Posted on 08/16/2008 3:43:24 PM PDT by NYer
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth."
Jesus did not accept the opinions of men, as shown in Matthew 16:13-17:
"And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile."
"And now, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Act carefully, for with the LORD, our God there is no injustice, no partiality, no bribe-taking." "There is no partiality with God." "Masters, act in the same way toward them, and stop bullying, knowing that both they and you have a Master in heaven and that with him there is no partiality." "For the wrongdoer will receive recompense for the wrong he committed, and there is no partiality." "My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ."
There are three sides to every dispute, side A, side B, and the one side of truth.
Why are there so many differences of opinion among those who read the same verses? 1. "All have sinned", Rom 3:23
Mark 12:14 (NAB)
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status."
Matthew 22:16
They posed this question to him, "Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is correct, and you show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth."
Luke 20:21
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father."
See? His disciples mostly expressed personal opinions, which meant little to Jesus.
The one exception was Simon Peter, the only one who answered with doctrinal truth.
1Pet 1:17
"In rendering judgment, do not consider who a person is; give ear to the lowly and to the great alike, fearing no man, for judgment is God’s. Refer to me any case that is too hard for you and I will hear it."
Deut 1:17
"For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;"
Deut 10:17
2Chron 19:7
Rom 2:11
Eph 6:9
Col 3:25
Jam 2:1
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but opinions are just that,
and are not to be taken as a substitute or stand-in for doctrinal truth.
Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality."
Acts 10:34
"What is Truth?"
John 18:38
There is only one truth, and that one truth is one person, the person of Jesus Christ.
In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life".
Therefore, we have only one teacher, and one truth.
What does Holy Scripture tell us about speaking the truth?
"But the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me
nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"
1King 22:16, 2Chron 18:15
"The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth."
Psa 145:18
"He who speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit."
Prov 12:17
"These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another,
render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace."
Zech 8:16
"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
John 4:24
"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
John 8:44
"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you."
John 14:16-17
"Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth."
John 17:17
That verse is interesting because with it we can refer to another verse which defined the Word:
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness
of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth."
Rom 1:18
"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,
who is blessed for ever! Amen."
Rom 1:25
"...but for those who are factious (opinionated maybe?) and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury."
Rom 2:8
"We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
2Cor 4:2
"For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth."
2Cor 13:8
"Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?"
Gal 4:16
"You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life. I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?"
John 5:39-44
"In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good.
First of all, I hear that when you meet as a church there are divisions among you (the end result of differing opinions), and to a degree I believe it; there have to be factions among you in order that those who are approved (those who have the truth) among you may become known. When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the church (note a singular Church) of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you."
1Cor 11: 17-22
"They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth."
Amos 5:10
"The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
2Thess 2:9-12
"This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
1Tim 2:3-4
"If I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth."
1Tim 3:15
"If any one teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. There is great gain in godliness with contentment;"
1Tim 6:3-6
"But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; they said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." It is these who set up divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they told you, "In (the) last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires." These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit."
Jude 1:17-19
One reason is because each person has a built in filtering system. What we hear enters the ear, and what we read enters the eye, and both are filtered by the brain and stored. Since each person is a unique human being, these filtering systems can vary from person to person. What one interprets after it is filtered can be different from what another interprets, thus a difference of opinion results. Let us take a look at some typical verses as examples of opinionated filtering systems:
A. The fundamentalist would take this verse literally as he reads his English translation of the bible. He would say by the use of the word "all", it surely means just that, everyone who has ever lived has sinned. There is no doubt about it.
B. Another person, knowing that this verse was not written in English, but in Greek, might question the English translation for using the word "all" from the Greek word "pas*". His filter system has brought him to the conclusion that it could not mean everyone, but "a great many". After all, he reasons, did Jesus sin? Have babies sinned? Can a comatose person sin? He has come to the conclusion that since he has found three exceptions to the word "all", might there not be more?
So, have all really sinned?
Which one has the correct opinion if either? In this example it is seen that where there is a translation from one language to another, there could be variations in the meaning of the verse.
*The Greek word Pas, indeed can mean 'a great many', or 'any'.
2. "So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;" John 6:53
A. The fundamentalist, who takes almost the whole Bible literally, would drop the literal translation of that verse in favor of an opinionated symbolic translation. He uses eisegesis which means, reading into a text something that simply is not there. In no way did Jesus say that he was speaking symbolically.
B. The other person, knowing that it was said by "truth" Himself would take the verse literally. Jesus said it, therefore it has to be true.
So, which interpretation of that verse is the true interpretation? The fundamentalist would say that Scripture is clear and is easily interpreted.
Well if Scripture is so clear, then why are there so many differences of opinion as to its interpretation? And not only that, but why does Scripture itself say that it is not clear?
"So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures."
2Pet 3:15-16
In this little exercise with the examples presented, you can readily see how personal opinions can make accurate study of Holy Scripture problematic, and can be the root cause of division.
So what is the answer regarding personal opinions? How can we determine which one has doctrinal truth, and which one is merely expressing a misguided personal opinion?
We can be sure by having only one authority, bestowed by GOD, to separate what is truth from what is error. Read Matthew 16:13-17 again, for the perfect Biblical example of personal opinions of men versus doctrinal truth given by GOD to the one and only Simon Peter."What is truth comes from GOD. What is false comes from man."
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding."
Proverbs 3:5
"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."
Proverbs 18:2
So ... what is your opinion?
Is private interpretation of the Bible condoned in the Bible Itself? No, it is not (2 Peter 1:20). Was individual interpretation of Scripture practiced by the early Christians or the Jews? Again, "NO" (Acts 8:29-35). The assertion that individuals can correctly interpret Scripture is false. Even the "founder" of Sola Scriptura (Martin Luther), near the end of his life, was afraid that "any milkmaid who could read" would found a new Christian denomination based on his or her "interpretation" of the Bible. Luther opened a "Pandora's Box" when he insisted that the Bible could be interpreted by individuals and that It is the sole authority of Christianity. Why do we have over 20,000 different non-Catholic Christian denominations? The reason is individuals' "different" interpretations of the Bible. cf
**The one exception was Simon Peter, the only one who answered with doctrinal truth. **
No YOPIOS for me.
For those of you who are new:
“Your Own Personal Interpretation Of Scripture”
Have you ever had that, for lack of a better description, “out of body experience” at Mass, that the readings of the day and the homily are just for you and no one else heard the same thing you did? Just wondering.
I know your post was not directed at me but I have definitely felt that God chose which passage should be read that particular day specifically for me. How does He do that? :0)
As to your assertion that interpretation was not an individual practice in the early church, I would point you to 1 Cor 14:26 which specifically states that interpretation (along with other efforts) is done to strengthen the church. Your reference of Acts 8 and Phillip and the eunuch, clearly shows that Phillip provided an interpretation of the scripture.
The points you make about denominations are not relevant to this discussion. The truth still remains that I will answer for my actions. My actions will ALWAYS be based upon my beliefs and those are based upon my accepted interpretation of scripture. Some choose to risk their souls on someone else's interpretation. That is a fool's errand for the bible teaches that we each will answer for our own transgressions.
I'm POSITVE that you would not want me or my pastor or my neighbor trying to answer to God for your life. You are the one who lived your life, you will be held accountable.... just like everyone else.
I am glad I am not the only one. It’s awesome and weird all at the same time. A priest told me once, that he is not aware of what he tells people sometimes, or like how the individual heard him. So God is just to much for me to understand.
You will answer for your actions on Almighty God’s terms, not yours.
But God does not control my actions - I control my own. And the controls that I place on my actions are based upon my interpretation of what God’s will is according to how it was revealed to me.
The Liberal/Marxist wag a finger at Jesus and call Him “intolerant”!
How do you know it’s God?
The Devil comes much more often as an Angel of Light.
Oh, more than once.
A friend who’s staying with us went to Mass with me this afternoon, and she said afterward that all the readings and the homily seemed to address what is going on in her life. That often happens to me. The lectionary is fixed, of course, but grace toward each of us, individually, influences how we react to what we hear.
It’s pretty cool how God works, no?
It's so awesome when it happens, because quite honestly how often are we so distracted at Mass that we miss things? I always figure that someone else needed more attention that day.
That and by the very nature of our awesome Church, it is sometimes a bit of a circus.
To get back to the original question. When I have a conflict between my opinion and doctrine. I research the doctrine and read until I get it. In other words I figure that there have been far more learned people then I, who believed it meant thusly, so....... They are more likely to be righty informed then my opinion is.
Our priest is a very good preacher. Many people have thaht feeling.
I have been so close to Christ in the Consecration of the Blessed Sacrament” that tears run down my face.
**A priest told me once, that he is not aware of what he tells people sometimes, or like how the individual heard him. So God is just to much for me to understand.**
Our priest also writes his homilies in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the little Adoration Chapel he has in his house. And, I believe it is true, that the Holy Spirit has the words there for a purpose. Only God knows.
Great one!
That’s one advantage that we as Catholics have!
Catechism
Canon Law
Canon of the Bible
Liturgical Guidelines
Lectionary and Sacramentary
The Word of God — the complete Bible
Wisdom of the Early Church Fathers
It’s all there for us, all we have to do is show up and do the research! We are very fortunate, aren’t we?
You wrote:
“But God does not control my actions - I control my own.”
True.
“And the controls that I place on my actions are based upon my interpretation of what God’s will is according to how it was revealed to me.”
But does that mean you have to make it up as you go along? You have scripture as a guide, but what else? The Church. Christ sent the Church to be our teacher in the faith.
True. It’s very hard to explain to those outside the Church. It just is, you know? It is what it is.
He looked at it and said, that's what I like to see! He says you've read it? I said yes, many times.
I have a friend who has a copy of Christopher West’s “Theology of the Body Explained” like that. When she went to a Theology of the Body workshop back east, Christopher West also noticed her book — but she got a kiss on the cheek from him. LOL!
LOL, I was so worried that I had done something wrong. LOL, if he saw my Bible, I might have gotten a kiss. I have paperback ones. I figured that if I bought a fancy one I would be afraid I would mess it up. The covers on both of my Bibles are pretty sad as well.
My Bible is getting that way. It is all marked up and written in. In fact I have two Bibles like that. LOL! Lots of good notes.
I’m sure someone will take us to task for it. ;)
Catholics using their Bibles like that? Horrors! <sarc off
My bible looks like that...You know why??? Because my bible has the command to STUDY...Study what??? Well the Scriptures of course...
Ya, they make good coasters, don't they...
I guess I am not getting your point. :)
God tells Christians, as individuals, to study the Scripture...NOT the literature put out by the Jehovah Witnesses, NOT the literature put out by the Mormons...NOT the literature put out by the Catholics...NOT the literature put out by the Muzlims and NOT the literature put out by the Moonies...
I just don’t like the New American. I have the Ignatius RSV and the Navarre Bible commentaries, which also use the RSV. The only time we read the New American is in the lectionary.
Well sure it is...And so is the Jehovah Witnesses 'Awake' magazine...And the Mormon's Joe Smith bible, and so is the Koran...Even the Moonies quote scripture from time to time...
Your (their) literature is nothing more than someone's commentary on what they think God wrote in the Scripture...
God said to study the scriptures...He did NOT say to let someone else do it for you and then take for granted that they have learned the truth and will share it with you...
I most certainly have. I often wondered if it was just me. Apparently not.
Where does it say that in Scripture?
As for 2 Peter 1:20, interpreting Scripture is not a matter of one's own private interpretation. Therefore, it must be a matter of "public" interpretation of the Church. The Divine Word needs a Divine Interpreter. Private judgment leads to divisions, and this is why there are 30,000 different Protestant denominations. Peter indicates this in 2 Peter 3:16 where he points out that the Scriptures are difficult to understand and can be distorted by the ignorant to their destruction. God did not guarantee the Holy Spirit would lead each of us to infallibly interpret the Scriptures.
The word "truth" appears only in the singular throughout the Bible. There can be only one truth. If, as you assert, the Holy Spirit guides each person in interpreting scripture, then they would all arrive at the same truth.
Scripture never says that Scripture is the sole infallible authority for God's Word. Scripture also mandates the use of tradition. This fact alone disproves sola Scriptura.
OK, so what makes your study so superior to theirs? Because you can quote the Bible? I can as well, but that really does not serve the purpose of my journey.
:) You are not alone. I think someone famous said that once. ;)
I prefer the Ignatius RSV, but the New American has the notes. I would love to have the Navarre Bible commentaries, I hear they are wonderful.
I have the Navarre Bible New Testament in about a dozen separate paperback books (easy to carry in my purse!), and the “Major Prophets” in a giant hardback. They’re really worth the price.
I do have a commentary for almost every book, but by different people. I have the Gospels, Revelation (my favorite in many ways) and Acts from Fr. Owen McBride. They are really good.
My Old Testament ones are from a series that I can't place the name of right now.
Is is true that Scott Hahn was in on the Navarre project? I moved from a city of a half million people to rural area in Minnesota last year and I am separated from my former book stores in Indiana. Thank God for the Internet.
Scott Hahn is a contributor to a different commentary series, I think, not that Navarre Bible. I’m sure it’s interesting, but if we bought all the books we want, we’d have to move out into the yard and leave the house to the books and pets :-). (Thank God for the library!)
LOL, I hear you. It will be a hard sell to my hubby. He feels I already have more then enough books as it is.
It is highly unlikely that ignorance and relativism will be mitigating factors during your particular judgment.
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