About My Christian Theology…
I am a Christian very passionate about the Bible and my Faith in God. I no longer have a church affiliation as I believe the churches and religious institutions all have become overrun by false Gospels. As prophesied in Revelation 20, I believe the thousand years represent the church age that has ended and we have entered the “little season” that Satan has been loosed. Therefore, in these final days as Satan has taken his seat in the temple (the church goers), his work is to deceive:
“… with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
How we discern truth from falsehood
So how does a Christian know if their doctrine or belief is Biblically correct?
The answer can be summarized in one word: harmony. What we believe must harmonize with every verse in the Bible. Because the Bible does not contradict itself, a verse understood correctly will always align with the rest of Scripture. This process of comparing Scripture with Scripture is how we discern truth from falsehood. Without Biblical harmony, there is no foundation for the doctrines we profess.”
My Christian Theology came about when I began my own search for Biblical answers after I began to sense that the churches were no longer preaching the true Gospel. I needed to know about the times we are living in.
For a while, I was part of an online Bible study group. The group was made up of individuals like myself who had departed their church and were focused on end time prophecy. Some were actually analyzing verses in the original Greek and Hebrew text. Until then, I had always thought you had to be a theologian to do such studies. This is how I first became familiar with using a Hebrew and Greek interlinear for studying the Bible. I got into the habit of digging deep into Scripture, going line by line, and word by word in the original Hebrew and Greek text and then became amazed to see things I never saw before. Even more amazing, I received an understanding of verses that I never expected or thought possible.
This is how I discovered the secret to uncovering hidden truth and achieving harmony in the Bible. Furthermore, learning to analyze the original text in Greek and Hebrew helped me realize things about translations I never knew.
The Truth About Translations
My eyes are open to the fact that translations are a mixed blessing. On one hand, Bible translations can guide people into acceptance and study of God’s word in their language, but on the other hand translations also provide an open door to misguided Biblical interpretations. In any case, all translations should be approached with caution because they are not the inspired Word of God.
The job of any translator is to extract the meaning of one language and put it in the target language. No two languages are exactly alike in grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure; therefore, translators are unable to render word-for-word translations. It’s necessary for the translator to rephrase and paraphrase for interpretation. Often it’s not a big deal that a translator would need to paraphrase and rephrase for communicating different languages.
However, when it comes to the Bible translations, it’s a different matter, a spiritual matter. The Bible is written in spiritual language. Every detail is important because it comes from God. God wrote the Bible using figurative and parabolic language. We must face the reality that in the process of translating God’s word, translators have had to interject their own viewpoints, either intentionally or unintentionally. This is never a good thing when dealing with the inspired word of God.
How Errors Occur in Translations
Many errors take place in translating the Bible. A host of details are either omitted, deleted, added, or changed. Alterations affect interpretation of God’s holy word. Translators can stumble upon verses where a word has multiple renditions for translation. As an example, I can point to the Greek word, gyne. It is the Greek word that can be translated either “woman” or “wife.” Note the use of gyne in this passage:
“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman <Strong’s 1135, gyne.> Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife <Strong’s 1135, gyne>, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife <Strong’s 1135, gyne> due benevolence and likewise also the wife unto the husband.” 1 Corinthians 7:1-3
In the past, I could never comprehend how a man could not touch a woman or how a man could commit adultery in his heart just by lusting after a woman. However, when you substitute “wife” in these verses, the message becomes clear. The context is about how a man could commit adultery if he looked upon or touched the wife of another.
God Made the Bible Difficult to Understand
Even though God wrote the Bible in figurative language with difficult passages, people want the Bible to be easy to read and easy to understand, so translations have made attempts to smooth out the awkward sounding sentences. Without checking and analyzing the original language of Greek or Hebrew, we miss crucial details that provide deeper insight into a verse. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, we read how “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.” I take this to mean that God intended for knowledge to be hidden, even in translations. When we study the Bible, we must go deeper than translations. The hidden things come directly from God’s holy manuscript. God in his infinite power and wisdom preserved the Masoretic Text and the Textus Receptus as his holy manuscript, uncorrupted and untainted without deletions, additions, or amendments.
I am not fluent in Biblical languages; therefore, I continue to use the KJV as a reference and study aid to the Holy texts. We can also be thankful for other aids such as Bible concordances, interlinears to Biblical Greek and Hebrew. I am also able to analyze scripture online. My preference is the interlinear Bible software available at scripture4all.org.
I believe one of the most instructive verses on how to study the Bible is found in the book of Isaiah: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Isaiah 28:10.
The instruction is to compare Scripture to Scripture and establish harmony with every detail. Above all we must allow God to be our teacher. This is what My Christian Theology is about.
I invite you to explore these truths with me as we wait for His return.
Faith Roots
I began diving into the Bible years ago, finding comfort and guidance in its stories and teachings. Sharing these studies brings me joy and growth.