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How'd THEY do it??
sasscell:
I gang, I'm Tracy. I have been a member on and off for a couple of years, haven't posted in about a year or so, SO here goes. I have been reading the "Contradictions in the Bible" thread. It's corrupted, it's not, it has contradictions, it doesn't, etc. The argument really seems to be over what God intends the scriptures to be. A mere guidebook? A GPS? Somewhere in between...an atlas maybe!!! Anyway, the question that keeps comming up, and HAS for years for me, is WHAT DID PEOPLE DO BEFORE THE SCRIPTURES BECAME COMMONLY AVAILABLE? I have 5 bibles in my home, many of you have many, many more. This is a rather NEW development in Christianity. MOST people, MOST CHRISTIANS through the ages have never even SEEN one. Surely there have been Christians in ALL GENERATIONS. What did they do, how did they learn? Obviously, they maybe heard some, were taught of the Spirit. Does that change the way I look at my bible?? No, I have more I am accountable for more (yikes) Thoughts???
YellowStone:
Hi Tracy, I know exactly what you are saying, how did that know who had no Scriptures to read?
I will post a Scripture and then comment on it okay. :)
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
This verse has always been golden to me for I could see God clearly. But it wasn't everything. Oh I have a few Bibles myself, I even have a Hebrew/Greek bible with a word for word rendering and numbered to Strongs Concorance which have a copy of too. I studied these long and hard, but I never felt closer to God than when I was out side, walking in all that He made.
Yet something was missing. I have always felt close to God and felt him close to me; however, when he bagan to open my eyes and ears to his Spirit, I began to see things in a very different light and to quote a brother, through the wonderment of child like enthusiasm.
Now here is the interesting part and one that is often over looked. It was the spirit that allowed me to see the truth of Scripture, not the Scripture that allowed me to see the truth of the Spirit. Many may gasp in shock at that statement, but truthfully, how could it be any other way. So in closing, I firmly believe that one does not need to have ready access to a Bible for God to impart His Spirit of Truth.
I hope this helps a little :)
Love in Christ,
Darren
gmik:
Hi Tracy!!
Good point. We are lost w/o all our tools and study guides :D
So many people just heard a bit or so of the gospel and that is all they had. Maybe years later someone came thru the village again w/ some more news or details. Letters were floating around but you had to be at the right place at right time. So, I think the Spirit helped these folks- whose hearts wanted to know more.
Really, the average person, lets say who went to hear Paul preach, just went back home and lived their life. We hear about the few in the bible or the early church fathers, but the vast majority, just went home! I know that back then "christians" were known for their hospitality for the down and out. Many died for their faith. Most surely, most did not have anything written out to study. I am talking about the gentiles out in the "world", not the jews who did have the written OT (at least the well to do).
Yes, to whom much is given, much is required.
jER:
Truly stated, Darren.
For, we are not in need that man teach us (truth), but rather, the comforter and "Holy Spirit" of God.
A friend in Christ - jER
Dean Peterman:
Dear Tracy and Darren,
I think you raise some good points. I think the gospel is simple enought that we can be true followers of Christ even if we don't have a Bible. It is our love for God and each other that make us true children of God. I went off the deep end a little bit with this whole thing because I have seen the damage that can be done when we begin to undermine trust in the Bible. For most people today the Bible is the guide they use to verify whether a particular teaching is compatible or in harmony with the teachings of Jesus. This is why all of us spend time studyng it.
In my experience when someone wants to bring a teaching that is contrary to the teachings of Jesus they know that they have to weaken your trust in the reliability of the Bible. If they can convince you that the Bible is unreliable or corrupted it is easier for them to convince you of the truth of whatever doctrine they are preaching. I do not want to offend anyone by naming specific groups so I will just say that most groups outside of Christendom consider the Bible to be unreliable and corrupted. So when some guru or self proclaimed prophet tells you that Jesus did not really rise from the dead you have nothing to compare their teachings with if you think the Bible is corrupted and not worth using. Many, if not most of these groups teach that Jesus is still dead and in the grave. If you assert that the Bible does teach that Jesus was resurrected they will counter by saying that the Bible is corrupted so we should not use it to contradict their teachings. This is very serious. Millions have been deceived by these type of claims. I unfortunately have to hear this type of false teaching virtually everyday. So I am probably more sensitive to it then I should be. There is a man that lives in a nearby city where I live that was once a christian. He was convinced by these type of false teachers that the Bible is unreliable and corrupted. He eventually became convinced that God did not exist and Jesus never really existed. He now operates a ministry that is dedicated to destroying belief in God and faith in Jesus. He is totally serious about all of this. He travels the country debating christians and trying to convince them to renounce their belief in God. I have several people who are close to me that have fallen for this type of thinking. So when someone tells you that the Bible is corrupted you have to dig a little deeper to find out why they want you to believe this. Sometimes they mean no harm but most of the time they have an agenda that goes beyond their lack of respect for the Bible.
Sincerely,
Dean
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