have a question that I’m not sure how to ask. I suppose it could be the old “How come there are so many interpretations” question; but I’d like to ask it like this.
We believe that God’s Word is truth and I think He gave it so we’d know things. So, why is it that people believe the Word in so many different ways that it appears to make others wrong and some right and the cause of so many disagreements for example in end time events.
I mean, since God’s Word is truth shouldn’t the Church know the truth? Why should we be divided? Did God mean for His Church to be divided on knowing the End time Events that He revealed in the Word? (I’m not asking about date setting etc, just about what He has revealed.)
Many act as if it is OK when we disagree about end time things, and call those things non-essentials. If End time things are in the Word, didn’t God believe them to be Essential?
What are your thoughts?
It was never God’s idea for His word to cause division among believers. After all, He gave it to us to enlighten us. Paul specifically warned us against such things in 1 Cor. 1 & 3. Disagreements over the interpretation of Scripture spring from man, not God, and are used by the devil to cause divisiveness.
You’ll always find a human emotion behind every Scriptural disagreement. For instance advocates of Replacement Theology don’t believe Israel deserves to be restored to God’s favor. Those who disagree with eternal security work hard to live good lives and resent others being forgiven for not trying hard enough. Those who deny the doctrine of grace want to feel like they’ve earned their salvation. Post-tribbers believe the Church deserves to be punished for our sins. The list goes on, but at the heart of the matter there’s always a human emotion being used by the enemy to distort the true meaning of God’s Word.
The view that it’s OK to disagree on so-called non-essentials as long as we agree on essentials is also based on human emotion. I agree that since prophecy constitutes up to 40% of the Bible’s content, it should hardly be called a non-essential.
And of course, everything I’ve said here confirms that I have opinions based on human emotion too.