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| #Post#: 7-------------------------------------------------- | |
| *2 ; INTRODUCTION | |
| By: alphaomega Date: July 2, 2012, 10:39 pm | |
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| When attempting to interpret the | |
| historical and spiritual progress of mankind, as the Bible | |
| succinctly states (1Cor. 13:12) we �see through a glass darkly;� | |
| therefore, we do not understand clearly. History is only | |
| �his-story�, that being the opinion of whomever is yelling the | |
| loudest at any particular time and taking �hystor� (as recorder | |
| does little to change this) and what is recorded from the view | |
| of the one who reports it. | |
| Opinions come from an individual�s | |
| particular benchmarks; consequently, that same individual | |
| becomes a slave to making the facts fit the theory of his | |
| benchmarks. Many times, those benchmarks are not the beginning | |
| of the story, so all the information which has proceeded is lost | |
| to the future findings of the individual. It is said that the | |
| Bible is God�s story to mankind, but to accept or reject this, | |
| without reading the story, places the benchmark of the Bible in | |
| a position of secondary importance. | |
| What I mean is that saying the | |
| Bible is wrong, without having read it, does not allow the | |
| meanings intended by the Bible to be framed in proper order and | |
| context (when looking at a verse in the middle of the book). | |
| The same is true when one says the Bible is right, without | |
| reading the story of the Bible from the beginning (a verse being | |
| considered from the middle of the book) and may not have the | |
| implications of what has preceded that verse Thus, our opinion | |
| about what a particular verse is stating is limited to our | |
| knowledge of previous verses. | |
| Example l: | |
| Three people boarded a bus. Two disembarked | |
| and yet another person boarded the bus�a young boy. What color | |
| are the eyes of the driver? This cannot be solved unless we had | |
| read earlier in the story that you were the driver. Many of the | |
| mysteries of the Bible are formed by taking a verse in the | |
| middle of a particular book as a benchmark. Pondering and | |
| exploring it, without benefit of the implications of what was | |
| stated earlier, may produce a mistaken interpretation of that | |
| particular verse. With the Bible, however, this becomes even | |
| more of a problem for it has statements of truth which do not | |
| necessarily run linear. That is to say, the intentions of God | |
| and the Words of God are eternal no matter when they appear in | |
| the story. | |
| Example 2; | |
| �And the Lord God commanded the man, | |
| saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of | |
| the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat; | |
| for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die� (Gen. | |
| 2:16). The skeptic will say, �Adam and Eve did not die that | |
| day, thus, the Bible is a lie!� The believer, who hasn�t yet | |
| learned the implications of the entire Bible, will jump in to | |
| defend God by stating, �The Bible is true because God meant they | |
| will die spiritually that day, � and thus concluded the Bible | |
| is right. Now, this believer is right in what he has stated, | |
| but he has not taken that �deeper look� into all the | |
| implications the Bible has relayed concerning this. As | |
| previously reported, God�s Words are eternal; therefore, they do | |
| not pass away, nor are they subject to time. When God�s Word | |
| discloses something, it is true in the present, past, and | |
| future. A day with the Lord is as one thousand years and one | |
| thousand years as one day. Combined with ��in that day you | |
| shall die�� the implication becomes that no man will live a | |
| thousand years. Adam lived 930 years and Methuselah lived | |
| longer than anyone else; he lived 969 years. | |
| When the church HARPS to the world, �HE | |
| MEANT!� the world responds back, �Yeah, right. So you know the | |
| Mind of God? What is the truth? The truth is contained within | |
| the �whole story� so let us at least try to pull down those | |
| �dark glasses� and take that �deeper look!� | |
| TO WHOM AM I SAYING THIS? | |
| To whomever reads this book! Many have | |
| attempted a microscopic perusal of the Bible, which is a | |
| well-intended and necessary approach. However, I give warning | |
| to those who have firmly placed their benchmarks. Make sure you | |
| are still willing to take that �deeper look� regarding those | |
| benchmarks, to make sure that you have not missed previous | |
| implications of other facts. | |
| WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK? | |
| To shed light on some of the intended | |
| sayings of the Bible and to look at the story of man by use of a | |
| �spiritual microscope� which attempts to reveal the whole | |
| picture at one time. I do realize it is an incomplete venture, | |
| but I hope it will serve to provide a framework | |
| in with which to re-examine the points upon which I have | |
| elucidated. | |
| AN AUTHOR�S NOTE: | |
| The reader may not be in full agreement | |
| with what I have written. Just remember that many themes will | |
| come to light as the entire story unfolds. It is not my | |
| intention that you agree with everything stated at the end of | |
| this book. However, it is my wish that I have taken you into a | |
| dark room and turned on a light, so that when you leave the room | |
| you may ponder on what you have seen and heard while in the | |
| room. | |
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