I recently heard a priest quote the verse that says “no prophesy of scripture is of private interpretation”. The person used this quote to defend the idea that non-clergy people should not be interpreting the Bible of their own understanding. They should listen to the traditional orthodox teachings passed down through the priesthood for one to truly understand the scriptures because it was originally passed down from holy men of God to them. When I heard this I recognized it to be the age old tactic of appealing to special exclusive knowledge to control the minds and hearts of people. It also is a really deceptive way to stop people from reading the scriptures, being led by the Spirit and getting close to God. Fundamentally, people in authority like to use the Bible to fool us into not reading it. Unfortunately, even the translation of the scriptures also sometimes make it difficult to fully understand the message that was intended. The use of the word, “interpretation”, in that verse makes it easy for someone to use that verse to convey the wrong message. Interestingly, “interpretation” may not be the best word to use to translate the Greek word it represents. Want to know why? Then, let’s have a look! Read More
Koine Greek
Tricky Translation – Chief or First
Paul called himself the chief of sinners. We all know it. We all heard it. We all sing it. We all read it. If the apostle Paul can call himself the chief of sinners, then what about us? What are we? “We are lower than low. We are just guilty sinners”. This is what many Christians have heard and thought throughout the years in churches around the planet. Doctrines have been formulated around this idea. Great preachers have proclaimed powerful sermons around this idea of Paul being the chief of sinners. As a consequence of this, many Christians live defeated lives but are masquerading as pious and humble. What if Paul never said he was the chief of sinners? Well, maybe, instead of just accepting everything we hear, let’s take a deeper look. Read More
Is his name Jesus?
Have you ever heard anyone say, “Jesus’ real name is…”? It seems like everyone thinks they know Jesus’ ‘true’ or ‘real’ name these days. I have been hearing pastors, scholars and typical Christians using names like “Yeshua” or “Yahshua” or some other variation. Some will go as far as to say that “Jesus” is not the real name of the messiah, and to be saved we need to call upon the ‘real’ name of Christ. So, what is really going on here? Are they right? Or are they jumping to conclusions? Is “Jesus” really Christ’s name or not? Let’s clear this up. Read More