In terms of the academic study of the Bible, what did you learn about the Bible that was new to you?

Answer 1

That it is theoretically impossible to take the Bible literally because the things in it are impossible. But as a believer, I know that what is impossible for man is possible for God.

Answer 2

That it was written about the same time as the Greek classics and that much of it was "borrowed" from other cultures. The Greek classics were about wars and war heroes. The Bible was about the people, Israel, their myths, practices, dysfunctional families, ethics/morals, and their relationship with God. It is a beautifully written book when read in its original language.
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Answer 3

I learned that God does not and has never condemned homosexuality. The applicable verse was a blatant mis-interpretation (especially in 1611)

Answer 4

That most Christians don't study for themselves to be approved by the Lord.

Answer 5

i asked the pope one question "who is god"? he said "father". then i asked " then who is Jesus"? he said "he is god". i said "yes! yes!??". he said " no, no Jesus is son". this is strange for me. Jesus is son as well as god?? another thing i find is that. in the while bible is did not get direct quotation that Jesus telling "I AM GOD WORSHIP ME".

Answer 6

That there is but ONE God, and Jesus is not that God.

Answer 7

What it really teaches...that most of us have the opportunity of life on paradise earth, and will not go to heaven. I learned that when we die, we are dead, conscious of nothing

(Ecclesiastes 9:5: "For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten."),

that we will be resurrected to life on earth,
(John 5:28 & 29; " Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.

and Acts 24:15: "and I have hope toward God, which hope these [men] themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous")

except the 144,000 that will go to heaven to rule with Jesus for a thousand years.
(Revelation 5:9 & 10: "
And they sing a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”

Revelation 7:4: "And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel"

Revelation 14:1-3: "And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound out of heaven as the sound of many waters and as the sound of loud thunder; and the sound that I heard was as of singers who accompany themselves on the harp playing on their harps. 3 And they are singing as if a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth."

and Revelation 20: 4-6: " And I saw thrones, and there were those who sat down on them, and power of judging was given them. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed with the ax for the witness they bore to Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had worshiped neither the wild beast nor its image and who had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years." )

I am not one of those. I learned that God had a name and it is Jehovah (as is widely accepted by English speaking nations)

Psalms 83:18 King James Version: " That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth. ),

I learned that the holy spirit is God's active force and not part of some mysterious trinity (that I could never quite make sense of), and I learned that Jesus is God's Son, NOT God

(howJesus was God's Son, but God, but separate and not equal, not even knowing God's thoughts, but God, that he prayed to his Father, but he was still somehow God...what a mess!)

John 14:10: " Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father and the Father is in union with me? The things I say to YOU men I do not speak of my own originality; but the Father who remains in union with me is doing his works.'

John 14:28: 'YOU heard that I said to YOU, I am going away and I am coming [back] to YOU. If YOU loved me, YOU would rejoice that I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

John 8: 42: "Jesus said to them: “If God were YOUR Father, YOU would love me, for from God I came forth and am here. Neither have I come of my own initiative at all, but that One sent me forth"

Matthew 3: 16 & 17: "After being baptized Jesus immediately came up from the water; and, look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw descending like a dove God’s spirit coming upon him. 17 Look! Also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.”


I learned to trust in Jehovah and not to lean upon my own understanding, but to take notice of him in all my ways and he would make my paths straight! (Proverbs 3:5 & 6) I learned that the transaltors of the Bible have taken God's name, Jehovah, (or the tetragrammaton YWHW) out nearly 7000 times and replaced it with titles...the LORD, GOD, etc. I learned that God gave us his name and he wants us to use it. I learned what God's original purpose was for the earth, and that it is still the same, and that it will come to pass

(Isaiah 55:11; so my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it."

I learned that we have to get to know God to have eternal life(John 17:3: "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."

)...I learned so much more , but basically, I learned the truth.(John 4:23 & 24: " Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.” )

and how important it is to make sure that what we learn is the truth.
Acts 17:11 & 12: "Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni´ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them became believers, and so did not a few of the reputable Greek women and of the men. 13 But when the Jews from Thes·sa·lo·ni´ca learned that the word of God was published also in Be·roe´a by Paul, they came there also to incite and agitate the masses"

1 John 4: 1: "Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world."

There is no good stopping place, but this will have to do for now.