Have you ever taken an ink blot test? You look at a blob of ink on a piece of card stock and tell the therapist, psychologist, or other insane person showing this card what it reminds you of. There is no right answer. There is no wrong answer. It's an ink blot.
Have you ever been accused of treating the Bible like an ink blot test?
I have been. I've been accused of wrongful personal interpretation of the Bible. I've been warned about interpreting the Bible on my own. I've been informed that because I am not Catholic, I do not and can not understand the truths within the Bible.
And, I must admit, being accused of essentially treating God's Word like a splattering of ink is something I take great offense to. Why? Because this is something completely against everything I believe. The Bible is not something to be treated so callously. It's God's Word.
Yes, my beliefs on what the Bible says regarding certain topics does not match what some others may believe. But these are not my personal interpretations. These are not based on my own study. Yes, I do study the Bible. I also study commentaries on various viewpoints. But this does not form my personal interpretation.
My personal interpretation is actually God's truth as God shows it to me. It doesn't come from false prophets. It doesn't come from only my own reading. It doesn't come from study. It comes from God.
I pray before reading, and after reading. When I read the Bible, I read it with the Holy Spirit active within me. I don't read it with the teachings of the Catholic church (or any other church) screaming inside me. I read it with God inside me. This is how I believe the Bible should be read.
This doesn't make the Bible an inkblot. It makes the Bible real and alive. It isn't a personal interpretation. It's God speaking.
Brandi,
ReplyDeleteI urge you to read over 1 Corinthians 1, especially 1 Corinthians 1:10-12 with an open mind.
The Scripture tells us that we should agree with one mind.
I don't know why you feel to denigrate the voice of the Catholic Church as "screaming". The Church in the New Testament had authority to teach. This hasn't changed.
Recall the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Reading with an open mind might not be enough. The Bible isn't necessarily easy to understand and we sometimes need others to teach us.
We should remember that the Ethiopian eunuch had just finished a pilgrimage to the worship at the temple, and was rejected from it. His frustration at not being taught is easily understood in light of the rejection from the teachers there. Philip restored the eunuch and fulfilled his pilgrimage.
ReplyDeleteBut there is a valid point to what Jordan is saying, Brandi. I don't think we should ever rely on any teacher as infallible - only the word of God can lay claim to that - but we must also realize that we are not infallible either. It is impossible not to bring our preconceptions to the text. Most of the are so embedded that we do not know they are even there. The best we can do is be self aware, to use tools that help to distance us from our own preconceptions, and to open our own interpretations to the accountability of the body.
I think if you pray sincerely for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that it will be given to you.
DeleteI would agree that people shouldn't make stinging accusations against those who teach.
I believe the Holy Spirit wishes that we be in unity as Christians and believe the one Gospel. You shouldn't believe something simply because you are told by certain people. Having said that, I believe there is a visible Church living in the world today with authority to teach, just as there was in the New Testament.
T.E Hanna - how was he rejected?
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