WHO IS THE RULER OF THE EARTH?

[Jethro Bodine]

It is the scholarship we need, and not the contradictuary posts on the forums.

Contradictory opinions and views on scripture from various people is useful in learning the truth about a subject. Your denomination won't tell you that, but it's true.

 

[Dorothy Mae]

Well, it's interesting to note that the reality of evil is where my journey with God began.

I heard of an atheist reporter who was in a crowd once and observed how they cheered wrong and realized that there’s such a thing as evil. Sounds similar.

 

[Cooper]

Uh, no they don't. Some do, some don't. Some know some truth alongside their error. So you can get some good out of them. I think it dead wrong to think they are 100% the truth. If you do that then you have to do what wondering was getting at...which one(s) do you believe? You're better off just taking bits of truth from one source and adding it to the bits of truth from another source and arriving at the truth that way.

That describes the forums. Everyone, it seems, has a different opinion.
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[Jethro Bodine]

I heard of an atheist reporter who was in a crowd once and observed how they cheered wrong and realized that there’s such a thing as evil. Sounds similar.

Yeah, I suppose so. Maybe it eventually led him to the reality of God.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

That describes the forums. Everyone, it seems, has a different opinion.
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And scholars and commentaries don't?

But, yes, there are many different opinions in forums. That was a good thing in years past. But now it seems forums are only instruments for the varying opinions of the cults. Which I don't like, because I don't like talking to unbelievers.

 

[Cooper]

Contradictory opinions and views on scripture from various people is useful in learning the truth about a subject. Your denomination won't tell you that, but it's true.

Contradictory opinions are going to lead people astray, and that is what we get on the forums all the time.
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[Jethro Bodine]

Contradictory opinions are going to lead people astray

Maybe for a time, but, ultimately, the genuine God seeker can't be led astray by error. And I mean error that matters. A lot of the stuff we Christians argue endlessly about really doesn't matter in the scheme of things.

 

[Cooper]

Maybe for a time, but, ultimately, the genuine God seeker can't be led astray by error. And I mean error that matters. A lot of the stuff we Christians argue endlessly about really doesn't matter in the scheme of things.

Show me a thread that is not convulsed by argument and disagreement.
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[Jethro Bodine]

Show me a thread that is not convulsed by argument and disagreement.
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I did not know I was saying they aren't. What I am saying is they actually really do ultimately have value for the genuine God seeker.

 

[GodsGrace]

Yes. The Holy Spirit is our discerner of truth, not a teacher that makes it so we don't need gifted and anointed people to instruct us. It is by the Holy Spirit that we can tell if something someone is saying is really truth or not. We still need people to tell us the things that need to be discerned. I think this is all in keeping with God's intention that the body be united and that all it's parts need the other parts. Even the unpresentable parts that require special modesty, and the weaker parts that are indispensable, as mysterious a truth as that is to me, lol.

In John 16:7-11 Jesus tells the Apostles that the Helper will come when He goes away.
The comforter will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. And then Jesus goes on to say how to verse 11.

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells the Apostles to go into all the world and teach what He taught (and baptize, etc.).

Jesus did not say not to obey our elders, but to learn from them.
Some depend on the Holy Spirit....I've often asked: Why then is it that we all believe something different?
Because it may not be the Holy Spirit, but our own thoughts.

 

[GodsGrace]

For uniformity, we won't go far wrong here.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/
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Cooper, I use only biblehub for everything.
As I've said many times, I do not like using commentaries except when really necessary.

What difference does it make if you use biblehub?
The commentary pages offer a plethora of opinions from different scholars/theologians.

How do YOU determine which one to agree with?

 

[Cooper]

I did not know I was saying they aren't. What I am saying is they actually really do ultimately have value for the genuine God seeker.

Rubbish. The JW's and the rest overwhelm, confuse, and tear scripture apart, leaving the Bible in tatters, and the written word, similar to the spoken word at the Tower of Bable.
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[Christ_empowered]

As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another

 

[Cooper]

Cooper, I use only biblehub for everything.
As I've said many times, I do not like using commentaries except when really necessary.

What difference does it make if you use biblehub?
The commentary pages offer a plethora of opinions from different scholars/theologians.

How do YOU determine which one to agree with?

I generally find each contributor adds to the other.
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[GodsGrace]

I generally find each contributor adds to the other.
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OK. But I think it's good to know something before using a commentary.
IOW, I don't really understand how anyone could learn Christianity from commentaries.
Unless, of course, you find one you really like and just keep to that one.
Otherwise it becomes kind of confusing.
But if it works for you...fine.

 

[Cooper]

As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another

Far more likely the axe will break the sickle.
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[Cooper]

OK. But I think it's good to know something before using a commentary.
IOW, I don't really understand how anyone could learn Christianity from commentaries.
Unless, of course, you find one you really like and just keep to that one.
Otherwise it becomes kind of confusing.
But if it works for you...fine.

The Bible is always the final authority.
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[GodsGrace]

Far more likely the axe will break the sickle.
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Pretty funny.

I think that Christ_empowered might mean that as we speak to each other, new thoughts/ideas might open up to us and make us think about one subject or another. This has happened to me on this forum. Someone might even make a statement that has led me to do small studies on different subjects - this has helped me to learn throughout the years.

 

[GodsGrace]

The Bible is always the final authority.
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Of course.
When I need an outside source, I like to use the Apostolic Fathers
and the Early Church Fathers. Just the first couple of hundred years.
I feel that they were passed down the truth from the Apostles themselves
and we can trust what they believed to be true.

 

[Cooper]

Pretty funny.

I think that Christ_empowered might mean that as we speak to each other, new thoughts/ideas might open up to us and make us think about one subject or another. This has happened to me on this forum. Someone might even make a statement that has led me to do small studies on different subjects - this has helped me to learn throughout the years.

This is when those gathered together are all of one mind, like the early Church, and it is very edifying, and we all grow in faith.
Lovey, and God blessed.