Post by tlsitd on Sept 12, 2018 16:43:52 GMT -5
I thought this would be an interesting topic, and a good reminder to be careful about how we read the Scriptures---and to examine the Scriptures to see whether what we have heard is correct. There are some "Scriptures" that people quote that aren't even in the Bible; others are things that they think the Bible teaches and repeat by tradition when it doesn't actually teach that.
So I thought I'd give a few for-examples of these things, not just to correct anyone who might believe that that these things are in the Bible, but to show why we should really be careful about believing what people quote or teach, by mistake or by tradition, without examining the Scriptures to see whether what they are saying lines up with what is actually in there.
That some of these things continue to be said is pretty amazing, when you consider that the complete Canon has been available to the common man for a long time now, and all of us are capable of opening it to read it. I don't know whether some of these things persist as a matter of tradition or as a matter of laziness on the part of individual Christians who don't search the Scriptures.
This is intended to be a somewhat light-hearted thread, although the heart of the matter is serious and should be taken seriously (that we should be careful to check what we hear against the word of God to be sure that it's accurate), so please don't be offended if some of the things I list here are things you've said or say---as though you're being ridiculed for it. You're not.
1. The Forbidden Fruit Was An Apple
There's no description of what kind of fruit the forbidden fruit was in Genesis 3.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)
2. Adam Walked With God In The Cool Of The Evening
What the Bible actually says:
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
(There's no mention of God and Adam walking and talking together in the cool of the evening in Genesis. Whether they ever did or not, we don't know.)
3. "God Works In Mysterious Ways, His Wonders To Perform"
That's not Scripture. It's a saying taken from the lyrics of an old hymn: God Moves In A Mysterious Way, written by William Cowper in 1774. (It's a nice hymn, but those words are not from the Bible.)
4. Money Is The Root Of All Evil
This is a corruption of 1 Timothy 6:10. If you read the King James translation of the Bible, that verse says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Other translations say that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils---which translation I prefer because I believe it is more accurate. (We know from other Scriptures that the love of money isn't the only root of evil, though it is a root of many evils. Adam didn't sin because he loved money. Money hadn't even come into existence yet.) In any case, it is the love of money, and not money itself, that the Bible says is the/a root of all or many evils.
5. Black People Are Cursed Descendants Of Ham And Their Skin Is The Mark Of Cain (Or Of Ham), And God Destined Them To Be Slaves (Or something to this effect)
What the Bible actually says:
God put a mark on Cain for killing his brother Abel so that nobody would kill Cain (Genesis 4:13-15). There's no description in Genesis 4 of what kind of mark God put on Cain---what it was or what it looked like---nor any indication that that mark was passed on to any of his descendants. It was a mark on Cain only.
Ham, Noah's son, who was the father of Canaan, was a descendant of Adam's son Seth, not Cain (Genesis 5). Even if the mark of Cain had been hereditary and generational (which the Bible gives no indication of) Ham wouldn't have inherited it, since he was not descended from Cain, but from Seth.
Noah cursed Canaan, Ham's son, for his son Ham's sin, not Ham, and not any of Ham's other sons: Cush, Egypt, and Put. (Genesis 9:24-27; 10:6)
The Canaanites (Genesis 10:15-18) were the people who were dwelling in the land that the people of Israel went in to possess---in the middle east---whom God drove out of their land and commanded the people of Israel to drive out and to devote to destruction, and who the people of Israel enslaved (see the book of Joshua), in fulfillment of the curse that He pronounced upon Canaan through Noah. They weren't Africans, but a middle-eastern people, who probably didn't look much different from the people of Israel. The curse that God pronounced on Canaan was fulfilled by the Israelites' conquest and possession of the land of Canaan.
6. Menstruation Is "Eve's Curse"
The Bible says that pain in childbirth was God's judgment on Eve for her sin that women have inherited, not menstruation.
To the woman He said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children." (Genesis 3:16)
7. "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves"
Not Scripture.
8. "Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness"
Definitely not Scripture.
9. "Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child"
This one is really just a paraphrase of Proverbs 13:24:
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him (or 'disciplines him early').
10. "Pride Goes Before A Fall"
The Bible actually says:
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)
(This saying is also a paraphrase of Scripture; but I think a more correct paraphrase would be: "Pride goes before destruction", rather than "Pride goes before a fall".)
(Maybe you can think of other examples.)
So I thought I'd give a few for-examples of these things, not just to correct anyone who might believe that that these things are in the Bible, but to show why we should really be careful about believing what people quote or teach, by mistake or by tradition, without examining the Scriptures to see whether what they are saying lines up with what is actually in there.
That some of these things continue to be said is pretty amazing, when you consider that the complete Canon has been available to the common man for a long time now, and all of us are capable of opening it to read it. I don't know whether some of these things persist as a matter of tradition or as a matter of laziness on the part of individual Christians who don't search the Scriptures.
This is intended to be a somewhat light-hearted thread, although the heart of the matter is serious and should be taken seriously (that we should be careful to check what we hear against the word of God to be sure that it's accurate), so please don't be offended if some of the things I list here are things you've said or say---as though you're being ridiculed for it. You're not.
1. The Forbidden Fruit Was An Apple
There's no description of what kind of fruit the forbidden fruit was in Genesis 3.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)
2. Adam Walked With God In The Cool Of The Evening
What the Bible actually says:
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
(There's no mention of God and Adam walking and talking together in the cool of the evening in Genesis. Whether they ever did or not, we don't know.)
3. "God Works In Mysterious Ways, His Wonders To Perform"
That's not Scripture. It's a saying taken from the lyrics of an old hymn: God Moves In A Mysterious Way, written by William Cowper in 1774. (It's a nice hymn, but those words are not from the Bible.)
4. Money Is The Root Of All Evil
This is a corruption of 1 Timothy 6:10. If you read the King James translation of the Bible, that verse says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Other translations say that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils---which translation I prefer because I believe it is more accurate. (We know from other Scriptures that the love of money isn't the only root of evil, though it is a root of many evils. Adam didn't sin because he loved money. Money hadn't even come into existence yet.) In any case, it is the love of money, and not money itself, that the Bible says is the/a root of all or many evils.
5. Black People Are Cursed Descendants Of Ham And Their Skin Is The Mark Of Cain (Or Of Ham), And God Destined Them To Be Slaves (Or something to this effect)
What the Bible actually says:
God put a mark on Cain for killing his brother Abel so that nobody would kill Cain (Genesis 4:13-15). There's no description in Genesis 4 of what kind of mark God put on Cain---what it was or what it looked like---nor any indication that that mark was passed on to any of his descendants. It was a mark on Cain only.
Ham, Noah's son, who was the father of Canaan, was a descendant of Adam's son Seth, not Cain (Genesis 5). Even if the mark of Cain had been hereditary and generational (which the Bible gives no indication of) Ham wouldn't have inherited it, since he was not descended from Cain, but from Seth.
Noah cursed Canaan, Ham's son, for his son Ham's sin, not Ham, and not any of Ham's other sons: Cush, Egypt, and Put. (Genesis 9:24-27; 10:6)
The Canaanites (Genesis 10:15-18) were the people who were dwelling in the land that the people of Israel went in to possess---in the middle east---whom God drove out of their land and commanded the people of Israel to drive out and to devote to destruction, and who the people of Israel enslaved (see the book of Joshua), in fulfillment of the curse that He pronounced upon Canaan through Noah. They weren't Africans, but a middle-eastern people, who probably didn't look much different from the people of Israel. The curse that God pronounced on Canaan was fulfilled by the Israelites' conquest and possession of the land of Canaan.
6. Menstruation Is "Eve's Curse"
The Bible says that pain in childbirth was God's judgment on Eve for her sin that women have inherited, not menstruation.
To the woman He said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children." (Genesis 3:16)
7. "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves"
Not Scripture.
8. "Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness"
Definitely not Scripture.
9. "Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child"
This one is really just a paraphrase of Proverbs 13:24:
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him (or 'disciplines him early').
10. "Pride Goes Before A Fall"
The Bible actually says:
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)
(This saying is also a paraphrase of Scripture; but I think a more correct paraphrase would be: "Pride goes before destruction", rather than "Pride goes before a fall".)
(Maybe you can think of other examples.)
