ArchivedWhat are your opinions? :: Re: LeonRe: Leon Happy to be of assistance. The Skeptic's Annotated Bible is not a reputable version of the Bible. It is filled with sidenotes, represented by editorial pictures, that contain nothing but "instant hostile reactions" to what the text says from a hostile skeptic's perspective. The editor(s) avoid any meaningful interpretation of Scripture in favor of oversimplistic interpretations to "score" a point, emotional arguments or "arguments of outrage," arguments based on political correctness, simple reading comprehension errors because of bias, hostile wit, pseudo-scholarship, and so on. In short, the quality of work found within the Skeptic's Annotated Bible is equal to that of a person who basically skimmed the Bible like a newspaper. The Skeptic's Annotated Bible is just as bad as "Ken's Guide to the Bible".
Yes. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 [NIV] Test everything. Hold on to the good. 1 John 4:1 [NIV] Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Matthew 7:1-3 is talking about avoiding unrighteous judgment, not the prohibition of judging completely. Notice that in verses 1-2, it is talking about proportional or repercussion judgment. In verse 1, Christ says to stop judging or you will be judged. In verse 2, he says that one will be judged proportionally to how they are judging the other person. But the key is verse 3, where Christ assumes that the person making the judgment has greater flaws that the person being judged. Notice that he says that the person judging has a "plank" in their eye, while the other person has "sawdust" in theirs. A "plank" and "sawdust" represent different stages of woodworking, as in how far certain piece(s) of wood have been processed. A "plank" is a standardized piece of wood produced from sawing pieces of raw timber or logs. "Sawdust" is fine particles of wood left over from sawing, which are usually discarded. In short, the former is one of the first forms of processed wood while the latter is one of the final forms of processed wood. Now let us put the meaning of verse 3 together. Christ is saying that the person who has a plank in their eye has a relatively unaddressed flaw within themself, while the person with the sawdust in their eye has a flaw they have thoroughly addressed. Thus, verse 3 speaks of unrighteous judgment, where the person making the judgment deserves to be judged. Hence, we see why verses 1 and 2 are speaking of proportional or repercussion judgment. With this in mind, notice what Christ says later in Matthew 7:15-20. He tells the Apostles to watch out for false prophets (verse 15), who will be known by their fruits (verse 16). This means that Christ is telling the Apostles to judge prophets by what they produce to see if they are true prophets of God or false prophets. Clearly this shows that Christ does not prohibit judgment, but rather mandates sound judgment.
It depends on how you define "fear." For instance, within the Old Testament, "fear" (yare', Strong's #3372) refers to both (1) terror or a dreadful fear and (2) reverence, awe, or honor. This distinction extends throughout the Bible. We are to have the latter form of "fear" towards God, not the former. However, the editors of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible confuse these different meanings when they attempt to contrast Leviticus 25:17 and 1 John 4:18. Leviticus 25:17 refers to reverence, awe, and honor (yare', Strong's #3372), while 1 John 4:18 refers to terror and dreadful fear (Phobos, Strong's #5401). |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame