Ontologist's Weblog

Is the Bible the Word of God?

ontologist — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 09:37:58 +0000

In my honest opinion – I would have to say “No the Bible is NOT the Word of God.”
Now before you rip my head off please read ahead and then decide whether or not I am wrong.

To begin with we do not even have the originals – we have copies of copies of copies which have been translated an transliterated. Secondly the scripture tells us that JESUS is the WORD MADE FLESH – which kind of implies that the word can be FLESH or SPIRIT – and that Jesus is the FLESHLY incarnation (and in my opinion the Holy Spirit is the SPIRITUAL incarnation).

For me the Bible is SCRIPTURE but no the WORD – what is the difference you may ask? Well I believe that the words written down were inspired but not dictated. I believe that the Bible can and does contain errors and contradictions because it is not perfect. The writings are scripture and as such came from God through man – who is imperfect.

Now this has some very interesting implications if you follow the argument all the way through. For example:
1] I believe that God can and does inspire people today to write scripture.
Here is an example of what I would call modern-day scripture: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25141

2] The Word of God is not confined between the leather covers of a book collection. It is alive and still speaks to us in real-time today. Don’t get me wrong – there are still aspects of God’s word in the Bible – but there are also aspects of man’s words and God’s (and man’s) words continue beyond the Bible.

3] I believe that there are messages in the Bible that are for the people of those times, and in that place, and we are taking and applying the messages to ourselves today when in fact God has a relevant message for us right now in our situation and predicament and we must hear it.

For those of you who have difficulty with this, let me ask you this question: In Acts Ch15 when the Apostles held a council to decide how to deal with Gentile converts into their Jewish-founded faith – what book of the Bible did they turn to, to get an answer? Did they look to Ephesians or Corinthians? No of course not! They listened to the Spirit and Word of God in real-time to guide them and give them wisdom – how come we do not do the same thing today?

If God could inspire those people at that time – why would he not do it now?

The common objection I get is that we need a FOUNDATIONAL document to keep things in line – really?
Do you know that the scriptures have been used to justify slavery? Yes anybody can twist anything – and the system I am proposing is potentially just as dangerous. But I am speaking to those who, like myself are truth seekers.

Anyone who truly submits to God, uses discernment. tests the spirits and subjects their life to Christ in complete surrender will HEAR his WORD today and stay in truth and will not need to keep looking back to find the message that God has for us right now.

Please note that I am not advocating the removal of scripture or relegating it to obsolescence or any such rubbish. It is still God breathed scripture that we can learn from. I believe that I can learn from the Bible but I do not take instruction from it. Whoa!!!!! Did he just say that he does not take instruction from the Bible? Yes I did. I take instruction from the Holy Spirit revelations that I receive. Let me ask you this – if the 10 commandments never said it was wrong to murder, would you then murder someone? Do you love and serve and live humbly just because it is written in the Bible? I hope not. I hope that you have been given a revelation by the Lord that this is how he wants us to live. It just so happens that this particular topic is in the Bible so I can learn from it – but I do not live humbly BECAUSE it is in the Bible – I do it because I have revelation of its truth. And as I walk and grow in my faith and relationship with God I am learning all the time – yes from scripture (old and new) and from the WORD of God as given to me through revelation in real-time everyday. Christ said we need to live by EVERY word that proceeds from God – including those today!!!!!! He is still speaking – his inspiration is not closed now.

And before anyone says that I am attacking the WORD of God – I am not – I am saying that the Word of God is more important than ever! It is just that the Bible in its entirety is not it – there is more to it. Yes there are parts that are from God but there is more that God is giving us every day – let’s listen to it.

God knows my heart for the truth on this.
Ontologist.

PS: If I am in error then please pray for me since God’s truth is the most important thing in this world.

Who really goes to hell?

ontologist — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:56:32 +0000

The Bible tells us that Hell was created for the devil and his angels – not for humans.
Humans were created to have a loving relationship with God.
However it seems that humans have their own free will and can choose to follow the devil and his angels.

It seems that there is an inate ‘value’ in a human life. Far beyond what we can comprehend. Jesus didn’t just have to die ie: his pulse had to stop – or else he could just have slit his wrists. But rather he had to prove ‘obedience to the point of death’.

My take is as follows:
Man is created.
Man is a selfish being.
God cannot exist in a relationship with an unloving species.
Jesus takes on the form of man and demonstrates that man can love unconditionally in obedience to god.
As such he shows us the way.

As for others going to hell, I am undecided on this. You see, I think that hell is reserved for those who reject God and by proxy reject Christ – however, I do not think that anyone does reject him.
I think that Musilims, Buddhist, Atheists etc reject the ‘notion’ of Jesus as understood from their POV.
They do not reject the ‘truth’ (in Christ) because they have no revelation of it.
They truly do not KNOW christ – they may know OF him, ABOUT him etc, but there has been no ‘revelation’.
I think that hell is for those who, after having the revelation, reject Christ.
Of course I am so convinced of Christ that I believe that there are very few people in history who, after having a TRUE revelation, actually reject Him.

Do we need the original manuscripts?

ontologist — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:11:37 +0000

I have been giving some thoughts as to why
God would not have preserved the biblical autographs,
(or if he has, then why they are not being released to the general public) and I believe that I have arrived at an opinion.

Let’s consider 2 things.
In the old testament we read that Moses was instructed to make a Bronze serpent – we then read that about 600 years later this same serpent is becoming an object of worship – in fact it got so bad that the reigning king was forced to destroy it – it had become and idol!

Secondly, consider a water stain on a bridge underpass that seemed to take the shape of Mary. See how many people gathered around it, prayed to it, knelt before it and set up altars
to it.

Human beings have an inate desire to attach spiritual devotion to inanimate objects and as such I believe that if the actual scripture manuscripts were available to the public then they would be venerated to the same degree as in my previous 2 examples. the people would adore the actual object (the paper and ink) as opposed to its message.

I believe that this is contrary to God’s law and may be a good reason why he has allowed it to remain hidden

Just a thought.
Ontologist

A perspective on Christ’s death

ontologist — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:32:43 +0000

Christ didn’t have to die for the sake of dying but to prove loyalty to point of death.
So God creates man and man turns his back on God. Man repeatedly satsifies his own sinful desires showing little regard for love to his fellow man or to his creator. God sees no hope for man … then Christ says … ‘I will go down and become a man … I will walk with them and live among them and I will show you that a man can be pure of heart’
So he goes down and tries to tell his creation about himself and God – all along knowing that they are going to be faithful to their own lusts and reject anything that he says. He also knows that he will face a time of extreme pain and suffering at their hand and through it all he has to show God that a man can persevere and keep love in his heart. And so he does, he faces the mast brutal physical toruture that could be deivsed at the time and never stops loving his fellow man, and then to top it all (here is the spiritual part) we are told that at his weakest most desperate moment, God unleashes all his wrath, all the sins that man has ever and will ever commit are placed into his soul. He experiences darkness like no human has ever endured (all paedophilia, rape, anger, torture etc) is heaped upon him, and at this time – feeling this pain and anguish – he never disobeys God, never rejects man and never stops loving – to the point of death. I don’t think it was the fact that he died (ie: His pulse stopped) but the fact that he willingly suffered and gave up his life in the spirit of love that is the issue.
And once he had managed to accomplish all that he set out to do he alone was given the athority to justify those who adopt his values.
Example: Someone comes to God. God says you are a human – sinful to the core – and the human says ‘But I am with your son, he knows me and has invited me in.’ God goes to Jesus and asks -’Is he with you? Do you know this man?’ and Jesus replies ‘Yes father I know him and I vouch for him.’ Then God says, ‘come on in, I no longer see you as this sin stained filth but as a pure light that has the purity of my son in him.’

Just a thought.
Ontologist

Christ’s Subtle Hint

ontologist — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:12:53 +0000

In John ch 8 we are told a story of a woman bought to Jesus who had been caught in adultery. The scenario is very well known but what I find intruiging about this story is what I perceive as Christ’s subtle hint at his deity … he writes with his finger in the sand. If we consider that the 10 commandments were written on stone tablets by the very finger of God himself we could draw a very interesting conclusion … as follows …..

They bring a legal matter of the 10 commandments to Christ.
He leans down and starts to draw in the sand …. basically saying …
‘You dare to question me on the Law? Do you not know that I wrote this very Law with my finger – it was I that gave it to Moses in the first place – I can tell you anything you want to know about it from its wording, to its intent, its subtlties and its implications’

Jesus was telling them that he was God.

Regards
Ontologist

An alternate view of creation

ontologist — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:24:35 +0000

So I have been giving the biblical account of the creation some serious thought. What if it went something like this …..

In the beginning God created the spiritual realm (heavens) and the physical realm (earth). The physical was barren and without life. (Colossions tells us that Christ is the source of all life and creation) So God says to Christ, ‘Send your spiritual light into the physical world’ (this light of Christ is the energy through which God can create) – and there was light.

God created man as a being capable of moving between these two realms. This is how God could walk and talk with Adam directly.

When man sinned in the Garden of Eden he lost his ability to directly access the spiritual realm – he was ‘cast out’

Ever since this moment man has lost the ability to access a direct relationship with God and as such Christ ‘restored’ the kingdom by reuniting man and God.

This idea is still a work in progress but you get the gist of where I am going with this.

Cheers
Ontologist

Why I don’t jump headfirst into christianity.

ontologist — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:01:35 +0000

First of all let me state that I believe that I am a created being. I believe this in my core, and I believe that part of the life process involves understanding the creator and discovering as much truth as we can about this mystery.
I have expended much energy trying to satisfy this burning quest within me and my search has led me to rest on the Bible and Chrstianity as the anwer I was looking for.

However, I find that I am standing on the precipuce of the Christian experience without fully adopting it and it is only with some deep self analysis that I have managed to figure out what it is that is holding me back.

1] I don’t know whether the garden of Eden story is literal or not but I have come to the conclusion that it has been added to the Bible because there are things within that story that we are meant to learn and understand about ourselves and God. And yet I cannot see how it could not be literal when one cosiders how it is so interwoven into the genealogies.
Anyway I digress….
If God did indeed banish Satan, why did he banish him to earth – the very place that his dear children would exist in? If I find a venomous snake in my home I do not pick it up and throw it in my kids’ bedroom – I remove as far from them as possible. And yet God sent Satan to earth – and stranger still – gave him access to the garden. This just puzzles me.

2] The Bible says, and evangelists proclaim, that ‘faith’ is the currency of christianity. Anything that gets done can only be done through faith and that without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who wishes to come to him must believe that he exists. This is defended as ‘part of God’s divine plan’.
I must admit that that does not make sense to me because Adam would not have required faith in the Garden of Eden. He could see and interact with God directly and yet he must have been pleasing to God. But now that we can no longer see the manifest presence of God he can only be pleased with us if we believe – this seems somehow wrong to me.

The source of true peace

ontologist — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:33:04 +0000

The ultimate goal of the human soul is to find peace. We’re all doing it all of the time, and a careful analysis of one’s life will show this statement to be true.
The search for truth is ultimately driven by the fact that once we find it we will have peace, that we will have knowledge and understand the purpose of everything – and in that sublime state we shall find rest.

However, the source of this peace is perceived as somewhat elusive, after all, thousands of generations across thousands cultures have all offered a solution to this quest in one form or another.

It was along these lines that I have started to read the Bible. To try an understand what ‘point of view’ the author(s) offered on this topic. I have found profound truth within the pages of that book … to sum it up in a sentence …..

2 Peter 1:2
Grace to you, and peace be multiplied by a full knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.

This particular tract of scripture was a revelation to me. I had to re-read it to absorb the impact. Basically what Peter is saying is that peace is acheived through the knowledge of God. And as I sat back and let the revelation slowly work within me it became obvious that this was indeed something that mankind had been doing throughout the ages in the form of many religions and faiths. It seemed to be understood that true meaning, purpose and peace could only be acheived through an intimate knowledge of our creator.

I am reminded of the countless stories I have heard about adopted children who feel the need to track down and know/understand their true parents, their true identity and origin and seem to only have inner peace of a sort when they have expended suffiicient energy in persuing this endeavour. So why should we, created beings, with a spirital heritage be any different?

Once I started to read the scriptures through the understanding that they were ultimately teaching us about God, many things started to fit into place. What was the ‘Gospel’ that Christ was teaching? He didn’t seem to harp on about the crucifixion story too much in the presence of the crowds and whenever he did mention it it seemed to be in some sort of code which would be deciphered after his death – and yet he taught and spoke to many people in many situations. So what was he on about? I think that he was trying to bring them ‘knowledge of God’ and that was how he could claim to offer a ‘peace which passes all understanding’. Philippians 4:6-7

If peace, as Peter suggests, comes from a knowledge of God, and Christ could offer the ulimate insight into God himself, then Christ truely could offer a peace that no one could comprehend.

So herewith starts my journey. As my name suggests I am a seeker of deep understanding and truth. May God be with me on every step as I endevour to increase my understanding of who he really is.

God Bless
Ontologist