elevator

Like so much else in the bible it is inferred, assumed, constructed, imagined, believed or subject to individual interpretation. So the answer is, no, it doesn't appear to literally say that, but with a little bit of imagination we can make it say that.

ohmi

The scripture is not for any private interpretation... but it is not an interpretation to use deduction as normal in language ... the scripture is far too short to write down every single thing literally within it and much of scripture is by necessity poetic, not literal anyway

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

elevator

I have no idea what that actually means - and that's exactly the point. Seeing the bible can be used to justify about any agenda; I would say that it is very much open to individual interpretation; whether that was God's original intention or not. For example that some Christians find Evolution perfectly compatible with their faith and others find it in stark opposition, or that some Christians are literally nauseauted by the gay and lesbian movement, yet others are able to consolidate their sexual orientation, not only with belief in a Christian God, but a call to priesthood. The fact that the bible is filled with ambiguities, does make it very much open to individual interpretation - regardless of what select verses inside may say to the contrary.

ohmi

The bible does not say that it cannot be misinterpretted, only that it has only one consistent interpretation of all it says.

It is a serious mistake to confuse divided 'christianity' of sinners with the integrated [Hebrew] Christianity of the saints and prophets

Reading bits of the bible , like reading bits of any work, indeed is ambiguous... but so what, the scripture is a whole, meant to be read as a whole ,and then it is not ambiguous at all [and contradicts modern 'chrsitainity' of sinners]

elevator

Yet the understanding/interpretation of the bible is as diverse as there are people who believe in it.

Tell me how that is a serious mistake? They are all reading the same bible, they all put claims to "understanding" it correctly, and they all have cells of believers whom are extremely devout - as with all religions. It seems like it is a mistake in your view - which again brings us back to the issue of personal interpretation.

Tell me how the bible is not ambiguous when read as a whole? If that is the case then how on earth do you explain the extreme doctrinal variety within Christian denominations? An episcopalian gay priest was just ordained (it was all over the news here), in 2005 Cardinal Paul Poupard of the Pontifical Council for culture said Evolution and Genesis were perfectly compatible if the bible was read correctly, all while prominent evangelists appeal to faith healing, speaking in tongues, exorcisms, persecution of gays, just to mention a few. All these people are devout in their denomination, and I assume, have read their whole bible. If you, somehow, get a non-ambiguous understanding of it from reading the whole bible, then seeing the different experiences that other people have from reading the same piece of literature, it would clearly be quite arrogant to claim that your understanding is the right one.

ohmi

Just as the scripture explains must be so at this time, yet people have been told that it is not for the personal interpretations people put upon it [and teach others to follow them!]

As I have said, just read it for yourself , the words do mean something and they do negate every single religious creed that I have seen as yet [never yet met a saint, but they are literally one in a million] ... the problem is not the words ,but that almost all people follow religions invented by sinners , not the scripture itself.

It is much easier to simply accept the words of some 'authority' or other and join an existing body for social contact ,simply claiming to have 'faith' in whatever they say , so that is what almost all people do ... they just read the bits they are told to and forget about the rest of scripture.

However the scripture is designed to reprove such beliefs :-

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The difference then is whether one is trying to make scripture support one's already-acquired 'beliefs' in one of the countless diverse creeds [which obviously must all be false with possibly one exception only, since there is but one truth of God]

... or whether one is seeking to understand scripture [with prayer of yearning to God for his truth, and meditation to 'listen'] from the scripture alone, not from what sinners have written about it... people just don't feel that they have time and patience to do that, they just grasp at one belief or another that seems not implausible or attractive to them and then there is no re-consideration, no reproof from scripture [and they even accuse anyone ,who does try to reprove their beliefs to the scripture, of 'heresy!]

The symbolism of scripture is explained in the scripture [e.g. by a metaphor, or simile], but typically a long way away from where it is used ... one will thus not be able to pick up all the meanings of symbols as one reads , it takes time to unravel the symbolism then, but when one does then the prophesied apostasy of religion is made apparent and the mistakes can be proven from the text, not from any prior belief or private interpretation ... but what is impossible is to change the mind of any who are set in belief in a creed before understanding what the integrated scriptures say.

Even modern-day 'priests' of sinner-'christianity' go to priest school to be preconditioned in belief by sinners , whereas the scripture states that all the few who are given to Jesus now [many later, few first to form the perfect priesthood] are taught by God, not men

There are thousands of examples of ignored scriptures , by people who say they believe the scriptures ! What does scripture for instance say about hewn altars, the centrepiece of every modern church or the idols that adorn many churches, the church hierarchy in place of the equality of Jesus' church ... there is simply no compatibility at all between modern apostate 'christianity' and the scripture as a whole , even the gospel taught is not the gospel of the new covenant of grace of the scripture [Heb 8:8-12] , and all the memorial holy days showing God's plan of redemption of His creation have been changed to meaningless pagan days set originallyfor celebration of pagan gods?

There simply is no similarity at all between the integrated scripture and any of the diverse creeds of sinners labeled 'christianity' today ... it is not hard at all to prove the apostasy from scripture ... what is much harder and takes time, is to unravel the symbolism and see what scripture says in itself ... very few indeed can be bothered ...

George S

"The Bible, properly read, is the most potent force for atheism yet invented." Isaac Asimov (bold added)

ohmi

I would say "...for agnosticism..." not for atheism.

elevator

I agree that some Christians do turn to authority for their understanding of the bible, but that does not change the fact; the ones that do read their bible from start to finish and try to understand it for themselves have widely different experiences. I can assure you that Cardinal Paul Poupard has the read the whole bible through; yet he has a different experience from you. You cannot assume that your interpretation of a notoriously ambiguous text is the only correct one and label all other's as "sinner-Christians" following authority rather than scripture. Whether you blame appeals to authority or reading the bible incorrectly, you cannot escape biblical ambiguity.

It is easy to say that "this is how the bible should be read", "this is what the bible really says", etc, but other people make the same claims, yet have different interpretations of the same text. This have been argued in dept in other posts, and I encourage you to search and read through those if you haven't already. Point is; the bible is not the consistent, non-ambiguous piece of divine spiritual literature that you wish it to be.

elevator

I agree completely. I certainly don't see any evidence of divine authorship in the bible; on the contrary.