I am forever thankful that my parents obligated me to read the Bible as a child. When I met other kids who's "Christian" parents "don't believe in forcing our religion on our kids," I was profoundly disappointed in them.
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What are you currently reading in the Bible / Word of God?
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Psalm 51 this morning in Lauds
- Have mercy on me, O God, in your steadfast love;
In your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. - Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin. - For I am conscious of my transgressions;
My sin is ever before me. - Against you, you alone, I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
Thus, you are justified in your sentence,
Blameless in your judgment. - Indeed, I was born steeped in wrongdoing,
A sinner from my mother's womb. - Yet, you desire truth in the inner being;
Teach me wisdom in my secret heart. - Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. - Let me hear joy and gladness;
Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. - Hide your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities. - Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me. - Do not cast me away from your presence,
Nor take your Holy Spirit from me. - Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
And uphold me with a willing spirit. - Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
And sinners shall return to you. - Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. - O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall declare your praise. - For you have no delight in sacrifice;
Were I to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. - The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. - Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, - Then you will delight in right sacrifices,
In burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
My parents read the KJV with my siblings and I when we were small children. I never thought of it as something we were "forced" to do, just something normal and I enjoyed having my father explain both the scriptures themselves and the meaning of the archaic language.
One benefit has been that I easily understand the early modern English of the KJV and writers of that era like Shakespeare and Donne. I often forget that this is not the case for most English speakers. I find it ironic that the "I f*cking love science" crowd who consider themselves inherently better educated than Christians would largely struggle to understand the same 17th century English that is familiar to me because of Bible study as a child.
Psalm 82
1 God takes His stand in the congregation of God; He judges in the midst of gods.
2 How long will you judge unrighteously And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.
3 Give justice to the poor and the orphan; Justify the afflicted and destitute.
4 Protect the poor and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know and do not understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless you will die like men And you will fall like any one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is You who will inherit all the nations.
Who are these gods in verse 1? Are they angels or rulers? What do you think?
1 God takes His stand in the congregation of God; He judges in the midst of gods.
2 How long will you judge unrighteously And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.
3 Give justice to the poor and the orphan; Justify the afflicted and destitute.
4 Protect the poor and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know and do not understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless you will die like men And you will fall like any one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is You who will inherit all the nations.
Who are these gods in verse 1? Are they angels or rulers? What do you think?
The gods and sons of God are simply the members of the Church assembly. Since we are all made in the image and likeness of God. The Psalter can be confusing because the speaker changes often. In line six, it is Christ speaking to us. Also compare this to John 10:34-36.
[34] Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? [35] If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken; [36] say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
I'm inclined against this only because Psalm 82 is a judgement passage. God is judging the gods for executing their judgement wickedly.
John 10:22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon. 24The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us openly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. 26But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish—ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? 35If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and continue knowing that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.
I believe John 10 is the fulfillment of Psalm 82. The Jewish rulers are the gods to whom the word of God came. They are called gods because they are representing God and His Word to Israel, but they are judged in Psalm 82 for not carrying out this task faithfully. Therefore, God Himself will have to arise and judge the earth, for He is the One to inherit the nations. Notice in Psalm 82 how God is judging in their midst and compare that to John 10:24, where the Jews are described as gathering around Him.
staddlelateen
Catholic
Finished Revelation, which concludes my full read through of the NT. Another goal achieved
Just finished Acts. My favorite chapters are the final four, where Paul makes his confession before Agrippa and Festus; it's the message of the entire book.
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Hebrews might actually be my favorite book out of the New Testament. It is an amazing, incredible book and is a true utterance of the Holy Spirit. Puritan John Owen once wrote a commentary on Hebrews that numbered around 3,600 pages long, the theology and doctrine in Hebrews is that rich.
We are currently studying Hebrews in my Bible Study group
For Lent, this is the main book in the lectionary for us Orthodox.
Church is in 2 Corinthians.
Bible study just finished 1,2,3 John.
I just finished Isaiah.
Someone once said that Isaiah is key to understanding the Johannine literature. And while that is true of all the Old Testament and it's relation to the New, he was correct. I've always appreciated John's more doctrinal approach and his consistency with Paul. That is true of all of the Bible but I see it very clearly in John and Paul, even though they may use different terminology.
Bible study just finished 1,2,3 John.
I just finished Isaiah.
Someone once said that Isaiah is key to understanding the Johannine literature. And while that is true of all the Old Testament and it's relation to the New, he was correct. I've always appreciated John's more doctrinal approach and his consistency with Paul. That is true of all of the Bible but I see it very clearly in John and Paul, even though they may use different terminology.
I had this as a kid. I remember the picture of them carrying the giant grapes in particular, but the others look familiar as well. I'm glad it's still available.Right now, I'm re-reading The Golden Children's Bible. I haven't read that version since I was a child, but the beautiful illustrations stuck with me throughout my life. I liked it enough that I bought a copy for my niece. Would recommend for children.
I remember the pictures for the story of the lame man where they made a hole in the roof to lower him down to Jesus, who forgave his sins, and then healed him as well.
Edit: This is the one I had as a kid, but I think the pictures are the same, so they much have just made a new edition with the word Golden added.
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I can confirm that the pictures are the same. I grew up with the one you posted, but bought the new edition for my niece. Exactly the same illustrations and content, only the cover is different.I had this as a kid. I remember the picture of them carrying the giant grapes in particular, but the others look familiar as well. I'm glad it's still available.
I remember the pictures for the story of the lame man where they made a hole in the roof to lower him down to Jesus, who forgave his sins, and then healed him as well.
Edit: This is the one I had as a kid, but I think the pictures are the same, so they much have just made a new edition with the word Golden added.
I re-read The Book of Jonah recently. It did make me laugh. God asks Jonah to issue a warning to Nineveh, but he doesn't want to so he tries to sail away to Spain. Then he's thrown overboard for causing the storm, gets swallowed and repents so God has him spat out to try again. He issues the warning to Nineveh, and they repent so God spares them. Jonah is so hacked off that God's not going to destroy the city that he sits in the desert in a sulk, so God demonstrates how silly he is to be angry. Only a 15 minute read, shows God's patience, mercy and grace, and makes me feel a bit better for being a total bell end if even prophets could be daft.
Luke 12
Everyone loves to talk about how non-judgemental Jesus was, but very rarely does anyone talk about Christ's command to judge for ourselves what is right.
People confuse "do not judge" with "never judge."
Not judging, which really means to avoid judgement as much as possible, does not mean avoiding judging what is right and wrong, and to apply it throughout our lives.
Everyone loves to talk about how non-judgemental Jesus was, but very rarely does anyone talk about Christ's command to judge for ourselves what is right.
People confuse "do not judge" with "never judge."
Not judging, which really means to avoid judgement as much as possible, does not mean avoiding judging what is right and wrong, and to apply it throughout our lives.
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I remember describing the ending of Jonah as "God giving Jonah a noogie." Makes you wonder how he lived the rest of his life out. I have a feeling he fared better than most of the Prophets, who were killed for prophesying God's wrath against Israel and Judah or for prophesying the inclusion of the Gentiles into God's kingdom.
Switched out my Spanish Bible translation. I was using the Reina Valera before. The Reina Valera is the classical Spanish translation, it's like the Spanish King James Version. The Spanish is not the same dialect you would hear in America. I found out that the Lockman Foundation had their own translation called the NBLA. It is the cutting edge, just as their NASB is.