[reaganaut]

It is about discerning FALSE PROPHETS, it does not have universal application. You cannot make it say something it does not, that is reading into the text (eisegesis) not reading OUT of the text (exegesis).

There are other verses that discuss your point but ‘by their fruits’ isn’t one of them.

Part of what is wrong with ‘feel good Christianity’ is a definitive lack of proper exegesis. Sad really.

BTW, theology is my job (or at least one of them).

[Outlaw Woman]

Bless you. Have a wonderful evening.

[mstar]

It is about discerning FALSE PROPHETS, it does not have universal application. You cannot make it say something it does not, that is reading into the text (eisegesis) not reading OUT of the text (exegesis). There are other verses that discuss your point but ‘by their fruits’ isn’t one of them.

Judging "fruits", not the individual, is a running theme through the New Testament. It is not our place to judge the individual, that is for God alone.

[NoCmpromiz]

Let me toss this in here, and then I must get some sleep (being here on the right coast, it is tomorrow already...) Reaganaut, you are correct. Having said that, remember that God's Word is Its own best commentary. It is contextually and literally correct that the Matthew 7 passage in question ('Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Mat. 7:20 NIV) is referring to verse 15. Then following the principle of allowing the Bible to comment on itself, when we visit the parallel rendering in Luke 6, we see that false prophets are not in that rendering. Strict literalists then have the task of determining if the words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew are the same 'sermon' that Luke recorded, and if so, then you are forced to pick and choose which passage is the 'real' passage. Or maybe it was two different sermons, thus the slightly different renderings...

Now, if the two renderings are the separate author's recounts of the same event, AND if all Scripture is God breathed (which it is) then the Divine Author breathed the very words to the human author to allow us to fully understand the meaning. God allowed Matthew to let us know that false prophets can be recognized by their fruit because the tree that is bad cannot bear good fruit. Luke allows us to see that the same criteria can have a broader application to other areas of our life and walk. Viewing both texts as equally God Breathed, we see that while not literally correct, it certainly is exegetically correct (when the scripture as a whole is considered) to say that Mat. 7:20 has application beyond the immediate context. It would detract from the Truth of the Scripture to ignore one or the other passage.

It is correct to note that proper Biblical exegesis is severely lacking in the Church in the USA today. Sad. Try talking to some of the products of todays cemeteries, er, seminaries. How many times have you heard Luke 6:37 mutilated...

So folks, I am not an Ophra clone, but in this case, you all are correct. This is probably not a hill to battle over...

On that note, I am off to bed. Still love me?

You'd better, or when we get to Heaven I'm going to find out where you are and move in next door.... ;-)