Christians If you are supposed to be humble, doesn't that mean admitting that you might occasionally be wrong?

Question

And I'm not necessarily talking about god vs no god, though it is one of the thoughts. But more specifically, how you interpret certain things about your beliefs? Like homosexuality for one. I know you will say that God would not allow something in the Bible to be 'wrong' but the Bible was written by man, and man is fallible. Especially when it comes to translating ancient languages. For that matter, how do we know that we were right with the translation? What if that word we think means this, really was supposed to mean that? I dunno, I was just thinking.

Linda J, I didn't say I couldn't. I know there is a possibility that I be wrong and I'll gladly admit it, but it doesn't bother me enough to change my way of life.

Johnny Appleseed, are you saying that man is infallible? As in, no mistakes, ever? Yeah...have YOU ever taken History?

Answer 1

Of course we should admit being wrong. We are all human and we do make mistakes.

Answer 2

Let me give you this example. I work for the pharmaceutical industry. They are very jealous about safety. If you use a knife to tighten some screws, they will tell you that is wrong. The reason? The knife was not designed to do that, it was designed to cut. On the other hand, the screwdriver is designed to tighten or loosen the screws, so this is the correct instrument to use. So, its the same with homosexuality. The thing is, a penis does not belong in another man's behind. Science can tell you that that's not for what it was "designed". In the same way, a vagina was designed to be penetrated. So logically, that would tell us that a man and a women belong together. But no, we always look for a way around this, and yes the Bible does teach against homosexuality. Though, as a Christian, I am totally against making fun, or discriminating or being cruel to a homosexual in any way. That is TOTALLY WRONG. I only say this out of love because I know the struggle inside of us all and we should not judge anyone. We do need to stand by the truth, but not use it as a license to hurt anyone. Anyway, the truth does hurt sometimes even when our intention is not that, the effect can certainly be. I have homosexual friends and they know my position and respect it as I respect their decision. I know about the arguments about the Bible being written by men and all that. One has to be willing to search for the truth even if we find that it goes against us. In most cases those that deny the Bible are just looking for a justification for a way of life that they don't want to change. I know many will get angry about this statement. Let me tell you that God knows about this struggle, and he has not let man (or woman) alone. He promises that the Holy Spirit will assist us in the time of need. So, only a loving God would do such a thing. It is not that he does not love homosexuals. It is that He as the creator knows what is best for us.

Answer 3

I'm wrong about 90% of the time. But one thing I'm not wrong about is that the Bible is God's word. Have you read the New Testament? I recommend it. It will answer a lot of your questions. Homosexuality is a complex problem. Having a temptation to sin is not the same as sinning. Some people have the urge to get drunk or gamble but they realize that if they do so they'll spend the rent or food money and their family will suffer. So they control themselves. Sin affects other people, no matter what form it takes. A guy named Dr. Spock wrote a book about child-rearing in the 40's or early 50's telling parents they shouldn't spank their children. As a result, a large percentage of the baby-boomers never learned self-discipline. They went on to raise their kids the same way and now have grandchildren. A lot of them are raising their grandchildren because their kids are too self-centered to properly care for them. Sorry for the rant. What was your question?

Answer 4

:) not only may i be occasionaly wrong, i might ALWAYS be wrong lol. For we don't directly percieve reality, instead we percieve it through neurotransmitors and interpretations by the brain. So perhaps my brain is sending my complete lies about what is out there. And since everything i've experienced could be a lie, than everything i've said or thought could be a lie. Lol. Laughing is so great :) Best wishes to you. Also i agree, texts (of any religion) should be taken lightly. They are most likely to have been changed through history and through translations and then even then they could be misinterpreted (could be misinterpreted at anytime during the process). Take what it says and then take your expeirences and then compare them and find what you believe to be true. Don't limit your freedom by saying everythign in something must be right.


Lol i know it was corny for my to put that best wishs and stuff in the middle there >_> It's just when i wrote "lol" that all popped into my head and it was so joyful xD lol.

Answer 5

Yes, we might be wrong

but for "I know you will say that God would not allow something in the Bible to be 'wrong' but the Bible was written by man, and man is fallible."

God has guided people that wrote the bible to write what is right.

For homosexuality, God already stated it is wrong. It is written like that in the original language.

For translation errors, yes that might be. That's why I always encourage people to have several bible versions, so that you may have full understanding of the text.
Interlinear Bible with original language will help you a lot.

Answer 6

Johnny Appleseed was not trying to claim that man is perfect. Here is his real point:
When an office manager dictates a letter to his secretary, DID THE SECRETARY COMPOSE THE LETTER????

OR DID SHE JUST WRITE DOWN WHAT HER BOSS SAID????
God spoke through those writers to give us His Word. Man is fallible and sinful. God and His Word are infallible. Humility does call for us to admit mistakes and ask forgiveness. Faith calls for Christians to affirm the infallibility of the Bible.

Answer 7

I have been wrong in the past because it is not easy to study the Bible. However, there are no contradictions in the Bible. It's hard to follow but things get clarified if you THINK and FOCUS on the text.

There are also people called theologians who check for those kinds of things and spend alot of their time doing so.

Answer 8

Many people are taught religion from the time they are born, it is ingrained into their heads and becomes what they deeply believe. Challenging these very deeply held beliefs causes a wall to go up and the brain to shut down. Saying something in the Bible could be wrong would cause their whole world to crash down.

Answer 9

Humility is not a trait of the religious EXCEPT when they want to get to you possessions or your wallet. It's part of their HISTORY and part of their ANCESTRY, and I also know this "trait" personally having been conned by christians, and having lost a wife to an one of them trying to CONVERT my wife while I was at work. The "conversion" involved sleeping with him.

You are right when you state alot has been lost in translations over the centuries in these doctrines, but you forget that MAN also CHANGED many of them to suit their VANITY. One of the most ludicrous facts I found was that of the BIBLE and you can log it in your memory for reference later when you need it. The version in English derived from the King James Version was given to christians by a man whom the Catholic church had burnt at the state on Oct of 1536. William Tyndale.
Kind of ironic don't you think that a supposed blasphemer is the giver of 80% of the word which most FOLLOW in this religion ......Catholic or christian, I have had many from one or the other try to escape the blame of the past in their religion but the CHRISTIANITY of today is not the "christianity" the greeks gave the world in the first century after Jesus was crucified. The christianity of today is the concoction of the Roman Empire ONLY after killing MILLIONS of the TRUE disciples of Jesus in the first 3 centuries........In other words the "deceivers" Jesus spoke of would come in his name but would have NOTHING in him.......

Answer 10

Because of the Imperfection Adam passed on to All human kind...We are often wrong, unless we follow Gods word in the Bible with GREAT understanding, few supposed Christians have ANY understanding , never mind Great Understanding!

Answer 11

There is an awful lot we will never know the answer to, that is why I kind of drifted away from organized Christianity even though I still think very highly of Jesus and 'God', I cannot adamantly say anything is true or not true...