(This is in response to someone's answer to another question)
Don't you Christians who believe the Bible is inspired give your reason as "God has ways of protecting his word". ?
So you think God stopped that now? Do you think God would allow wrong footnotes to be printed? Why would he allow that now, when you believe he has never allowed an error in the Bible before?
**Note: If you don't believe the Bible is perfect, and that God has protected it this whole time, this doesn't apply to you.
2007-12-02 06:30:29 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
If they are not inspired, doesn't that prove that God allows free-will when it comes to the Bible?
2007-12-02 06:31:18 · update #1
I doubt very much that any fundamentalist has a Bible with footnotes. Certainly the standard King James version does not. And for exactly the reason you mentioned: they are not "guaranteed."
Problem is, of course, those footnotes and annotations and so on are indeed very helpful in understanding what is quite old-fashioned English. We are talking about King James of England here, about 1611 as I recall. So the style is some 400 years old.
And if your Bible is a more recent re-translation, the possibility of error is increased, along with any intentional changes to disguise inconsistencies.
No, this does not "apply" to me, but since I own a Bible, and my mother was a Methodist Sunday school teacher who taught me all about it, I feel qualified to discuss it. When she died, she had half a dozen Bibles, all different versions, and would painstakingly compare the same passage in each one to get her best understanding. She was sincere and pretty intelligent, and she had more of her students go on to become ministers than anyone else in her church. Still, she was not able to convince me that the Bible was anything other than fiction.
2007-12-02 06:45:50 · answer #1 · answered by auntb93 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have never heard the argument that "God has ways of protecting his word." I am not sure who said that---but the question you asked pertained to footnotes. I don't know about you but I am not a scholar in Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic. So--when I see the word being given a footnote I assume that scholars who are familiar with the original text are givng us an accurate translation. Perhaps you think the footnote is a haphazard way of informing someone of a personal footnote. That is not the reason for the footnote. It often illuminates me to the real reason for the word being used because the word used may mean something different than I had believed at first.
I hope you understand why the footnotes and references are there in a study bible. It is not for personal interpretation. It is there to help us interpret correctly.
Merry Christmas.
2007-12-02 06:39:37 · answer #2 · answered by oph_chad 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe the Bible to be the inspiration of God.
Footnotes are written by Bible Scholars, for a learning tool
2007-12-02 06:44:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That was my answer.
This is real simple. Footnotes are NOT part of scripture. They are included in many printings of Bibles, but they are man's words not God's words.
They are written by theologians and scholars and go along with text to give explanation to the text. They can be exceedingly helpful in providing insight and clarification to scripture. But they are not part of the canonical text of scripture.
God has preserved his word accurately throughout the ages. However, any student of the Bible can distinguish between what is God's word and what is the word of John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, or Matthew Henry, etc.
BTW, even in good study notes, we occasionally come across errors in interpretation. But these in no way taint the scripture itself.
2007-12-02 06:43:27 · answer #4 · answered by tj 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You are confusing footnotes, or books about the Bible as being part of the Bible. You did do that by accident, right?
2007-12-02 06:36:47 · answer #5 · answered by teran_realtor 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
God allows alot of wrong things.........(and versions of the bible). We are to use our discernment and choose what is the truth.
Also ...in the bible at the very end......it says if anyone adds anything to or takes anything away from his words....God will take away their part to the tree of life.
2007-12-02 06:37:28 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I think foot notes are to help the reader but few read them but what is more important is to let God speak to you through his word.
2007-12-02 07:04:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I dunno. My bible doesn't have footnotes.
Edit: I don't have a problem with the old language used in the King James bible. If I need to delve further into a passage, I have an interlinear bible and a concordance.
2007-12-02 06:32:44 · answer #8 · answered by Little Red Hen 2.0 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"It's amazing how much light the Bible sheds on all those commentaries."
2007-12-02 06:34:22 · answer #9 · answered by no1home2day 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋