Is there error in the Scriptures? 2

[Posted on Behalf of Jack Proffitt, his blog is "From a Layman's perspective."  

My P.S. is actually my beginning. The reason is because as I was reading I was also commenting. Some of the comments are actually answered and updated further along in your study. So if you feel you have answered some of the issues I have raised already, it probably is because you have. 

I could write a book on your opening paragraph regarding “absolute truth,” etc. Interestingly enough, I have just written a little blurb last night. I have not finalized it for rough draft, but it should appear sometime next year in the blog. But I’ll give you a little taste of it now.. 

At issue are commands versus principles. The church is “big” into principles. A command is typically very easy to understand. “Don’t eat from that tree!” However, a principle can be and quite often is subject to personal interpretation. “Don’t eat from that tree therefore I should avoid eating from trees.” Judaism is born. The church while avoiding the former has accepted the latter. Which one of these is more dangerous? The answer is obvious. There is little difference between the cultures of today (as it related to God’s children) and yesterday (the culture of the Messiah’s day).  

 There is a little saying that I have around the house (that nobody understands) regarding this issue. I am a conservative in what I know to be true, but a liberal and lenient in what I don’t. Principles are not a bad thing, unless they become commands. The only way this would be possible is for you to make it so. You have added to the word of God. Danger! Danger! Danger! Has anybody seen Will? That’s enough for now on that subject. 

  Regarding the issue of questions and there importance, I couldn’t be in more agreement with you. I was just talking to Marian about this last night. I’m joking. I was actually talking to my mother about the subject. At issue is deduction versus induction. Philosophers for years have been persecuted for their inductive style and techniques. Most folks just deduce, “if the tree can’t be eaten, we should cut it down and burn it.” If you ask them why, they look at you like you’re an idiot. Understanding, another piece, I write about, soon to be released, can’t be gained unless some basic questions are asked and answered. Who? What? When? Where? Why? Therefore! Until these are answered, there is no understanding, except in part.  

  Onto the questions. 

  In your opening you mention the mind/heart. Two separate issues. The heart is deceitfully wicked. The mind is a mush pit. Literally a sponge prepared to absorb water. The mind is being renewed, not renewed. The heart on the other hand is replaced all together. You are given a new heart, not a new mind. This does not conflict with your final conclusion of action, “it only appears to contradict.” Thus what is necessary for you to comprehend? Understanding or Wisdom from above granted and received because you asked. “We really don’t understand how it works!” 

  Psalm 6:5 states: “For in death no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” Another way of saying this would be, “The dead cannot think of You,” followed by the question, “Who can praise you from the grave?” The answer is no one. Repeated again in Psalm 115:17-18. There is a difference between a memory and the ability to think. A memory is of the past. To think is a transforming or renewing power made only available to the living. You will note that the “rich man” did not have the ability to change anything that happened to him or to his family. Does this help with your sight any? 

  I slip in comments from time to time, especially in person, so I am not sure that you may have caught one I said. There are exceptions to every rule. Or to put it another way, where you find a law, you also find someone trying to break it. While absolute truth exists, it would be difficult for you (or I) to claim to be the sole proprietor. Quite often we picture truth as a neat and tidy little room, where everything is put away properly. Yet, absolute truth is actually a collision where two opposites meet in the middle. I’ll let you think about that for a while. 

  The argument concerning the Word of God is understood. God didn’t tell Eve to eat from the tree, but He did tell man that the serpent did. Are you recognizing the collision about ready to take place? All Scripture is given for a purpose. In order for that purpose to be achieved, it must be arranged properly. You are walking a fine line, but I don’t have a problem with it. 

  So what is scripture then? I have no problem! But slow down before you start burning your Bible. How is David wrong? But I know, this still doesn’t answer to Job’s friends! Maybe a little perspective would be helpful. And so it is! For while you may be wrong in what you said, there is a little bit of truth contained therein. But what part is it? A trained mind will understand. I am inspired to dissect. Where are my cutting tools? 

  Speak and tell are the same thing my friend. What was missing is called deception. What is a lie? Most respond with, “It is the opposite of truth.” Not so fast speedy Gonzalez! There is “technically” no such thing as a lie, if you include some point, at some time, in some way. I hear you, “You’re not helping!” What is a lie? It is an addition or a subtraction from truth. Hence, the concept of adding or taking away from the word is strictly forbidden. 

  God purposely withholds and conceals things. BINGO! 

  It should be noted that “failure” and “prevention” can be seen on either side of the fence, depending on what side of the fence you are standing. The reason we don’t know the answer is because we ask the wrong question or with the wrong intent. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge does you little good. In fact, it can cause greater harm. He will not give you more than you are able to bear has more than one application. Parables are thus told for those prepared to hear. Give us ears to hear. 

  I’m not sure that ignorance is the result. I prefer the word confounded. You will be more perplexed than when you started. The conclusion is therefore accurate, “God will speak babble to you.” 

  He doesn’t only withhold from those “determined not to obey,” but those unable. Leniency, my friend, leniency, and thus “so that they will not reap more judgment upon themselves,” are completely accurate. 

  “Progressive revelation” is an excuse for those who don’t understand. There is nobody going to tell me, at least that I currently know, that they understand God better than Moses. The picture was not flawed. They needed to take off the bottle cap glasses! God’s Word can only be seen through the unfiltered eye. 

  Prophesy and knowledge are in part, but not because they have been given in part. Imagine that a person represents a part of truth, just one part. There are 47 parts to a particular truth. There are only 46 present. What is missing? The one person needed to make it complete.. Maybe we should try and find them. Maybe this is why we are to “go.” 

  So in closing let me echo the words of my friend, “And in faith, and in fellowship with God (and His blessed children) those imperfections are peeled back so that the man of God, who trusts in the Word of God, may be blessed.”