The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 19:4-6,
"In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth."
I've heard it said, and I'll bet you have to, "But... the sun doesn't rise in the east and go down in the west! The earth spins on its axis and the sun just appears to rise and fall. The Bible is not scientifically accurate!"
Ignorance is not necessarily a pejorative term (although it is often used that way). It literally means a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. The observation that a literal understanding of Psalm 19:4-6 does not comport with celestial realities displays ignorance - not on the part of the Scriptures, but on the part of the person making that observation of Psalm 19.
Psalm 19:4-6 does not violate what we know of the solar system and how it operates. It is using the speech that all mankind uses. A part of that speech includes figures, idiomatic expressions, literary devices, metaphors, similes, etc.
Many people, particularly those who comment more on the Bible than actually read it, have a-priori misunderstandings about the nature of the language used in the Scriptures. There are those who feel the use of the Bible is distorted by some because they take the language in it too figuratively. Therefore they may be apt to miss where the Bible is using some figure of speech. There are those who struggle to accept the miraculous in the Scriptures and are tempted to see everything in it as some form of allegory. Some assume the Bible is little more than "the rule book" and so approach the Scriptures in a very distorted way. Some see nothing more than a moral yardstick and little else.
Whether by ignorance (and we really should read and understand something before we start making comments or having opinions) or by intentional deceit or dishonesty, there have been a lot of distortions and false things said about the Bible, or the use of it to condone or justify the unjustifiable. False doctrines, cults, bad teaching, attempts to discredit the Bible are many of the ways we see people using the Scriptures in pursuit of some agenda.
The Scriptures are comprised of sixty-six books (and no, the apocryphal books do not belong in this sacred library, no matter what the pope says), written by over forty authors over a period of some fourteen hundred years. It was written primarily in ancient Hebrew in the Old Testament, and Koine Greek in the New. There is a smattering of Aramaic (the language Jesus and his disciples most likely spoke in) a phrase of Latin, etc.
Within the pages of the Scriptures we find various genres of literature: epistolary (correspondence), poetry, narrative, apocalyptic etc. We find court records, tables of laws, poems, songs, predictive prophecies, wisdom literature, stories and so forth. If one were to make the assumption that the language we encounter in our Bibles, including all the acceptable translations (whether older or newer) was of a uniform format, it would bring a huge distortion to the understanding of it.
It needs to be recognized that many of the passages of Scripture were written in the way people communicated in a regular way on a daily basis. Much like picking up the newspaper (although what we find in the Scriptures are true, and the other, well...) or a magazine or a novel or whatever. Figures of speech are used just as David did in Psalm 19. Mankind has always employed these literary devices in written and oral communication.
I don't intend to communicate that the study of the Scriptures is for professionals only. As a matter of fact, I feel quite the opposite. Professionals often bring distortion into the study of the Scriptures precisely because of their "professional background." Nonetheless, ignorance of what is before us when we begin making comments about passages of Scripture simply will not do.
And, no, the Bible is not scientifically inaccurate. It is entirely and uniquely inspired by God (and therefore authoritative) and without error throughout in whatever it touches on. Additionally, it is intentional! God wants us to know what is in it. That is why he made the effort to have it written by his prophets.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..
"In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth."
I've heard it said, and I'll bet you have to, "But... the sun doesn't rise in the east and go down in the west! The earth spins on its axis and the sun just appears to rise and fall. The Bible is not scientifically accurate!"
Ignorance is not necessarily a pejorative term (although it is often used that way). It literally means a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. The observation that a literal understanding of Psalm 19:4-6 does not comport with celestial realities displays ignorance - not on the part of the Scriptures, but on the part of the person making that observation of Psalm 19.
Psalm 19:4-6 does not violate what we know of the solar system and how it operates. It is using the speech that all mankind uses. A part of that speech includes figures, idiomatic expressions, literary devices, metaphors, similes, etc.
Many people, particularly those who comment more on the Bible than actually read it, have a-priori misunderstandings about the nature of the language used in the Scriptures. There are those who feel the use of the Bible is distorted by some because they take the language in it too figuratively. Therefore they may be apt to miss where the Bible is using some figure of speech. There are those who struggle to accept the miraculous in the Scriptures and are tempted to see everything in it as some form of allegory. Some assume the Bible is little more than "the rule book" and so approach the Scriptures in a very distorted way. Some see nothing more than a moral yardstick and little else.
Whether by ignorance (and we really should read and understand something before we start making comments or having opinions) or by intentional deceit or dishonesty, there have been a lot of distortions and false things said about the Bible, or the use of it to condone or justify the unjustifiable. False doctrines, cults, bad teaching, attempts to discredit the Bible are many of the ways we see people using the Scriptures in pursuit of some agenda.
The Scriptures are comprised of sixty-six books (and no, the apocryphal books do not belong in this sacred library, no matter what the pope says), written by over forty authors over a period of some fourteen hundred years. It was written primarily in ancient Hebrew in the Old Testament, and Koine Greek in the New. There is a smattering of Aramaic (the language Jesus and his disciples most likely spoke in) a phrase of Latin, etc.
Within the pages of the Scriptures we find various genres of literature: epistolary (correspondence), poetry, narrative, apocalyptic etc. We find court records, tables of laws, poems, songs, predictive prophecies, wisdom literature, stories and so forth. If one were to make the assumption that the language we encounter in our Bibles, including all the acceptable translations (whether older or newer) was of a uniform format, it would bring a huge distortion to the understanding of it.
It needs to be recognized that many of the passages of Scripture were written in the way people communicated in a regular way on a daily basis. Much like picking up the newspaper (although what we find in the Scriptures are true, and the other, well...) or a magazine or a novel or whatever. Figures of speech are used just as David did in Psalm 19. Mankind has always employed these literary devices in written and oral communication.
I don't intend to communicate that the study of the Scriptures is for professionals only. As a matter of fact, I feel quite the opposite. Professionals often bring distortion into the study of the Scriptures precisely because of their "professional background." Nonetheless, ignorance of what is before us when we begin making comments about passages of Scripture simply will not do.
And, no, the Bible is not scientifically inaccurate. It is entirely and uniquely inspired by God (and therefore authoritative) and without error throughout in whatever it touches on. Additionally, it is intentional! God wants us to know what is in it. That is why he made the effort to have it written by his prophets.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..
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