Finding Truth in Scripture

[lftc]

In another topic, I sought the wisdom of the community here.  I asked what technique people use to resolve difficult to understand scriptures.  I got many great answers.  Here is result:

Primary Sources:

- Rely on God - He is supreme and He will speak - Spirit is trustworthy
- Scripture Alone is claimed as the sole source by some
- Within the scriptures, determination must be made as to which passage(s) contain the primary message, there after using that passage to understand other passages.

Secondary Sources:

- Counselors, direct contact and remote, play a role, but you must have a rubric (logic structure) with which to evaulate them.  Their role is primarily to help with understanding the context of the whole of scripture.
- Positional Authority (church government) has a high hurdle to jump to qualify as a source - if force is involved the hurdle is too high
 

I am posting it again as the original post was so long that I think I lost readers.
I just want to see if this makes sense to most people.  Click the reaction icon at the lower right to indicate what you think of this list of decision points.

Edited August 27, 2019 by lftc

[missmuffet]

I pray to God to show me the truth of the scripture I am reading. I also go to Got Questions to get some of my answers. 

[lftc]

Did this topic fail to generate interest, or did I inadvertently offend people?

[Justin Adams]

1 hour ago, lftc said:

Did this topic fail to generate interest, or did I inadvertently offend people?

I think you might find that people do not readily reply to something esoteric. We have mostly lost the art of study and conversation. Most scripture has had the supernatural stripped from it so it is a bunch of one-liners. See the replies to most topics. Pet one-liners but often not much else because they have been encouraged to check in their brains at the church door and not to question or discuss thing they have been 'taught' on a very superficial level. Not everyone of course, but a large majority of those with an ax to grind will chime in if they see and opportunity to come and borrow your grind-stone to sharpen their particular understanding of 'truth'. 

Maybe if your topic were, "What is Truth?" you might get more replies.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Justin Adams

[Jayne]

11 minutes ago, Justin Adams said:

I think you might find that people do not readily reply to something esoteric. We have mostly lost the art of study and conversation. 

I don't think the OP's post here or his original one asking the primary question could be called esoteric.  It's pretty clear-cut to me.

I didn't respond to this post because I already responded to the original.  That's where the "study and conversation" was.

He received 22 responses to the original question "Who Gets the Final Say" [in what scriptures mean.]  

In this post, he simply posted the results of the answers given.

What "study and conversation" that is deemed "esoteric" is there to be had here?

All he has asked for is a click on an icon to show if we agree or disagree with the list from the first post.

[lovethelord]

Hi lftc,

(I realized that I probably should have posted this reply on your other post your referring to. But here is my own study methods).

Here is the way I read my bible, I tend to read each verse slowly and pray to God for direction. I supplement my study with the Treasury of Scripture knowledge. I also may look at other bible commentaries.  I can spend up to 1-3 weeks studying just one verse or paragraph since my goal is to get quality of understanding. I was once told that I tend to dissect the passages because of the way I study. Again, speaking for myself I believe the Bible is supernatural and powerful. I love reading it! In my opinion you don't need a self help book. I believe the Bible gives us so much loving guidance. I am constantly amazed at the unbelievable wisdom given by God. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by lovethelord

[lftc]

39 minutes ago, Justin Adams said:

I think you might find that people do not readily reply to something esoteric. We have mostly lost the art of study and conversation. Most scripture has had the supernatural stripped from it so it is a bunch of one-liners. See the replies to most topics. Pet one-liners but often not much else because they have been encouraged to check in their brains at the church door and not to question or discuss thing they have been 'taught' on a very superficial level. Not everyone of course, but a large majority of those with an ax to grind will chime in if they see and opportunity to come and borrow your grind-stone to sharpen their particular understanding of 'truth'. 

Maybe if your topic were, "What is Truth?" you might get more replies.

Thanks for the insight Justin.  I was hoping to stir a little thought process as I gauged what kind of audience is here.  It is a curious dichotomy (as we so often encounter):  on the one side we certainly need to be peacemakers, full of Love, but on the other hand we see so much difficulty with applying the scriptures in ways that harm people.  Which would be proper if true, but as there are other ways to understand that align with Love, such interpretations are less convincing.  I agree with your assessment that the supernatural is stripped out of a lot of people's understanding. 

What is truth?  Like Pilate dodging Jesus.

[Justin Adams]

43 minutes ago, Jayne said:

All he has asked for is a click on an icon to show if we agree or disagree with the list from the first post.

Sorry. I saw no icon on my display. I just was interested in his quest why no one had replied. And yes, I recall the original. 

added: Ok I think I got it now... (some pages do not have icons)

Edited August 29, 2019 by Justin Adams

[Justin Adams]

14 minutes ago, lftc said:

Thanks for the insight Justin.  I was hoping to stir a little thought process as I gauged what kind of audience is here.  It is a curious dichotomy (as we so often encounter):  on the one side we certainly need to be peacemakers, full of Love, but on the other hand we see so much difficulty with applying the scriptures in ways that harm people.  Which would be proper if true, but as there are other ways to understand that align with Love, such interpretations are less convincing.  I agree with your assessment that the supernatural is stripped out of a lot of people's understanding. 

What is truth?  Like Pilate dodging Jesus.

Yes. Ok, was unsure what you were getting at, but anyhow you got my ten cents worth (both times). Jayne steered me in the right direction. But seeing what you noted, some find it very easy to see 'the worst' sometimes and criticize in a hip-shot kind of reaction. This is understandable since if they even watch ten minutes of world news, they will hear mostly pundits tearing folks apart.

I often entertain fairly deep scholars' ideas, so am quite used to in-depth concepts. Catching them before they fly over my head is difficult and has thus meant that I do not get the whole thing the first time around. I have seen how highly critical 'scholars' have messed up our brains with the evolutionary paradigm applying it to scripture (and truth). So much so that I do believe people are very reticent when it comes to stating their deeply held core beliefs. That is one (sad) reason for the many doctrines that really only serve to protect us from 'the wolves'. However the wolves look like sheep nowadays - check out YouTube, and see what I mean.

[lftc]

47 minutes ago, Jayne said:

He received 22 responses to the original question "Who Gets the Final Say" [in what scriptures mean.]  

In this post, he simply posted the results of the answers given.

All he has asked for is a click on an icon to show if we agree or disagree with the list from the first post.

Hi Jayne.

I was trying to see what logic made sense to the people in this forum.  Hence I asked for a Like or other vote to see if what I compiled made sense. 

As the method by which a person arrives at their understanding is certainly germaine to following their logic, I can see why Justin referred to it as esoteric.

As it is not a specific question about a theology topic, I can see why it is not esoteric to you.  Rather than being esoteric, it could just look like another lurker trying to build up ammunition to attack or asking questions to try to trap people. 

Such is the difficulty of communicating through inexpressive methods (text).  Sorry if I have conveyed anything other than honest questions trying to learn what environment exists here in this forum.

I clicked Like on everybodies responses to the original question because I found something to like in each one.   Each unique, each sincere, each expressing that it is important to them to find truth in scripture.  Almost like each person was unique, imagine that.

Again, I summarized in this topic to see if people could find a common understanding from their divergent approaches.

I take it that you did not like the summary and choose to not click any of the icons as the way to express that.  OK.