Magus55

And a huge part of why there are so many conflicting views is because 1) everyone has an opinion and world view, and will fit their beliefs to what they like or don't like ( example: don't like the concept of Hell - remove it - wahla- you now have a new denomination) and 2) many denominations stem from Catholicism, which has always taught that only the Pope and Magesterium can interpret scripture correctly ( and yes this is truth - its in the Catechism, and a Catholic friend just told me that most Catholics have no clue what the Bible really says). If you have the head of the largest denomination on Earth telling you that you can't correctly interpret scripture, then people are bound to come up with their own views of what they like over what the magesterium says. Thats where Lutheran and Calvinism came from - rebellion against the Catholic Church.

Although, I probably can't do much better since it seems like all you care about doing is rejecting every explanation I come up with. If nothing I say is good enough for you, why bother?

Magus55

Actually, Christians will tell you that the Holy Spirit guides them in understanding what is to be taken literal or metaphoric on topic of the context/writing style. Since most people can't read ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, we need another guide. Hence why without the Holy Spirit, the Bible says unbelievers will not understand it.

Amaleq13

Ah, so that is why there is an absence of disagreement among believers as to what the Bible means!

Toto

And you know that the Holy Spirit and not Satan guided you to the correct conclusion because . . . ?

Does this imply that it must have been Satan guiding other believers to a different conclusion?

Postcard73

No, we are likely looking at a contradiction. Please explain how Romans 9:14 is ambiguous. I have read it over and over, and it appears very straightforward to me. This goes right back to the OP: how do we know this passage needs to be interpreted instead of taking it literally (in which case it clearly preaches predestination), and who holds the authoritative position to make the interpretation?

And don't feed me the "read the whole Bible" line. I have read the Bible cover to cover more than once. I also took separate courses on the Old and New Testaments at a Southern Baptist college, taught Sunday school at a fundamental church, and read my Bible constantly for several years. I know what the Bible says...

blindwatchmaker

Trust me my friend; When you come up with an explanation that the majority of freethinking, sane people in the world wouldn't laugh at, it wont be rejected.

It certainly isn't the case that nothing you say is good enough for me.
I welcome your input. You are obviously bright enough, and it always fascinates me to see bright people being convinced by weak arguments.

You must find that too.