How to understand the scriptures.

How to understand the scriptures.

When the Catholic church was aware that the study of the scriptures was a dangerous matter for them, because they were teaching different doctrines, took the resolution to forbid the reading of the Bible.

Under this title the weekly magazine "the truth" published in Jerusalem, gives us on November 1911, a news quoting a document stored in the national library of Paris, which contains suggestions that the cardinals gave to the Pope Julius  third, when he was called as Pope in the year 1550:
Between all the suggestions that we can give to your holiness, we hold the most important for the last one. We must keep well opened eyes and intervene with all the power we have in the following business." The reading of the Gospel must not be allowed as less as possible, specially in the modern languages and in the country submitted to your authority. The few readed, generally to the mass,it should be enough and we must forbid to whosoever to read more.
Until the people will be glad of that few, your business will prosper, but in the moment that it will be readed more your business will suffer. This is the Book that more the all others provoked against us rebellions and storms that for few didn't destroy us. In fact if somebody checks accurately the teaching of the Bible and he compares it to what happens in ours churches, he will discover pretty soon the contradictions, and see that our teachings often are very different from the teachings of the Bible, and more often are in opposition to It. If the people will be able to understand this, will provoke us without rest, until everything will be discovered, and then we will become the object of the mockery and the universal hate. It is necessary, therefore, that the Bible be taken of from the hands of the people, but with great prudence, to persuade the people against violence.

This resolution, anyway, didn't resolve the problem, because several monks and priest that had a "legal" access to the scriptures, like Martin Luther, discovered their problem and the famous protest begun.
Now the scriptures are available to everybody, fortunately, but sometime we have another problem: many churches understand them according to their opinions. Obviously the battle's field instead to be narrower is becoming huger. Many times we ear to say:" You take this verse out of context" and many times is true. The real problem will arise when you quote a verse "in the context" but since it is not good for a particular doctrine of the listener this reply in this way:
The Bible should be registered as a lethal weapon! Hebrews 4:12 warns us "the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword . . ."

That's why Paul warns us to "do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:14-19, italics mine).

This double-edged sword cannot only be spiritually deadly, but physically as well. For instance, numerous atrocities including the Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery, as well as child and wife abuse have been justified with biblical "proof texts." And the majority of heresies, such as Jesus Christ not being God or "name it and claim it," have developed from the incorrect handling of Scripture.

To correctly handle the Word of God we must . . .
take the common meaning of the word in the original language (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) at the time it was written.And after this advice several others.
So every reader, to be perfectly safe, should be able to know the particular meanings of the words in (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) to see if their meaning is well translated (in this case probably the translator is considered an imbecile, and also at this point "they believe in the Bible to be the word of God  as far as it is translated correctly" just like the lds people, but with an important difference, we accept our article of faith in those cases in which is so evident that there is a mistake in the text, instead they use this idea anytime they are in trouble to explain their idea. To support their idea many times they maintain that the meaning of the word could be different from when it was written. So the translators were not good because they probably didn't have this in their mind when they performed their labor, which I don't believe. It is true that every translation can differ from each other but the differences usually are not so big, otherwise we have a very good question:which Bible is the better translated? It makes me laugh this topic because it is more evident why the Lord brought forth the Book of Mormon: One text, one translator, one book and we have the manuscript. Turning back to the original topic I'd say that this way is another original idea to put the Bible back in the hands of the learned men of the world. How it could be possible for the simple basic man of the world to have all this  knowledge? So did God write the Bible only for the learned men of the world? Taking the scriptures like sample this is simple abnormal and unknown to the method that God always used, even the scriptures make clear that God loves everybody but in the case of knowledge He prefer and uses the humble and simple man, not the learned men, for  simple reasons, "without faith it is impossible to please Him" and He likes to reveal His secrets to the humble persons.
we can read this in 1 Corinthians 1:17,19-29
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

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Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

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For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

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Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

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but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

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but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

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For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

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Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

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But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

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He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are,

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so that no one may boast before him.

 

I'd say that Paul was preaching the opposite of what many professors are professing today, they clearly forget what is the real principle that allow us to understand the scriptures, surely not the secular understanding but 1 Corinthians 2:1-13

 

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

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For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

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I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

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My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,

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so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

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We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

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No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

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None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

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However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

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but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

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For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

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We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

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This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Since lately I discussed about the scriptures with learned men in the science of the world, when they were not able to explain a particular point, they started to say always: we should be careful because even tough it is in the context, we should know the customs, the idea of the time, the real meaning of the words, the dialects, the geography and the laws and I liked always to add that probably we need to know what size of shoes the writer had to have a better comprehension of all. I am not saying that these stuff, aside the shoes' size, are not useful, i am just saying that they are not"essential".
My conclusion is: if you want to study the scriptures in this manner you should (before to start) go to the university, closer to your house, you should take several branches and when you done you could start to read the Bible, keeping in mind to be careful and check every word to make sure that meaning, laws, customs and whatever is perfect. probably in a millions of years you will arrive finally to the new Testament and you will enjoy the testimony of Jesus, but keep in mind the New Testament was written in Greek but Jesus and the people in the new testament times were speaking Hebrew, so you are supposed to be ready for the great task to mingle well and shake well everything. Thanks God this is not the way the Holy Ghost works. Do you really think that God making the Bible made a real monster?   Fortunately the Bible condemns this wrong concept in the words of Paul but what about Christ. Didn't teach Him that what was covered for the learned man of his time it would be revealed to the little children? didn't He speak about the "poor in spirit" in His sermon of the Mount? Didn't He condemn always the scribes and Pharisees in his sermons (they were the learned man of His time)? Didn't teach He the true doctrine of the knowledge? That is  the prayer of the faith connected to the Holy Ghost to know the truth of everything? John 16:7-14

But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

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When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt  in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:

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in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;

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in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;

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and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

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"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.

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But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

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He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

John 14:13-17

 

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

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You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

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And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--

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the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be  in you.

It seems hat these simple principle are forgotten even from the professed Christians. to put and end to this I'd like to remark what the Bible teaches:

1 Keep the commandments

          2 Search the scriptures

3 Ask God

          4 receive the answer by the Holy Ghost

Galatians 1:11-12

 

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.

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I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ

Amos 7:14-15

 

Amos answered Amaziah, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.

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But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, `Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

Anyway if the Bible gives us something different, about university, geography, customs, dialects and stuff like that, I'd like to take a closer look to the scriptures that are proclaiming that, is that fair?