Most of the time, no one bothers to twist and manipulate the words of unimportant things, because it doesn't benefit them in some twisted, manipulative way. So when you hear people in rabid debate over the meaning, relevance, truth, substance, and importance of something someone once said, wrote or recorded, it's always something like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the lyrics to "Comfortably Numb," and just as often, the Bible.
The twisting and manipulation of the Bible doesn't strictly refer to an outright changing or omitting of words and passages. I refer instead to the manipulation of the finished product.
Many ask how I could be sure this Book we came to call the Bible is truly of God's breath. Pertaining to the assured divine Authorship of the Scripture:
If I believe God is omnipotent and powerful enough to have created the breadth of the universe and all biological forms in it by speaking them to be so, I'm deluded if I think that He stopped paying attention and ceased being almighty just for a little while, so that man fiddled with His Word and added his own selfish agenda. If God is almighty enough to have formed the galaxies and the comets, the planets and all life, then He is almighty enough to prevent man from interjecting his own will and desires into the Scriptures without sound rebuke. If God allowed man to alter His instruction and love to us, man would have long ago translated the Bible to read "Murder is perfectly okay if one's neighbor steals his cable. Adultery and the abuse of our bodies is fine too. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law."
Therefore I refer to the grasping at straws and desperation to make the actual words of God's law mean something they don't.
The truth is that this sin in the Garden resulted in the fall of man - it introduced sin, death, decay, general mortality into the world. Therefore when God said "you shall surely die" if Adam ate of that tree, He did not say nor imply "you will die instantly, you will drop dead on the spot." But rather, that Adam would bring death and mortality into the world by his sin if he chose to be disobedient to God. And being that death would be inevitable, he would, therefore, surely die. (Genesis 2:15-17)
The twisting and manipulation of the Bible doesn't strictly refer to an outright changing or omitting of words and passages. I refer instead to the manipulation of the finished product.
Many ask how I could be sure this Book we came to call the Bible is truly of God's breath. Pertaining to the assured divine Authorship of the Scripture:
If I believe God is omnipotent and powerful enough to have created the breadth of the universe and all biological forms in it by speaking them to be so, I'm deluded if I think that He stopped paying attention and ceased being almighty just for a little while, so that man fiddled with His Word and added his own selfish agenda. If God is almighty enough to have formed the galaxies and the comets, the planets and all life, then He is almighty enough to prevent man from interjecting his own will and desires into the Scriptures without sound rebuke. If God allowed man to alter His instruction and love to us, man would have long ago translated the Bible to read "Murder is perfectly okay if one's neighbor steals his cable. Adultery and the abuse of our bodies is fine too. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law."
Therefore I refer to the grasping at straws and desperation to make the actual words of God's law mean something they don't.
Now, the twisting of the Word of God began long ago, to create lies and self-imposed doctrines that attempt to free one's self from the responsibilities Christ has given us. Long before the historical events depicted in the Bible were ever written down, long before God breathed His word into chosen men to put to ink and scroll, His words were being misused and manipulated.
The first instance, not surprisingly, was perpetrated by Satan, in the form of a serpent in the Garden. His lie to Eve was that, not only would God be envious if man knew good and evil, but also that God had lied, that they would not surely die if the fruit was eaten.
"And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”"
(Genesis 3:1-5)
The truth is that this sin in the Garden resulted in the fall of man - it introduced sin, death, decay, general mortality into the world. Therefore when God said "you shall surely die" if Adam ate of that tree, He did not say nor imply "you will die instantly, you will drop dead on the spot." But rather, that Adam would bring death and mortality into the world by his sin if he chose to be disobedient to God. And being that death would be inevitable, he would, therefore, surely die. (Genesis 2:15-17)
The first sin committed in this world was caused by the twisting and manipulation of words for one's own twisted, manipulative benefit. And Satan, being a serpent of old, the father of lies, the most twisted, manipulative, selfish being to ever roam this world, still revels in this sin millenniums later.
This selfish and warped attitude is the same we adopt when we engage in pointless arguments over the meanings and subtexts of various words. We do so when we debate the 2nd Amendment - does the right to bear arms have relevance today, or was it merely meant for the militias of the time? I don't know and frankly don't care (and I don't want to hear from gun enthusiasts giving me all the reasons I'd better care - I like guns as much as the next Texan, but focus on the bigger point I'm trying to make).
When we engage in this war over the words of God, we don't merely risk distorting some document that can be ratified and changed at the drop of a hat or the hanging of a chad - we risk distorting the Truth of a God who loves us, who gave His only Son to die for us, whose Son rose from that death, and that whoever believes and proclaims Him will not enter into eternal condemnation but be given everlasting life.
When we dispute and debate theology in bitterness, when we argue for or against Predestination, when we quote Scripture in spite rather than love, edification and teaching, we risk distorting our belief and understanding of the basic principle fact that Jesus saves us.
If a man can choose not to believe just one piece of God's Word...maybe he chooses to dismiss that Jonah was swallowed by a large fish and survived...he opens the door for the devil to exploit man's fleshly weakness, and lead him away from the Christ who saves lives, physical and eternal - the fact that Jesus died for us and rose again, that He is Lord of lords, and King of kings.
And if man is so arrogant to think he's incapable of being fooled by the devil, he's already been deceived. Here's a good way to avoid being tricked by Satan - consider him as he is, crafty and cunning, who "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8) And, as bruising as it may be to our fleshly egos, pretend for a moment that we know nothing; pretend we people are idiots.
Just pretend.
And when we're caught up in our performance, portraying simpletons, we will see the damage the devil inflicts upon the souls, bodies, and minds of many. We will see how God raised Christ from the dead, yet the devil still deceives many who don't believe. And only then in our Gump-like states can we begin to achieve wisdom.
"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." -1 Corinthians 1:21-25
Just pretend.
And when we're caught up in our performance, portraying simpletons, we will see the damage the devil inflicts upon the souls, bodies, and minds of many. We will see how God raised Christ from the dead, yet the devil still deceives many who don't believe. And only then in our Gump-like states can we begin to achieve wisdom.
"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." -1 Corinthians 1:21-25
