jazzyhap

Erich, Interesting comments. I agree with all but one. The point you stated:1. Texts have only one meaning and should be taken literally. I personally study with The Companion Bible KJV, Strong's Concordance and Smith's Bible Dictionary for name meanings. I have found that if you research the words given in the KJV back to the original meanings from the manuscripts you get a deeper meaning.In the original 1611 authorized version the translators wrote and said they knew they made mistakes but did the best they could. For example Acts 12:4 the word "Easter" is not in the original manuscripts. The greek word is Pascha(meaning Passover) as also documented in 1 Cor 5:7"...For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:" Also remember that Paul taught on 3 levels as well as stated in Acts 9:15 since he was God's chosen vessel to 3 different groups. If this theory would be true, the book of Revelation would never make sense. Our lamb( Rev 7:10) is Jesus Christ not an animal. That does not mean they have more than one meaning. They have only one meaning, but many applications What difference are you applying to "meaning' and "applications"? Allegorical interpretation is biblical, bringing both a literal and allegorical meaning to the text as shown by Paul here. Galatians 4:24-31 "24 Which things are an allegory : for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written , Rejoice , thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry , thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." An allegory is not an interpretation. Allegory as demonsrated above in Gal. 4 is an attempt at an illustration. Paul is not attempting to interpret Scripture in his allegory. He is drawing an illustraion to make a didactic point. The "interpretation" or meaning of the passage must be understood in the light of the object the author has in view. There is only ONE interpretation of any given passage, though various applications can be made. Even then, applications cannot contradict the text or any doctrine of Scripture. Okay, so what you are saying is All scripture is literal. The interpretations can vary in style,(symbol, allegory, etc.) but the interpretation can never contradict the literal meaning. Think I got it.

Erich, Interesting comments. I agree with all but one. The point you stated:1. Texts have only one meaning and should be taken literally. I personally study with The Companion Bible KJV, Strong's Concordance and Smith's Bible Dictionary for name meanings. I have found that if you research the words given in the KJV back to the original meanings from the manuscripts you get a deeper meaning.In the original 1611 authorized version the translators wrote and said they knew they made mistakes but did the best they could. For example Acts 12:4 the word "Easter" is not in the original manuscripts. The greek word is Pascha(meaning Passover) as also documented in 1 Cor 5:7"...For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:" Also remember that Paul taught on 3 levels as well as stated in Acts 9:15 since he was God's chosen vessel to 3 different groups. If this theory would be true, the book of Revelation would never make sense. Our lamb( Rev 7:10) is Jesus Christ not an animal. That does not mean they have more than one meaning. They have only one meaning, but many applications What difference are you applying to "meaning' and "applications"? Allegorical interpretation is biblical, bringing both a literal and allegorical meaning to the text as shown by Paul here. Galatians 4:24-31 "24 Which things are an allegory : for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written , Rejoice , thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry , thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."

If a person is a Calvinist, then yes should be an almost automatic answer. If a person is an Arminian, then the answer gets "cloudy". My best explanation would be no, not every person, though God has a knowledge of every person you will encounter in life, not everyone in your life would be sent by God. How I reconcile this is, we have free will (Arminian), so we can choose the direction of our life. Of course, God already knows our end outcome. "Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." In the beginning (time), God created the heaven (space) and the earth. (matter) Time, space, and matter come into existence at the same time. This tells us that for God to create time, space, and matter, then God exists "outside" of time, space, and matter. I hope that makes sense. So if God exists outside of "time", then God would view time differently than we do. Much like looking at a tape measure, you see 1' and you see 10'. In a similar way, God sees both the beginning and the end of time, and all in between. Just because God can see time to the end does not mean God has constantly forced his will on mankind, taking away our free will. Much like the LORD telling Joseph to take Mary and Jesus out, for the king was to kill all the children in Bethlehem, God's will surpassed the earthly king's will. Likewise God influenced Pharaoh in dealing with Moses, hardening Pharaoh's heart. So from time to time, God will have "divine appointments", but for the most part, God lets your will decide, and that includes your direction in life which influences who you will encounter. My 2 cents.