bible is not the inerrant words of some male god residing nowhere in particular in the sky, it is a compilation of different writings and texts from different anonymous writers-many of them fictitious- with belief systems that were not neccessarily christian.

Whether it is the words of a god or not, it has always been tampered with by the roman catholic church. Besides, both the OT and the NT books were canonized by mere mortals-rabis and bishops playing power politics. The OT for example was canonized at the Council of Jamnia by imperfect Jewish rabis; it should also be noted that the books that they canonized were as well from different sources and not representative of the views of every Jews as there were Jews living in Ethiopia who either did not hear of it or did not accept the decision of Jamnia. To this day they use a different canon than their Palestinian brethren [Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol 6, p 1147].

As for the NT, its canonization process constituted a menace; the meetings were rancous and wild with bishops angrily shouting down eachother and disagreeing with eachother to the point of getting physical with gangs. They threw away books that did not meet their god-inspired pre-requisites, altered those that they felt needed little tweaking before joining the club and later pronounced them gospels, indeed they were god's spells cos one has to be under a spel to believe the BS written in those books.

For instance the story of the adultrous woman shows a typical example of alteration and writing to fit a purpose and how rife they are in the bible; the question is this, who did the woman commmit the adultry with? Where is the man in question? Did she commit adultery all by herself? How come the tales of her punishment was only reported while the man that commited it with her gets a silent report, what a mysoginistic depiction of event and that's all you see in the bible. Men dominating everything while the women just sit and obey like zombies.

The book of matthew, Mark, and John were not written by the men that bore these names, they were barely educated to write any of those books in the language in which they were originally copied from, those books were written by anonymous church scribes, the names used were deliberately used to decieve and give the impression that they were directly from Jesus's disciples or prophets that had met Jesus and interacted with him.
Men, mere mortals made the bible divine, called and chose which of the many false depictions of events and lies to be described as god's inspired words. I repeat again, the irreconcilable BS is not inerrant, it is man's words against another man's words.

The bible is nothing different from the muslim Koran or other religious books based on the religious ideologies of their founders and then made divine through concocted mystic and mystery stories of its oringins.

WS. Smith:
.

If you are not a Christian who reads the bible as such, it makes sense that your "long" story above makes no sense. That goes for many people on NL who are quick to mis-quote and shout out all the negatives of the bible. Your ignorance about Christianity and bible is clear for all to see.

God is who He is.

Whether you believe it or not , whether you accept it or not. it doesn't change the fact that God remains God. He is still God. If you don't know it now, you will know it by the end of this year. This is a guarantee.

rhymz:

The end is near true and true. Even non- Christians have suddenly become experts in the word of God and bible. Spewing all sorts of rubbish.

Kamxin: The catholic church have the holy spirit(Jn 16:12-13), thats why writing and interpreting our works is possible. Let dis be clear any written works by humans is an intellectual property, and so the issue of copyright is coming into play. Thats why you can't remove a single word from the koran (pirating) legally because it is a violation of copyright.

You have lost your way. the Question of the poster remains unanswered . Does each bible text have a fixed interpretation? Or do you need to apply to the patent office to answer the question?

SELFWORTH:

The end is near true and true. Even non- Christians have suddenly become experts in the word of God and bible. Spewing all sorts of rubbish.

Go to Hell, you ignorant phoney that is trying to yap about things he obviously do not know and can't comprehend. So because you are christian, it makes you an expert, right? Lol. . What a joke!
Don't quote me again, you christian ignoramus, that will rather attack personality than address the main issue.

obadiah777: FOR EXAMPLE, A FEW DAYS AGO A VERSE WAS QUOTED REVELATION 12 VS 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

NATURALLY PEOPLE GAVE DIFFERENT ANSWERS AS TO WHOM THE MAN-CHILD WAS. THEY WERE COMING OUT OF THEIR OWN VAIN OPINIONS. BUT IF THEY HAD GONE PRECEPT FOR PRECEPT IN THE BIBLE ( OF COURSE THIS IS DIFFICULT AND REQUIRES KNOWING THE ENTIRE BIBLE ), THEN THEY WOULD HAVE FOUND OUT WHO THE MAN CHILD WAS

REVELATION 19 VS 5 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

THE COMMON THREAD IN THE PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT BEING >>> HE SHALL RULE ALL NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON. and with that we know the man child is the king of kings and lord of lords >>>>CHRIST

if you understand the end time prophesies very well you will know that that is the last antichrist to be revealed, we are now at the end time and we are almost getting to revelation chp 12, by the time we get to rev 15/16, the rapture will sound.. how will christ rule with a rod of iron when there is only one mission to die for humanity and retrieve the key of authority lost by the human race at the beginning of creation.... This man-child is about to be revealed and he will usher in the 666 proper, this is just the opposite of christ which is the antichrist.... get more facts

rhymz:

You seem not to understand the implication of your argument. Which organization has interpreted, been interpreting and has continued to interprete the bible? The Roman catholic Church and its affiliate.

Like somebody has already said, the bible is not the inerrant words of some male god residing nowhere in particular in the sky, it is a compilation of different writings and texts from different anonymous writers-many of them fictitious- with belief systems that were not neccessarily christian.

Whether it is the words of a god or not, it has always been tampered with by the roman catholic church. Besides, both the OT and the NT books were canonized by mere mortals-rabis and bishops playing power politics. The OT for example was canonized at the Council of Jamnia by imperfect Jewish rabis; it should also be noted that the books that they canonized were as well from different sources and not representative of the views of every Jews as there were Jews living in Ethiopia who either did not hear of it or did not accept the decision of Jamnia. To this day they use a different canon than their Palestinian brethren [Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol 6, p 1147].

As for the NT, its canonization process constituted a menace; the meetings were rancous and wild with bishops angrily shouting down eachother and disagreeing with eachother to the point of getting physical with gangs. They threw away books that did not meet their god-inspired pre-requisites, altered those that they felt needed little tweaking before joining the club and later pronounced them gospels, indeed they were god's spells cos one has to be under a spel to believe the BS written in those books.

For instance the story of the adultrous woman shows a typical example of alteration and writing to fit a purpose and how rife they are in the bible; the question is this, who did the woman commmit the adultry with? Where is the man in question? Did she commit adultery all by herself? How come the tales of her punishment was only reported while the man that commited it with her gets a silent report, what a mysoginistic depiction of event and that's all you see in the bible. Men dominating everything while the women just sit and obey like zombies.

The book of matthew, Mark, and John were not written by the men that bore these names, they were barely educated to write any of those books in the language in which they were originally copied from, those books were written by anonymous church scribes, the names used were deliberately used to decieve and give the impression that they were directly from Jesus's disciples or prophets that had met Jesus and interacted with him.
Men, mere mortals made the bible divine, called and chose which of the many false depictions of events and lies to be described as god's inspired words. I repeat again, the irreconcilable BS is not inerrant, it is man's words against another man's words.

The bible is nothing different from the muslim Koran or other religious books based on the religious ideologies of their founders and then made divine through concocted mystic and mystery stories of its oringins.

Tell them... Foolish christians that won't even bother to investigate the origin of what they practice, some nairalanders are here arguing the bible was not compiled by the catholic church, by bishops and "men of God" as corrupts as the ones we have today... No wonder most of the west have thrown religion away cos the truth was altered by selfish men to fit their purpose.

SELFWORTH:

If you are not a Christian who reads the bible as such, it makes sense that your "long" story above makes no sense. That goes for many people on NL who are quick to mis-quote and shout out all the negatives of the bible. Your ignorance about Christianity and bible is clear for all to see.

God is who He is.

Whether you believe it or not , whether you accept it or not. it doesn't change the fact that God remains God. He is still God. If you don't know it now, you will know it by the end of this year. This is a guarantee.

The Christ did not institute a religion, can you educate me on how the religion or institution of christianity came about and teach me on where the Christ laid a foundation or a constitution for such an institution? you are probably one of those engaged by bondage in the lies of your pastor or probably a pastor yourself and a false preacher, a deceiver. I have taught on pulpits and have also once preached falsehood as you do but God has brought me out of the kingdom of deception into marvellous light and freedom in Spirit. The Christ went against scriptures and its custodians (the pharisees and saducees) to establish a new convenant in Spirit and we stupidly today have gone back to the laws because we seek holy books. holy water, holy mantle, holy clothes, holy everything. How deceived we are. I am happy you know God is God and his word cannot change neither can it be misinterpreted, misquoted or quoted by the Devil. His word is sure and holds the foundations of the earth. I pray for you that before the end of the year, you will be touched by the light and the reality of a God so awesome.

Carlmax:

Tell them... Foolish christians that won't even bother to investigate the origin of what they practice, some nairalanders are here arguing the bible was not compiled by the catholic church, by bishops and "men of God" as corrupts as the ones we have today... No wonder most of the west have thrown religion away cos the truth was altered by selfish men to fit their purpose.

On point, thats the origin of the deception we face today.

SELFWORTH:

The end is near true and true. Even non- Christians have suddenly become experts in the word of God and bible. Spewing all sorts of rubbish.

Its interesting that you claiming to be Christian and expert in the bible can not expand on you caged/limited understanding but instead point accusing fingers on those that seek and teach the truth.

WS. Smith:
Dumb! there is nothing holy about the book called bible, our material and idolatory nature will always make us want to associate divinity or holiness to what is seen. Once more I state categorically that the bible is not a holy book and neither is it "the word of God". SHAME!!! on you if your god's word can be found in human prints. Even the golden tablet, claimed to be given to moses directly from the creator was destroyed. That was as close as anything written in print could get to holiness. The bible is a compilation of accounts, experiences, findings etc written by men as they encountered the creator, it is a book of records that directs us to understanding the purpose and direction of humanity and just like many other books it holds useful knowledge, this I insist once more does not make it holy or the word of god. The word of God is the reason for existence of all form of life and all that exists animate and inanimate(all creation) and this word is not the bible. Read the bible like a book that it is, disabuse your mind of all association of this beautiful book with "mystery" or "secrecy" or "holiness" or "divinity" and the truth in those written words will be made evident to you in simplicity. A thief can use the same bible to steal just as the Devil quoted the bible to the Christ when he was tempted... The mere reason that there could be contradicting interpretations to the content of this book makes it once more a book and not the Word of God. Those speaking of the same bible knows it says...the word of god is the same yesterday today and forever...the word of God shall not return to him void until it has accomplished that for which it was sent...the word of God is yea and amen..hellodoes this refer to the bible? what about the lewdness of the song of solomon? some examples below...

13 As a bag of myrrh is my well-loved one to me, when he is at rest all night between my br-easts.

1 ¶ By night on my bed I was looking for him who is the love of my soul: I was looking for him, but I did not see him.

4 I was but a little way from them, when I came face to face with him who is the love of my soul. I took him by the hands, and did not let him go, till I had taken him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who gave me birth.

3 Your red lips are like a bright thread, and your mouth is fair of form; the sides of your head are like pomegranate fruit under your veil.

5 Your two br-easts are like two young roes of the same birth, which take their food among the lilies.


what the heck does your word of god have to do with the br-easts of a woman and kisses and love making? Yes dont look away! we are still talking about the same bible. How deceitful we are to use the bible to con the simple hearted to our profit and at the same time avoid such other parts of it. For all the pastors and con artists spitting rubbish here as though they had breakfast, lunch and dinner with the god...where is it written within the same bible that the bible you talk about (consisting from genesis to revelation)is the word of God? show me where in the bible that we are told that this book is the word of god. The bible is for knowledge and empowers the soul and I restate "the letter (scripture or book) killeth but the Spirit gives life.

THIS IS THE TRUTH AND MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS YOUR SOUL.

SELFWORTH:

If you are not a Christian who reads the bible as such, it makes sense that your "long" story above makes no sense. That goes for many people on NL who are quick to mis-quote and shout out all the negatives of the bible. Your ignorance about Christianity and bible is clear for all to see.

God is who He is.

Whether you believe it or not , whether you accept it or not. it doesn't change the fact that God remains God. He is still God. If you don't know it now, you will know it by the end of this year. This is a guarantee.

Contrary to your opinion about WS, it is your response that makes no sense at all. WS marshaled and articulated his points clearly, the onus is on you to take him up point by point with intelligent and superior arguments. Where you dont have one, it will be better for you to keep quiet rather than expose your ignorance.

@OP
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Not all text have a fixed interpretation as it were, as the word of God is quick/alive. No scripture is of private interpretation. All scripture has to be looked at in the context of ALL scripture. That is in the context of the whole Bible and of the Spirit of God. It's like you can't exactly and thoroughly conclude on the contents of a letter by its cover or by a part of the letter. For instance, you can't just read the address and make thorough conclusions or read just the ending. All of the letter should be read and then aimed at synchronisation, and with an honest attempt to understand. You need to understand that it is the same Author that is for all of the Scriptures. The Author is God.

Danyl:
if you understand the end time prophesies very well you will know that that is the last antichrist to be revealed, we are now at the end time and we are almost getting to revelation chp 12, by the time we get to rev 15/16, the rapture will sound.. how will christ rule with a rod of iron when there is only one mission to die for humanity and retrieve the key of authority lost by the human race at the beginning of creation.... This man-child is about to be revealed and he will usher in the 666 proper, this is just the opposite of christ which is the antichrist.... get more facts

HERESY