So, all Christians have the same understanding and interpretation of the Bible, since it is "The Word of God"?

Question

Well Mr. Mister, didn't you claim that God provided it as the list of common Christian beliefs? See, you inspire me!

Answer 1

nope

Answer 2

It would be nice if that were true. And if it were, there wouldn't be so many denominations. However, interpretation of anything is usually influenced by one’s background, education, and upbringing.

I don't want to debate, I am just using this as an example - John 1:1. the interpretation of that verse, which is translated: “At the beginning was ‘the word;’ and ‘the word’ was with God; and ‘the word’ was God,” a typical Trinitarian rendition.

What impelled the writer to translate John 1:1 in support of the Trinitarian doctrine? Is it “the Scripture that informs” him to do so? That doesn't seem impossible, because nowhere in the Bible is the teaching of the Trinity to be found.

The New Encyclopædia Britannica says on this point: “Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament.” In addition, Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins observed: “To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; . . . they say nothing about it.”

So, which is correct? Did they that affix their own meaning to the language of Scripture in support of the Trinitarian doctrine?

Like I said, just an example of interpretation. However, we need to let God’s own Word guide us on this. “You know this first,” said the apostle Peter, “that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.”—2 Peter 1:20, 21.

Answer 3

What kind of logic is that? When you look at a sunset, do you notice all the same things as the next person? Of course not. Each of you sees things that are different from everyone else. This does not mean that the sunset is actually different. It just means that there is more there than we can take in all at once. I knew an 80 + yr old man who had studied for 70 + yrs. He had retired from preaching. He said that he still found things in the bible that he had not seen before. Was he talking about the words? No! they are the same. He was talking about the meaning. How everything in the bible is interwoven. Something from the Old Testament foretelling something in the New Testament. Something in the NT that parallels and OT verse. People who pretend that they have read the bible and understood it and rejected it are simply not being honest. To those of us who truly study, it is obvious. Because of the complexity of the bible, there are often different interpretations.

Answer 4

Not everyone takes the Bible literally. We humans tend to read it in light of our own cultural biases and backgrounds, and we tend to pour our own meanings into it.

In an attempt to cure this, some Protestants adopted what could be best described as a "plain meaning rule". That is, each book of the Bible has to be interpreted in light of that particular book's own cultural and historical context. Once you figured out what that was, you were to give the words their ordinary and customary meaning (based on the customs of the time and place that a particular book was written). If this process gives someone a meaning that is weird, hard to believe, or hard to accept, too bad. The book says what it says. The real purpose of interpretation is to find the author's original meaning, not to look for what we want to hear.

It probably seemed like a reasonable way to solve the denominational problem back in the 1920s, but for some reason, it hasn't been all that popular. These "fundamentalist" Christians get a really hard rap in modern culture.

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"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
~ The Apostle Paul [2 Timothy 4:2-4 (NIV)]

Answer 5

Hey, buddy.

I think one would be hard-pressed to find any major world religion with 1M+ members who perfectly agreed in their understanding and interpretation of thousands of pages of scripture. Agree?

Still, if true Christians are genuinely indwelt by the Holy Spirit, Who seeks to teach them the truth in their hearts and minds, you'd think there would be quite a bit of agreement. Now, not everyone who says they're a Christian is a Christian, and this can cause confusion to an outside observer. True Christians, regardless of their contextual situation, would gravitate toward the same understanding of the Bible, but this is a process. It takes longer with some than others.

It's the connection between the Holy Spirit and the Bible's being God's Word that would cause Christians who are so different to agree on so much.

I'm sure you're not relying on this forum as a reasonable picture of what average Christians are like. Otherwise, we'd be often quite wacky.

Answer 6

Christians started disagreeing before the Bible was written. Paul talks about rival doctrines in his epistles. During the centuries since the Church relied more on traditions and philosophies than the Bible. Starting with the Reformation, Christians started to use the scriptures as a basis for new churches. Early reformers used portions of the Bible that supported their theology. Newer churches continued to find fault with established churches.

So if there is so much obvious disageement, how do you use the "Word of God"? Use it as a precious gift and not a weapon. Take what others have to offer and add it to what you have.

Answer 7

Technically, you made a statement, not a question... Ant eglish major could point that out to you. But I'll over look that.
the bible is open to interpretation. Although it is the wor of god, there is orthodox and modernist and other forms of christianity. You'll find a common understanding and similar views amongst the groups. But just as you see today, there is conflict within the groups. All cristians today are fighting over the words of god. did you know even muslims are christians? My groups have public discussions with rabbis and abbots of many chruches. We discuss the words of god as a group and debate our views. We worry that our fellow christians only here the words and not understand the meaning within them. We honour our traditionalists, and respect the orthodox... That is what a true christian does. For we cannot judge. Yet, we worry about our churches as a whole since we are seeing a growing tendancy for the church leaders to be more motivated by political trends and money, then the words that god teaches us from the bible. Also, remember there are 2918 scrolls known to us but only 49 are used in todays bibles throughout the western world. Only 243 of those scrolls are translated into english. Most are in gaelic, greek, hebrew, and latin.
To explain I'll describe first year religious science. All of us studied from the same books, but were of different religions. Just as with the muslims, whom are christians. We studied the same material but because of traditions and culture and bloodlines, we see the same words as different. I am a son-of-david, a muslim bloodline. but I am not a muslim. My ancestor was, but was converted as a slave to a spanish trade crew member long ago. So the words of god mean alot to me. In older times, our priests used to spread the words not in churches as today, but in temples, and in open areas. very early churches were more like courtyards. the holymen would speak the words of god to others, and then after the surmon, they would eat and discuss what they have learned. The holymen would lead by example by living with others from there congrigation, that showed humility and compassion. That tradition is still observed in the muslim and traditionalist community. Today, people try to change the words of god and say it's from god. people are calling themselve christians but don't follow any of the teaching from the bible. So, the answer is still No to the semi-question, you posted.
here is an easy example: two people go to the store and there is a sign that says, "everything inside is a $1". The first person grabs only one item and goes to the counter with a buck in hand. while the other person loads their cart up and goes to the teller and hands them a buck. the teller looks at the person and asks what do you think you are doing you have to pay for everything in your cart. the person turns to her and says I just did. the teller says no you didn't. and the person says yes I did. the sign says everything for a dollar, not a dollar per item. So who is correct. technically both are. But it is up to the manager to decide if the person keeps the stuff, and then he fixes the sign outside the store.
The same applies to christianity, all see the same words but they all see different meaning from those words.
So I hope this helped a little.

Answer 8

Yes. There are basic, fundamental concepts in the Bible that EVERY Christian denomination understands and interprets the same way - the Trinity, that Christ died to atone for the sins of man, the Resurrection, the Ten Commandments, Grace. The less fundamental the concepts get - like did Jesus have brothers and sisters, and was Mary bodily assumed into heaven - the more disagreement you will find happening among Christians.

Answer 9

No... each person reads something different from the Bible overall... but specific portions mean the same... it depends upon your previous understanding...

as in any subject... the more you know the more you can learn... and understand...

a beginner at reading the Bible may read 1st John...:

In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and be totally confused, not understanding that the Word is refering to Jesus Christ...

later when they do understand it.. then they can go on to understand the part that says: and the Word was God

Answer 10

It may seem like the answer should be no, but actually, yeah, they do. They all distort it and interpret it for what they choose and even deny others who believe in the same God, but different details.

They all have the same understanding and it isn't peace or love or contributing to the world. It is a sad, selfish understanding that leads only to intolerance and violence. Why on earth or elsewhere would that be the "Word of God"?

Answer 11

Truthfully and Unfortunately no, because some churches are not really connected God and they have imposed their own belief over God's commandments. Matthew 13 talks about the parable of the wheat and the tares. Jesus describes how the devil will plant believers in the church which look like real Christians, but they are fake. They are planted by the devil to actually undermine the church and bring confusion, especially where the Word of God is concerned.