Do You Understand What You Read?

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Looking at our world from a theological
perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast

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making Theology Central. Good evening everyone. It is Sunday, June the thirtieth,

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twenty twenty four. It is currently
six fifty nine pm Central Time,

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and I am coming to you live
from the Theology Central studio located right here

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in Abilene, Texas. I wanted
to say good afternoon, because in some

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ways it still feels like afternoon.
I don't know what happened to the day,

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Like I don't know, it's just
like gone. I don't know,

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it just Sundays are always so busy. But here it is now Sunday evening.

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Welcome, Thank you for tuning in. I know I just uploaded the

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message maybe fifteen minutes ago. Ten
minutes ago. I'm sorry, I forgot

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that I had not uploaded the message. But earlier this afternoon, I had

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a little space of time and I
ran up stairs, turn on the microphone,

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and I did an episode informing everyone
of the challenge I am giving everyone

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for the next two weeks. All
right, now, all of you know

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that in December of twenty twenty three, I gave the sermons two point oh

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app sermon challenge where you're supposed to
download the Sermons two point oh app either

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Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and then every single day you grab

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the app the Sermon's two point oh
app and you listen to a random sermon,

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meaning you're not looking for a specific
pastor or a specific church or a

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specific topic. You're just choosing a
random sermon. You listen to it,

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you write down the name of the
sermon, the name of the church,

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and then you write a a maybe
one sentence which you write out a summary

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of what the sermon was about.
The goal is is to have one sermon

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for every day of the year when
you get to the end of twenty twenty

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four. That was the goal,
and to mix it up to add some

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variety. There were weeks I will
turn on I have turned on the MICROPHONEIC.

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Okay, this week just look up
sermons on Joshua one to eight.

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Now still random, meaning you don't
look for a certain past or a certain

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church or look saw eighty three as
we have done, and we've been doing

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these kind of challenges. Well.
For the next two weeks, we have

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a very interesting challenge for the next
two weeks. Every day you grab the

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sermons two point zero app, or
you can use the beta dot Sermon Audio

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dot com website if you so desire. You are to choose live webcast only

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live webcast whatever is there, and
if that's the time you can listen,

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that's what you listen to. You
may have four options, you may have

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three options. Sometimes two of the
three will be a wedding or a funeral,

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okay, whatever it is. Sometimes
it's a video of people racing cars

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for a wana. Okay, what
if it may be, that's what you

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get. Okay, that's what you
get. What you get, and you

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don't throw a fit, Okay,
So it will be interesting. But that's

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what we're going to be doing for
the next two weeks. Well, I

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gave that challenge early this afternoon,
what around four pm Central time, I

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think maybe three thirty four pm Central
time, And now it's just it's just

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now seven pm Central time, and
ladies and gentlemen, I've already participated in

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the challenge. I chose a random
webcast that was live on the Sermon's two

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point oh app. I was actually
using the Beata dot Sermonadio dot com website

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for full transparency, same thing,
and I chose the webcast from Bible Baptist

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Church. Bible Baptist Church. Now
I don't have the information in front of

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me about them, it sounds like
they're located in the New York City area,

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because he kept saying, We're in
New York, We're in New York.

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We are in New York City.
We are in New York City.

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So it's a church somewhere in the
New York City area, Bible Baptist Church

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Church, if I can speak correctly, Bible Baptist Church. That is the

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webcast that I just completed, maybe
fifteen minutes ago, and the sermon for

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tonight was Acts Chapter eight, Acts, Chapter eight, verses twenty six through

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forty. Acts Chapter eight, verses
twenty six through forty. Overall it was

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it was a pretty I mean,
you know, there would be things that

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would strongly disagree with. There would
be some things I would strongly disagree with.

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The definitely kind of gave the idea
of which is very common in almost

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all of christiandom that God is speaking
to us outside of the Bible. The

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Holy Spirit speaks to us and some
still small voice, and we have to

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discern is that the Spirit speaking or
is that me desiring but and of course

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I reject that outright completely. God
only speaks to us through the scriptures.

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The end, done, finished,
no no more. If you if you're

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trying to discern what you're hearing,
what you need to do is get in

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the car and go immediately to a
psychological hospital, a psychiatric hospital, because

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you're having some kind of a mental
breakdown. And I know that sounds mean

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and rude and jaded, But if
the scriptures are the inspired word of God,

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then if God is still speaking to
us outside of the scriptures, then

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why do we need the scriptures?
And then if you say, well,

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God is speaking to you, but
you have to discern if it's really the

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spirit, or if it's you,
or if it's Satan, or if it's

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a demon, or if it's the
world or why I open my Bible,

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I read God is speaking the end, the end. Okay. God used

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to speak in different ways, but
today he speaks to us through the scriptures,

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the inherrent inspired word of God.
So there was a little bit of

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that, which you know, all
right, you know I have problems with.

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There was a good section on defending
believers baptism in the webcast. There

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was a good section where he defended
believers Baptism really appreciated that. I think

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in some ways he could have made
that much more the focus of the sermon,

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but that was just that's kind of
a preaching choice. He did get

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into a kind of a textual thing
because he read Acts chapter eight, verse

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thirty seven, Acts Chapter eight,
verse thirty seven. Acts Chapter eight,

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verse thirty seven, where we read
these words, and Philip said, if

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thou believest with all thine heart,
thou mayest. And he answered and said,

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I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. And he he

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spoke of and acknowledged that in many
modern translations, Acts eight thirty seven is

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not there. If you look up
Acts eight thirty seven and say, go

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to biblehub dot com where it gives
you all the English translations, there's a

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whole bunch of them missing, the
ESV, the New International, I mean,

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the NIV, so many of them
are just missing. Well, then

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he made an argument, we see, that's why you can't trust the modern

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translations. That's why you can only
trust the King James. But there's such

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a there's such a flaw in that
logic. There's a there's a problem in

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that logic because you have to have
a presupposition. Your presupposition is, well,

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anything that's different than the King James
is wrong because the King James just

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by default is right, just because
other translations either doesn't have a verse or

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changes a verse. You can't just
presuppose that the King James is right right.

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You would have to then first prove
somehow that the King James is the

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only right translation. And if the
King James is the only right translation,

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or any of the translations that came
before, the King James right right.

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I mean, you get into lots
of arguments, but that happens so many

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times in King James only Church.
See the King James reads this way,

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that reads that way. See that's
wrong because the presupposition is that the King

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James is just automatically right. But
you haven't you haven't proved. You don't

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prove that King James is right by
simply showing that the King James differs from

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other versions, you're just making All
you're doing is demonstrating that there's a difference.

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But their default is just the King
James is right, based off what,

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based off what? Then you have
to get into arguments about well,

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these manuscripts are wrong based off what
well, because they differ from the King

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James. But now you're making the
King James the standard. The King James

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is a translation. The standard would
be the manuscripts right from which the King

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js. So I mean it gets
you get into a lot of circular reasoning,

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so that whenever I hear that stuff, I get a little like,

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oh boy, here we go,
here we go. It's a little frustrating,

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but I understand. I understand it
very well, only because if you

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look at all the schools that I
attended, whether seminary, Bible College,

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or Bible institutes, a good portion
of them, a large number of them.

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Well, yeah, I think I'd
have to kind of break it all

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down put it this way. There
were many them that were very KJV only.

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So I'm very familiar with that world. I understand it. I understand

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the arguments. I just think there's
some major logical fallacies and you're you're using

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a lot of presuppositions to just basically
say, hey, my presupposition is this

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is the right way, and anything
that differs from this is just wrong just

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because that's my presupposition. And I
don't like that. So there were some

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good things in it. He was
very much a much more understated speaker,

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much calmer, peaceful, tranquil.
Okay, where I'm maybe over dramatic,

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but I think the reality is is
it's not whether someone's over dramatic or understated,

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as long as you're being you.
If that's you, then just be

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you. That's where preaching doesn't become
a performance. If you're understated, well,

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then be understated, because that's who
you are. You're being authentic.

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I just am over dramatic probably,
And I mean if you if you watch

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me do anything, whether I'm watching
a movie, a TV show, reading

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a book, I am over dramatic. Right. Well, in some ways

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I don't know if you can call
it over dramatic. I'm just being me.

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So as long as the person is
being authentic, you can't blame them

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for just being them. So overall
it was okay. It was definitely much

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more a I think you could say, definitely coming from a non reform so

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teriological perspective. Definitely wasn't coming from
a reform perspective. But overall there was

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some decent things there. Again,
I think the best part of it was

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the arguments for believers baptism. And
then the worst part would be the God

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speaking to us outside of scripture,
and then you've got to figure out how

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to supposedly discern his voice. Okay, that part, I just it drove

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me crazy. But for me,
as I was listening, one thing jumped

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out at me. Let me read
it to you, and then we're going

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to discuss it all. Right,
are you ready? Acts Chapter eight,

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Acts Chapter eight. I don't know
why I'm in Acts Chapter nine, Acts

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Chapter eight. I'm using a different
Bible, and all said, I can't.

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Yeah, the pages look the same. Okay, you know, when

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you use a Bible all the time, you kind of get used to what

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the pages look like, right,
Acts Chapter eight, Verse twenty six.

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I've got my book mine. I
don't know all my book bags right down

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here, but I didn't take all
the bibles out, so I just grabbed

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the first one I saw. Acts
Chapter eight, verse twenty six. And

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the Angel of the Lord spake under
Philip, saying, arise, go towards

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the south, unto the way that
goeth down from Jerusalem and Degaza, which

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is desert. And he arose and
went and behold a man of Ethiopia,

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and Eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who had

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the charge of all her treasure,
who had come to Jerusalem four to worship.

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Now, the one thing in the
sermon that kind of bothered me,

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because he he made multiple references to
this, is that he kept saying that

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this Ethiopian Ethiopian Unich was like he
wasn't satisfied in life. He was searching

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for something he wasn't he wasn't satisfied, he was longing for for answers.

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And I just don't know how we
can how can we attain account? How

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can we come to that conclusion?
Now, I know, as preachers,

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we love to paint pictures. Right, If we have a narrative, we

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read the narrative and then we retell
the narrative. And a lot of times

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when we retell the narrative, we
do a lot of artistic license, right,

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we kind of start interpreting things.
So the idea was, here's this

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Ethiopian Eunich and he's just not satisfied
with life, and he is searching and

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he just doesn't have answers. Well, I what I see is an Ethiopian,

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an Ethiopian Eunich, who when it
comes to Jerusalem for to worship.

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Now, if he's coming to Jerusalem
to worship, to me, that's a

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high probability that this Ethiopian Unich is
a convert to Judaism. I think that

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that would be a fair thing to
say, unless he's coming there to worship

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wide. I think he's coming there
to worship the God of the Old Testament.

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Right, he's converted to Judaism,
all right. And when he was

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returning, sitting in his chariot,
he read Isaiah the Prophet, which that

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would make sense. Why would he
be reading Isaiah the Prophet. Well,

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if he's converted to Judaism, why
wouldn't he be reading from what whatever a

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text he has available from the Old
Testament? Why would he not be reading

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from it? Right? If the
Old if he has access to it,

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which most people do not, but
probably because of his position, he has

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the ability to to you know,
access this document. And he's reading from

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Isaiah, which would make sense if
he's been if he's a convert to Judaism

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and he just came from you know, the U from Jerusalem to worship.

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I don't see this. Whether he's
longing and and empty and seeking and not

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satisfied. I don't really know how
we sometimes as pastors we love to paint

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these pictures. I just think what
this shows is, here's a religious person

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who's reading, well, the Old
Testament of Isaiah. He's religious, but

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he would not be saved from our
understanding, from a Christian perspective. He

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is holding on to Judaism. He's
holding onto maybe an Old Testament understanding.

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Does he even know anything about the
Messiah? Those would be the questions.

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Well, he's returning, he's reading. Then the spirit said, unto Philip,

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go near and join thyself to the
chariot. Now what this demonstrate is

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God's sovereignty and salvation. God knows
that this man is there, he knows

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what he's reading, and he sends
someone at the appropriate time, because well,

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he's going to need something, right, But God sends someone to him

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right now. We could have a
long discs here, but look what happens.

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This is the part that Nat jumped
out at me. Are you ready

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all right? So the spirit said
into Philip, go near and join thyself

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to this chariot. And Philip ran
thither to him and heard him read the

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prophet Isaiah, and said, understandest
thou what thou readest. Understandest thou what

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thou readest. Now I'm gonna take
it away from the King James. I'm

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just gonna make it very simple.
Do you understand what you are reading?

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Do you understand what you are reading? Now, let's go ahead and eliminate

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one group of people who may not
understand what they read, all right,

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because that's not going to be our
primary focus. We're going to go ahead

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and eliminate them. Within christiandom,
almost all Christians would say that a lost

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person reading the Bible cannot truly understand
it. They cannot truly understand it.

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Now, the question would be,
if you have a lost person, what

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is required for them to understand?
Most people would say what is required for

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them to understand is they need to
be saved. Now, this is where

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the controversy is going to start,
but we'll just start right there. So

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they have to become saved. In
other words, they truly can't understand.

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They need someone to explain it to
them, but they need salvation. They

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will never truly understand the scriptures until
they are saved. But lost people cannot

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truly understand it until salvation. That
is the typical Christian teaching about lost people.

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But I'm not necessarily focused on lost
people here, right, So we'll

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just say for lost people they need
salvation. Then they can understand to some

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level. Right. That's typically now
in this particular case, God sends someone

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to explain it, which then we
could get into a whole discussion here right.

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In fact, look what he says. The Ethiopian Eunich said, I

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how can I except some man should
guide me? And he desired Philip that

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he would come up and sit with
him. The place of the scripture which

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he read was this. He was
led as a sheep to the slaughter,

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and like a lamb, dumb before
his shear so opened, he not his

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mouth. In his humiliation, his
judgment was taken away. And who shall

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declare this generation? His generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.

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And the Eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee of whom speaketh

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the prophet, whom speaketh the Prophet? This of himself or of some other

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man. Now, immediately, obviously
this tells me the Ethiopian Unich is very

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religious and very much understands. He
immediately knows, Wait a minute, is

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that is the prophet speaking of himself
or some other man. He even has

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a pretty good grasp and how to
read. He just needs some interpretation.

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And then look what happens. Then
Philip verse thirty five opened his mouth and

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began at the same scripture and preached
un to him Jesus. So Philip then

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provides an interpretation. He's like,
hey, he is speaking of this man

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named Jesus, which happens to be
the Messiah, the promised Messiah. So

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he explains it to him. So
even in this particular case lost people,

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what does it take for them to
understand? Well, we may say salvation,

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but in this case, this particular
case, what we would say they

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need someone to explain it to them. They need someone to preach to them,

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to teach them, to guide them. Because if you say, now,

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because you're you're left with kind of
two options, right, well,

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God will just give them the understanding. Well then you would say, okay,

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so lost people will just can pick
up a Bible and God will just

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immediately give them understanding. Some people
say, well no, not until they're

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saved. In this particular case,
this lost person, he needs someone to

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explain it to him, right,
So what does it take for a lost

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person to understand scripture? Well,
I think in this case the answer is

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this text would scream they need someone
to explain it to him. They need

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a preacher, They need a teacher, they need someone to explain it.

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Other people will kind of go with
the idea, well, they can't really

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understand it until salvation, which then
leads us to the second group of people.

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So the first group of people are
lost people, and we can just

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say, according to Acts eight,
and I think maybe even other scriptures,

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they need they need someone to teach
them, they need someone to preach to

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them, they need someone to explain
it. And some people may say they

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need salvation, which leads to the
second group of people, Christians. So

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let me ask the question, does
or what is required for a Christian to

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understand the scriptures? What is required
for a Christian to understand the scriptures?

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What is required? I think that's
important. Now, what some people are

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going to say here, there's going
to be like a division. Here,

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there's going to be a division.
Some people are going to say, what

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is required for a Christian to understand
the scripture? Well, is God himself

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helps them understand? God teaches God
leads them into all truth that that is

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very much a prominent view. I
reject that view, and we'll talk about

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it. So here would be the
question. You walk into any church Sunday

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morning, let's say Sunday morning.
The most likely, that's the chance you'll

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have the largest crowd Sunday morning.
You give everyone a text of scripture.

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You give everyone a text of scripture. You say you have one hour.

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You can go to any part of
the church. It's you a notebook,

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here's a couple of there's some reference
tools up here front. There's maybe a

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Bible dictionary. Well, no,
let's not even do that. Let's not

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even say there's reference tools. You
have your notebook. You have a Bible,

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no reference tools. You cannot use
your phone. We've shut off all

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cellf service. Are we taking your
phone from you? It's just you your

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Bible. You have one hour,
come back and see do you understand what

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you have read? And let the
people come back, and then they have

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to write out an interpretation. They
have to write out an interpretation. What

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do you think the results would be? What do you think the results would

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be? Come on, do you
think it would be like major success?

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Hey, we gave this this assignment
out and everyone came back with these amazing

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interpretations. It was wonderful and was
great. Here's the one thing I do

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know. I do know that you
would have absolutely radically different interpretations. That

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much I know to be true.
You're just going to get all this person's

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going to have an interpretation, and
those interpretations are going to contradict one another,

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and not all of them can be
right. And the reason I know

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that is look at all the different
churches in America, and nobody can agree

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on anything. So I know this. When we ask do they understand what

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they read? I know that whatever
they come up with, it's going to

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be a mess. It's going to
be a sea of different views and opinions

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that completely contradict one another. So
then that would go back to the original

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question, do you understand what you
read? Do you understand? Do you

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understand? Now, let me kind
of add a separate question, what is

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required for a Christian to understand the
scriptures? Now, there's basically two camps,

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two schools of thought here. The
one school of thought which is very

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prominent in American Christianity. Even though
they would try to maybe claim they're not

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in this school of thought. This
school of thought shows up in churches everywhere,

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even in churches that you would not
think would go this direction. It

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goes in this direction, and it
goes something like this. When you become

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a Christian, you now possess the
Holy Spirit, which now gives you the

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ability to understand the scriptures. It's
the Holy Spirit is opening your eyes.

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The Holy Spirit is leading you,
the Holy Spirit is guiding you, the

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Holy Spirit is teaching you. And
that is prevalent in the evangelical world and

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fundamentalist world. Hey, that,
how do you understand the scripture as a

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as a Christian? God himself is
teaching, He's opening your eyes, he's

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guiding you, he's directing you.
Well, just any reasonable person would raise

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their hand and go, well,
wait a minute, wait a minute.

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If God is guiding directly and teaching
all Christians to scriptures and we all possess

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now supernatural ability to understand it,
well, ladies and gentlemen, we should

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have one church, one doctrine,
one theology, and one interpretation because it

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would all be coming from God.
But we don't have that. It's just

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massive confusion. Nobody agrees on baptism, nobody agrees on repentance. Nobody agrees

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on eschatology, ecclesiology, soteriology,
you just name theology. Nobody agrees on

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anything. You can take any passage
of scripture and people like no, no,

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no, no, no no no. You can get fifteen commentaries and

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you may come up with fifty different
interpretations. Well, clearly, ladies and

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gentlemen, that would mean God is
absolutely and utterly confused. And God is

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in a business of not only he
is confused, he's confusing everyone else.

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Nobody knows the answer, and it's
chaos and confusion, and God doesn't even

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understand, wouldn't We don't want to
put that at the blame God for that.

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That's one school of thought that God
is one to teaches. And whenever

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I whenever I challenge this, whenever
I push back on this, Christians get

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really mad at me. I will
ask a question, well, do does

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a lost person possess the same ability
as a same person when it comes to

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interpreting scripture. Now, almost inevitably, the Christian view is no, they

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can't understand it, because that's the
Holy Spirit that gives us understanding. So

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the argument is they can't understand it, but I can understand it, and

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I have special power to understand it. And if I push back, going,

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well, the Bible is a book
of written communication, it's literature.

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It's different genres of literature. Those
are understood the same way. All literature

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is understood utilizing the same principle.
Even a lost person can understand what is

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said. Now, there's a difference
between understanding what it says and believing it,

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you know, understanding it from a
spiritual perspective. They can understand the

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basic words. If I do any
pushback on that, Christians get furious with

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me. No, no, no, no, no. We can understand

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it, We can understand almost as
if we possess some supernatural ability. But

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after two thousand years of church history, our so called supernatural ability has produced

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thousands of denominations, millions of commentaries. Nobody can agree literally on anything.

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So where is that supernatural ability getting
us? Obviously to the world of confusion

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and chaos? So I reject that
whole thing outright. I think when the

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Bible says the Holy Spirit will guide
you into all truth, that is referring

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to the disciples and the authors of
the New Testament, where God led them

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into all truth through the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit to produce scripture which is

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inspired and fallible and in errant without
any I mean I'm being redundant without any

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error. When it says he will
bring to memory all the things he said,

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that's not for you, but for
me. He's bringing a memory to

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the original writers of the New Testament
those things which were said. Those are

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versus giving promises to a specific group
of people to produce a specific work which

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we know we know as the New
Testament. There is no promise for us

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for some greater understanding, greater insight, greater ability. If God is the

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one guiding, leading, and teaching, then why did churches even worry about

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whether a person has gone to seminary
or Bible college. Seminary and Bible college

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00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.000
would be the biggest waste of money
in the history of humankind. Why do

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I need to go to Bible college
or seminary when I can just sit off

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home with my Bible opening. God
is going to lead me into all truth.

359
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He's going to guide me, He's
going to direct me. So what

360
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is required to understand what you read? Do you understand what you read?

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I think I can demonstrate emphatically by
going to any church and giving some basic

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tests on the Bible that they don't
understand and they don't know. Not only

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are they ignorant, they don't understand. And I believe that in most cases

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you can give them a text of
scripture and their ability to even produce a

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rational interpretation that would follow any basic
rules of understanding, well, it's going

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to be probably a really bad I
think in every case, the test would

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come back and it would be very
poorly. The scores would be poor,

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they would be horrible, they would
be failures. And I know this in

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Bible College and seminary, you didn't
like the person who gets the best grade

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and Bible college is the person who
listens to God the most, because God

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is the one guiding, leading teaching. And no, it's the person who

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studies the most. Okay, now
it's not. It has nothing to do

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with some supernatural intervention. So do
you understand what you read? What is

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required that you understand what you read? I reject outright this idea that God

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is giving us some supernatural insight,
guiding and leading. I just I completely

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reject that out right. So that's
one school of thought. The other school

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00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:37.119
of thought is no, to understand
the scripture? Do you understand? And

378
00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:45.319
what is required is a understanding of
how to interpret anything that is written,

379
00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:51.599
how to interpret written literature, the
basic rules and foundation of reading, comprehension,

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and reading interpretation that you would use
for anything, a novel, a

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00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:03.279
textbook, anything. Those same rules
of apply to understanding the scriptures, and

382
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those who master those skills are those
who can master the text. I believe

383
00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:18.839
do you understand what you read?
Well? You will understand what you read

384
00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:23.640
based on your level of being educated
and how to read and how to handle

385
00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:33.079
written literature and how to understand basic
rules. I think that's the only way.

386
00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:37.640
I think anything anything else than that, anything less than that, just

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leads to I don't you're relying on
some supernatural intervention is supernatural intervention. And

388
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I've had too many people believe,
well, you know, I prayed about

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00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:52.400
how to understand the text, and
you're like, well, I don't know

390
00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:55.240
what god you were praying to,
but you were clearly not praying to a

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00:30:55.240 --> 00:31:00.000
god who understands the meaning of words. That's not what that text is about.

392
00:31:00.119 --> 00:31:03.920
Out that text has nothing to do
with you, like over, So

393
00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:07.960
sometimes the people who take these supernatural
approaches their way of handling the text is

394
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just insane, so that I don't
believe that's God leading them anywhere, that's

395
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their own deluded mind leading them anywhere. I believe what is required if you're

396
00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:22.480
gonna understand what you read, is
basic. You know hermeneutical principles. Let

397
00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:27.480
me just give you some fundamental hermonutical
principles. Here's one. Context is key.

398
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Always consider the historical, cultural,
and literary context of a passage to

399
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undercover it's true meaning or to uncover
it's true meaning. So the historical,

400
00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:47.759
cultural, and literary context. Did
you hear that historical, cultural, and

401
00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:51.000
literary Well, if you go to
church and you give people a passage of

402
00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:52.319
scripture and they come back, you
say, okay, first of all,

403
00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:56.319
did you identify the historical, cultural, and literary context? Guess what?

404
00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.920
In many cases they did not know
it. Many cases, the wouldn't even

405
00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:04.359
know how to look it up.
They wouldn't even know how to research it,

406
00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:06.799
and they wouldn't know what to do
with and they found it because they'd

407
00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:08.759
never been taught. First, that's
the fault of the church for not teaching

408
00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:13.000
them. Second, it's their own
fault for not seeking out the information to

409
00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.400
know how to do this. But
the third thing is they try to come

410
00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:20.440
up with an interpretation without it,
which then clearly like, well then how

411
00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:23.480
did you come up with that interpretation? Well, I remember what someone preached.

412
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:28.440
Well that's not you doing interpretation,
or they give me. I prayed

413
00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:30.480
about it and this is why God
showed me. And again just remember this

414
00:32:30.599 --> 00:32:36.160
minute. Someone says that this is
the interpretation God gave me. That would

415
00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:39.400
make their interpretation infallible because it comes
from God, which well, then you

416
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:45.039
would have yeah, you would have
major problems right right. Second, interpret

417
00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:51.079
scripture with scripture, use the Bible
to interpret itself by comparing related passages and

418
00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:53.640
allowing scripture to illuminate its own meaning. Well, this is very important.

419
00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:58.559
Sometimes we have to go to other
parts of the Bible to understand other parts

420
00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:00.000
of the Bible. When we're reading
part of the Bible, we got to

421
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:06.079
go to other parts that are related. We don't just group scriptures together meaningless

422
00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:09.599
and randomly. You've got to go
to something that actually is related. Okay,

423
00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:13.559
well this is quoted here, or
this is being alluded to here,

424
00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:16.519
or this is reference to the then
we can possibly do that. We got

425
00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:20.359
to be very Some people just think
you can take any scripture and connect it

426
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.000
to any scripture, because again they
have no actual skill in doing this.

427
00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:27.319
They just have heard that principle scripture
with scripture, and then they just start

428
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:30.880
linking random scriptures together thinking that they've
come to some great interpretation or like,

429
00:33:31.079 --> 00:33:36.039
how are you connecting that with that? What is your what is the textual

430
00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:43.119
relation? What are you doing?
But yeah, so context is key scripture

431
00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:47.559
with scripture, or at least allow
using other scripture to give you better understanding

432
00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:52.759
of the current scripture that you're reading. Next, the genre of literature.

433
00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:58.079
Understand the genre of the text being
studied. Is it poetry? Is it

434
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:05.440
history? Is it prophecy? Different
genres require different interpretive approaches. So many

435
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:09.760
times someone would start start arguing with
me about something, whether maybe in church

436
00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:13.800
or anywhere, and you just say, okay, before we continue, what

437
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:17.079
literary genre is the text that we're
arguing about? Well, I don't know,

438
00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:22.599
Well, because then I why are
we There's no point in arguing.

439
00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:27.440
We got to be we've got to
be able to identify the context. We've

440
00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:30.199
got to be under we got we
got These are basic things we have to

441
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:32.679
work on before we can even engage
and in argument. That's why I always

442
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:37.760
say this is all observational work.
If you don't do the observational work,

443
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:43.960
you cannot do the interpretive work.
Study the original languages when possible, consult

444
00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:46.679
the original languages Hebrew and Greek to
gain a more precise understanding of the text.

445
00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:52.679
Does people do? Does the average
person in church even you ever utilize

446
00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:55.840
the Greek and Hebrew tools that are
available? Do they even know how to

447
00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:04.199
use them? Now? I've tried
to train my people because, especially when

448
00:35:04.199 --> 00:35:07.280
we had an internet connection at the
church, I would always have everyone looking

449
00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:08.920
up, grab the blue letter Bible
app, Let's look up the antilinear,

450
00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:12.400
Let's look this up. Let's look
this up. Let's look this up.

451
00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:14.920
Let's look this up. Because I'm
trying to get them. At first,

452
00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:16.920
there were many people didn't even know
how to use the apps, and I'm

453
00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:19.920
like, well, then, what
have you been using to look up the

454
00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:29.599
Hebrew in the Greek? Have you? Are? You be aware of the

455
00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:34.440
author's intent. Seek to understand what
the author intended to convey to the original

456
00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:38.920
audience based on the historical and cultural
context. This is just we've we've we've

457
00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:43.639
witnessed this be obliterated in sermon after
sermon after sermon, and all of our

458
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:46.239
sermon reviews this year, that they
people just take a text and they don't

459
00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:51.039
even care about the author's intent.
They don't care about the uh the intended,

460
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:53.199
They don't care what the author intended
to convey. They don't care about

461
00:35:53.239 --> 00:35:58.119
the original audience, that do not
care about the historical and cultural context.

462
00:35:58.280 --> 00:36:02.639
They just want to insert us into
it. That's a problem. But see,

463
00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:07.239
these are basic rules. You can't
understand what you read if you're not

464
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:17.559
following these basic rules. Next,
apply the literal and figurative principle. You

465
00:36:17.639 --> 00:36:21.960
have to be able to draw a
distinction and be able to know the difference

466
00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:28.559
between literal and figurative language, interpreting
each accordingly while considering the overall message.

467
00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:31.760
Do you know how to determine when
the language is literal and when it's figurative.

468
00:36:32.039 --> 00:36:37.280
Do you know how to draw that
distinction? Can you draw that distinction

469
00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:43.679
and understand and notice that distinction because
you have to interpret them differently. Do

470
00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:45.320
you know how to do that?
Can you even do that? Have you

471
00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:49.920
ever been taught to do that?
Have you ever done any assignments and doing

472
00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:52.800
that? In many cases, the
churches don't even have people doing anything like

473
00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:58.639
this. They have activities and they
have events, but there's rarely any time

474
00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:02.000
where the people are engaged. And
these very important. Learning these principles and

475
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:08.440
learning these principles consider the whole counsel
of God, and sure interpretations align with

476
00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:13.320
the broader teaching of scripture and do
not contradict established biblical truths. If you

477
00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:17.320
come to a conclusion, you got
to then test that conclusion with the rest

478
00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:23.480
of scripture and make sure it's logically
consistent and you're being consistent. Those are

479
00:37:23.519 --> 00:37:30.039
just some basic principles. Those are
some basic principles that people have to know.

480
00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:36.079
Those are just that's like fundamental one
oh one. This is like stuff

481
00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:39.559
the kids need to learn and Sunday
school. This is like basic They need

482
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:45.440
to understand these principles, but they
need to then do exercises showing them how

483
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:50.559
these principles work in real life reading
of the text. Not just like hey,

484
00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:52.280
write these principles down. No,
actually say, now we're going to

485
00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:58.679
look up this passage. Okay,
okay, how can we establish this and

486
00:37:58.760 --> 00:38:01.320
actually work through it. It'll be
tedious. Most people will see it's boring

487
00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:05.119
and no fun. But that problem
is nobody wants to do that in the

488
00:38:05.199 --> 00:38:07.239
church. So the people sitting on
the view, can they actually understand what

489
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:10.840
they read? I will argue they
can't actually understand what they read if they

490
00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:29.519
don't know these basic principles. Here's
a concept. Can you understand what you

491
00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:39.039
read if you don't even know the
different hermeneutical approaches there are to the scriptures?

492
00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:44.559
For example, let me give you
a number of these approaches. There's

493
00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:50.719
the literal approach. The literal approach
emphasizes taking the text at face value,

494
00:38:51.159 --> 00:38:57.800
considering historical context, language, and
literary genre, interpreting scripture based on its

495
00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:05.440
plain meaning without much symbolic or allegorical
interpretation. That's the literal approach. Now,

496
00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:08.079
some people use a literal approach here
here, here, here, here,

497
00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:12.719
and then abandon the literal approach for
this this, this, this,

498
00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:16.719
this this now. Do they know
they're abandoning it? Do they know they're

499
00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:21.360
contradicting it? Do they even know
what the literal approach is? Do they

500
00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:24.800
have any idea what the different hermineutical
approaches are? Do you take the literal

501
00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:30.239
approach? There's the allegorical approach,
And if you read any book on Hermoneutics

502
00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:34.599
or the history of Hermautics. You'll
see that there were these allegorical schools of

503
00:39:34.599 --> 00:39:39.199
Hermaeutics which were very dominated in a
good portion of the early Church. The

504
00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:45.519
allegorical approach seeks to find deeper or
spiritual or symbolic meanings in the text,

505
00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:51.760
reading scripture with a belief that it
contains hidden spiritual truths beyond the literal words.

506
00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:53.440
So you say, well, this
means this, or this means this,

507
00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.880
or this means this, and the
next thing you know, Israel isn't

508
00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:00.920
Israel, Land isn't land Church which
can be placed wherever you want it,

509
00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:06.360
and then all of these kinds of
things can happen. Then you have the

510
00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:10.480
moral approach, where the moral approach
focuses on deriving ethical and moral teaching from

511
00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:15.639
the text, emphasizing the practical application
of scripture to guide moral behavior and decision

512
00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:19.440
making. Well, a lot of
people that approach to scripture is everything.

513
00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:22.400
There's a there's a there's morality,
there's they look at everything for a moral

514
00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:34.320
teaching. All right, there's the
anagogical approach. The anagogical approach A N

515
00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:38.159
A G O, G I C
A L. The anagogical approach. The

516
00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:45.800
anagogical approach looks for mystical or transcended
meanings that point to the future, or

517
00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:52.559
some kind of reality focus that deals
with eschatology. The anagogical approach looks for

518
00:40:52.679 --> 00:40:58.960
mystical or transcendent meanings that point to
the future or eschatology realities or realities related

519
00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:06.039
to eschatology, seeing scripture as the
offering insights into ultimate spiritual truths and the

520
00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:09.079
eternal destiny of believers. That's the
anagogical approach. Most of you never never

521
00:41:09.119 --> 00:41:14.440
even heard of it. Then you
have the historical critical approach. The historical

522
00:41:14.639 --> 00:41:20.559
critical approach analyzes the text within its
historical and cultural context, considering authorship,

523
00:41:20.639 --> 00:41:24.800
audience, and literary techniques, seeking
to understand scripture by investigating its historical background,

524
00:41:24.920 --> 00:41:30.519
and employing critical methods of textual analysis. All right, that's the historical

525
00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:35.960
critical approach. You analyze the text
within its historical and cultural context, and

526
00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:42.360
you consider authorship, audience, and
literary techniques. You seek to understand scripture

527
00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:47.920
by investigating its historical background, and
you employ critical methods of textual analysis.

528
00:41:49.199 --> 00:41:52.320
The average person in the pew doesn't
even have a clue what any of that

529
00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:55.400
even probably means. There's probably some
pastors who don't even really understand what that

530
00:41:55.440 --> 00:42:00.559
means, or they just even reject
it as being a legitimate approach. So

531
00:42:00.679 --> 00:42:05.280
do you really understand what you read? Do you understand what you read?

532
00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:15.920
Do you now? I find it
interesting that Christians everywhere will fight, They

533
00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:22.119
will argue, they will disagree,
they will judge, they will condemn based

534
00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:27.559
off what they think they understand about
what they read. But what is required

535
00:42:27.559 --> 00:42:30.920
for them to understand what they read? Do they really understand what they read?

536
00:42:30.159 --> 00:42:34.880
They will look, I know this
within the Protestant world. Here's what

537
00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:38.280
I know. The person sitting in
the pew, they will come up with

538
00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:45.280
an interpretation without ever going to school
to learn hermeneutics Bible interpretation. They may

539
00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:50.360
not even know a Bible study method. They've never been to any formal education.

540
00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:53.599
But they will say that they have
the authority to just simply read the

541
00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:59.239
scripture and be able to interpret it. And then they will judge the preaching

542
00:42:59.280 --> 00:43:02.119
and teaching of people who've gone to
school, and they will think that their

543
00:43:02.119 --> 00:43:07.239
interpretation is just as authoritative, or
maybe even so authoritative that they can tell

544
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:10.800
that the people who've gone to school
that they are wrong. So in their

545
00:43:10.840 --> 00:43:16.119
mind, what is required for them
to be able to understand it doesn't require

546
00:43:16.159 --> 00:43:19.719
anything. They don't need schooling,
they don't need it. They don't need

547
00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:22.800
to know hermeneutics, they just need
to read it. And basically, typically

548
00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:25.400
they will almost fall back into the
idea, well, the Holy Spirit leads

549
00:43:25.400 --> 00:43:29.000
me into truth, and the Holy
Spirit told me this is the right way.

550
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:30.719
And so that preacher is wrong,
that preacher is wrong, that preacher

551
00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:34.360
is wrong, that preacher is wrong. So then guess who becomes the real

552
00:43:34.360 --> 00:43:37.039
authority, not the scripture of the
individual. And they think they can just

553
00:43:37.119 --> 00:43:42.119
understand it based on just being them
and their Bible, and they and they

554
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:45.840
can tell they can and they will
say this church is wrong, so I'm

555
00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:49.920
going to this church until they disagree
with that pastor they will there will always

556
00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:52.119
be the one sitting in the pew
thinking everyone is wrong. But based off

557
00:43:52.199 --> 00:43:57.760
what how do they do you understand
what you read? They think they understand

558
00:43:57.800 --> 00:44:01.000
what they read based off I don't
know what, their own just conclusion.

559
00:44:01.440 --> 00:44:05.199
They don't think they actually have to
go to school, They don't actually have

560
00:44:05.280 --> 00:44:09.159
to do anything. And this is
very prevalent in the evangelical fundamentalist world.

561
00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:13.639
Just the average Christian thinks that they
can just read and they can understand based

562
00:44:13.639 --> 00:44:15.679
on what And they don't believe that
they need to know hermeneutics, They don't

563
00:44:15.719 --> 00:44:19.840
need to know that, they need
to know Bible interpretation, they don't need

564
00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:25.239
to know Exejesus. They just can
just read and then say this is what

565
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:36.760
it means the end. Now,
sometimes they'll fall back over into saying the

566
00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:42.920
Holy Spirit gave them the understanding.
So do you understand what you read?

567
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:49.199
Do you understand it? Do you
believe it's God the one that guides and

568
00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:52.239
leads you? Well, then you
don't. I mean at that point,

569
00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:57.039
well then why you've got to answer
the question. Then why isn't everyone believing

570
00:44:57.079 --> 00:45:00.480
in and understanding the same way.
Well then you have to then argue that

571
00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:04.199
nobody else who everyone who disagrees with
your interpretation is lost and you're the only

572
00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:07.400
saved person. Okay, Well that
just leads to it, that leads to

573
00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:09.679
a very cult like mentality. So
that can't be the way it works.

574
00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:16.480
I believe God gives us his written
word and it's our responsibility. Our understanding

575
00:45:16.760 --> 00:45:22.880
is dependent on our work to learn
how to read, how to interpret what

576
00:45:22.920 --> 00:45:28.840
we read and understand the principles,
and I believe without that understanding, I

577
00:45:28.880 --> 00:45:36.360
don't know if you can really understand
what you read. Now, there is

578
00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:39.079
a third option, right, The
first option, we'll call it the kind

579
00:45:39.079 --> 00:45:43.719
of the supernatural school where God is
the one doing the teaching and the leading.

580
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:45.519
And of course we just see that
that doesn't play out in real life.

581
00:45:45.639 --> 00:45:50.320
The second is more of the academic
approach. You've got to learn these

582
00:45:50.480 --> 00:45:53.440
principles. You've got to learn them, you've got to use them, and

583
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:59.119
you've got to work to increase your
ability and how to interpret a written text

584
00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:04.079
that is, you know, thousands
of years old, and understanding context and

585
00:46:04.519 --> 00:46:08.079
literary genre and all of those other
things that we've spoken of, knowing which

586
00:46:08.360 --> 00:46:13.599
you know, the different hermeneutical systems, knowing all of these things. Now

587
00:46:13.599 --> 00:46:17.000
that the problem is the average person
in the pew doesn't understand any of this,

588
00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:21.280
but there will be the ones judging
the preaching, and they will be

589
00:46:21.320 --> 00:46:23.239
the one saying if a sermon is
right or wrong, or if a doctrine

590
00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:32.920
is right and wrong, based off
no actual formal education. So the first

591
00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:37.719
approach is the supernatural. The second
approach is we'll call it the academic approach,

592
00:46:37.719 --> 00:46:42.639
where it's based off your learning and
your ability to know these principles.

593
00:46:42.920 --> 00:46:46.199
And the third Okay, now I
mentioned too, and I'll just add the

594
00:46:46.239 --> 00:46:52.199
third. It's not really the in
in my focus here, but the third

595
00:46:52.199 --> 00:46:57.119
one is one that really that Protestants
absolutely reject, and that would be well,

596
00:46:57.119 --> 00:47:02.440
a magisterial authority. The third view
is God gave the authority to interpret

597
00:47:02.480 --> 00:47:07.000
to the church, and the church
is the one that gives the interpretation.

598
00:47:07.719 --> 00:47:12.199
Now that leads you right back to
Roman Catholicism, which Protestants reject. We

599
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:17.760
reject the magisterial authority. We reject
the church's authority to interpret the Bible.

600
00:47:19.480 --> 00:47:21.400
Now we say, well, no, no, no, no, no,

601
00:47:21.519 --> 00:47:24.079
pastors have the authority. But who
judges the pastors, the people and

602
00:47:24.119 --> 00:47:31.599
the pew. I mean, that's
literally the Protestant battle cry, right is

603
00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:37.039
we listen to preaching and then we
judge the preaching to see whether these things

604
00:47:37.039 --> 00:47:39.320
are so. Now, I don't
need to go to Bible college. I

605
00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:43.360
don't need to read some stupid book
on hermoneutics. I just get to listen

606
00:47:43.400 --> 00:47:45.800
to the sermon and say he's wrong, he's wrong, he's wrong. He's

607
00:47:45.840 --> 00:47:50.400
wrong. He's wrong, and I
am right because I have the power to

608
00:47:50.480 --> 00:47:53.000
interpret it based off Well, then
what some people will go back to,

609
00:47:53.159 --> 00:47:55.320
well, God's given me the understanding. Well, if God's giving you the

610
00:47:55.400 --> 00:48:06.960
understanding, why you need to go
to church in the first place. So

611
00:48:13.719 --> 00:48:16.840
acts chapter eight, verse thirty.
Then Philip ran thither to him and heard

612
00:48:16.880 --> 00:48:23.840
him read the prophet Isaiah and said, understandest thou what thou readest? How

613
00:48:23.880 --> 00:48:30.320
can I accept some man should guide
me? Do you understand what you read?

614
00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:39.599
And what is required for you to
understand what you read? Now you

615
00:48:40.039 --> 00:48:44.039
could just go to your church and
start asking people do you understand the Bible?

616
00:48:44.199 --> 00:48:45.559
Well, yeah, well how do
you understand it? How do you

617
00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:51.159
understand it? Listen to how many
fall into the supernatural camp will claim that

618
00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:53.639
God gives them the understanding, which
then is just frightening because then they're claiming

619
00:48:53.639 --> 00:48:57.599
they're understanding is infallible because it comes
from God. It's got to be perfect,

620
00:48:57.719 --> 00:49:00.679
right, Okay, So they may
fall to the supernatural or they just

621
00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:04.400
may say, well, I mean
I read it, Okay, Well what

622
00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:06.880
is then you can say, well, what is required for you to understand

623
00:49:06.880 --> 00:49:09.320
what you read? Is there any
requirement that you must meet to be able

624
00:49:09.320 --> 00:49:14.880
to even ensure that what you're that
you're understanding is even remotely reliable? What

625
00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:16.760
is that requirement? And they're going
to tell you there is no requirement.

626
00:49:20.239 --> 00:49:22.519
Most will say there's no way.
They may try to say, well,

627
00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:23.599
you have to do this, or
you have to do this, or you

628
00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:27.360
have to do this, But then
do you do you really do that?

629
00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:32.920
Do you really put forth the work
to do that? I think you'll get

630
00:49:32.960 --> 00:49:38.360
some weird answers. Hey, do
you do you understand what you read?

631
00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:43.559
That's my pencils rolling all over the
place. Do you understand what you read?

632
00:49:44.519 --> 00:49:51.199
And what is the requirement to understand? What is that requirement? Now

633
00:49:51.199 --> 00:49:58.280
it's weird. And this is the
bizarre thing about Protestantism and the evangelical fundamentalist

634
00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:00.880
world. On one hand, we
want our pastors to go to Bible college

635
00:50:00.880 --> 00:50:07.199
and seminary where we have to They
spend money, years of work and papers

636
00:50:07.239 --> 00:50:14.000
and tests to learn how to be
able to interpret the Bible. Then they,

637
00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:17.000
after all of that time, sacrifice
money, then they go get a

638
00:50:17.079 --> 00:50:21.360
job at a church somewhere, They
stand up in the pulpit and preach,

639
00:50:21.639 --> 00:50:27.639
and then almost inevitably someone says you
are wrong, Well, then why did

640
00:50:27.639 --> 00:50:30.079
I go to Bible college or seminary? So clearly the people in the pew

641
00:50:30.199 --> 00:50:34.880
will tell the pastor they're wrong,
the pastor that is wrong. Don't believe

642
00:50:35.199 --> 00:50:37.920
that it is a requirement to go
to Bible college or seminary to be able

643
00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:42.800
to properly interpret the scripture since they're
the ones judging the preaching. Well,

644
00:50:42.800 --> 00:50:45.840
if they're one's judging the preaching,
then why does anyone need to go to

645
00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:50.119
Bible college and seminary? I think
Bible college and seminary is clearly a sham

646
00:50:50.199 --> 00:50:54.519
based off the Protestant understanding that anyone
can read the scriptures and anyone then has

647
00:50:54.559 --> 00:50:59.320
the authority not only to interpret it, but they have the authority to judge

648
00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:04.719
preaching to determine whether that interpretation is
right or wrong, based off no no

649
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:08.320
formal education at all. Well,
if no one needs any formal education to

650
00:51:08.400 --> 00:51:13.079
interpret the Bible and then judge the
preaching of the Bible, then why does

651
00:51:13.079 --> 00:51:15.280
anyone go in the first place?
Because the pastor, then, by that

652
00:51:15.400 --> 00:51:19.960
logic, has no more authority than
the person sitting in the view who's telling

653
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:23.639
them your sermon. Is wrong or
your sermon is right. All of my

654
00:51:23.760 --> 00:51:29.400
formal education means absolutely nothing. I
came to that conclusion there was a time

655
00:51:29.400 --> 00:51:31.880
I thought that it all meant something. It's just a waste of absolute time.

656
00:51:32.159 --> 00:51:35.800
I can turn on this microphone,
doesn't matter how many years I've gone

657
00:51:35.800 --> 00:51:38.039
to school, doesn't matter how many
degree people you're wrong, you're wrong,

658
00:51:38.159 --> 00:51:40.920
you're wrong, you're wrong, you're
wrong. You can be preaching in your

659
00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:45.519
church you're wrong, and then they
leave your church. Why because they think

660
00:51:45.519 --> 00:51:47.519
they know more than you. Though, what's the point of knowing anything?

661
00:51:49.880 --> 00:51:55.400
It's just all The whole thing is
just like a circus. Do you understand

662
00:51:55.480 --> 00:52:00.639
what you read? And what is
the what is required for you to understand

663
00:52:00.679 --> 00:52:08.119
what you read? When I listen
to that webcast and he read that,

664
00:52:08.119 --> 00:52:14.159
that's what he immediately jumped out at
me. Do you understand? On this

665
00:52:14.159 --> 00:52:17.519
particular case, the Ethiopian unitch could
not understand unless someone explained it to him.

666
00:52:19.400 --> 00:52:21.559
All right, Well, a lot
of people say, well, because

667
00:52:21.599 --> 00:52:23.960
he's lost, But once you get
saved, you don't really need someone to

668
00:52:24.039 --> 00:52:28.239
lead to you because you've got the
Holy Spirit leading you. That's the supernatural

669
00:52:29.280 --> 00:52:30.920
side. Well, others will say
well, no, you've got to have

670
00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:34.639
these other skills. Well, if
you have to have those other skills,

671
00:52:34.639 --> 00:52:37.320
do you understand what that would do? Then no one in the church can

672
00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:44.039
question or challenge the sermon until they
demonstrate that they have obtained said skills to

673
00:52:44.079 --> 00:52:46.920
be able. Nobody operates that way. Anyone in church can say you're wrong,

674
00:52:47.000 --> 00:52:52.440
I disagree, and then they can
just well leave or go start a

675
00:52:52.440 --> 00:52:58.719
new church. And that's why there's
never ending church splits. That's why there's

676
00:52:58.760 --> 00:53:00.400
never ending disagreement. It's and arguments. I mean, you can be,

677
00:53:00.719 --> 00:53:05.880
you can be, you can be, you can have multiple degrees and biblical

678
00:53:05.880 --> 00:53:08.280
studies, religious education, and theology. You could be teaching a Sunday school

679
00:53:08.280 --> 00:53:10.480
class and someone will be like,
no, I well I don't believe that

680
00:53:10.480 --> 00:53:14.199
that's what it says. I I
don't interpret it that way. And you'll

681
00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:16.760
be like, did you study this
passage this week? Well? No,

682
00:53:17.000 --> 00:53:20.320
when was the last time you studied
that passage? I don't know, but

683
00:53:20.400 --> 00:53:25.039
I'm looking at it right now and
you're wrong. Okay, Well that is

684
00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:30.159
that is that's some serious skill that
you can just sit there and and just

685
00:53:30.199 --> 00:53:34.079
immediately determine if someone's right or wrong
from just listening to a sermon you've got.

686
00:53:34.239 --> 00:53:36.679
I mean, I don't even know
what's the point of even preparing for

687
00:53:36.719 --> 00:53:39.280
sermons because you can determine if the
sermon is right or wrong without even preparing.

688
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:49.800
So what do you think? How
do how should we understand this?

689
00:53:49.880 --> 00:53:57.400
I don't have any easy answers for
you. Obviously, Protestantism and evangelical fundamentalism,

690
00:53:57.400 --> 00:53:59.800
we're not going to go back to
a magisterial authority. So that's out

691
00:53:59.800 --> 00:54:04.960
the window gone, all right,
So no magisteral authority. The average Protestant

692
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:07.639
evangelical fundamentalists are not going to give
up the power and the authority to interpret

693
00:54:07.639 --> 00:54:12.360
the Bible themselves. Or are they
going to give up the power and the

694
00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:15.840
authority to judge if what is being
preached is true or false? And they're

695
00:54:15.840 --> 00:54:20.599
going to base that off obviously on
the Book of Acts or they are as

696
00:54:21.800 --> 00:54:22.800
Yeah, I think in the Book
of Acts, Yeah, they were more

697
00:54:22.880 --> 00:54:28.000
noble because they listened to Paul and
then determine if these things what he preached

698
00:54:28.079 --> 00:54:30.559
was so that they take that concept
and say, hey, that's us,

699
00:54:30.639 --> 00:54:37.199
that's us. So we're not going
to go back to a magristilar magisterial authority,

700
00:54:37.239 --> 00:54:39.159
and we're not going to go back
to a magisterial authority. And the

701
00:54:39.199 --> 00:54:43.280
average Christian is not going to give
up the right for them to interpret the

702
00:54:43.320 --> 00:54:45.960
Bible themselves, and they're not going
to give up the right to be able

703
00:54:45.960 --> 00:54:49.440
to determine if what is preached is
true or false based off their understanding.

704
00:54:49.920 --> 00:54:54.360
Well, clearly, they're not going
to agree within the evangelical world that there

705
00:54:54.400 --> 00:55:00.559
is a requirement that they have to
learn certain things and principles to before they

706
00:55:00.559 --> 00:55:02.320
can make that judgment. They're not
going to do that because they're not going

707
00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:07.760
to put in the work. So
I don't know what the answer is because

708
00:55:07.920 --> 00:55:13.559
most of the evangel evangelical world already
borrows from the supernatural camp. So then

709
00:55:13.639 --> 00:55:17.079
I like, you mix the supernatural
camp with the idea that I can interpret

710
00:55:17.079 --> 00:55:21.280
it because I have the authority to
do so, I have the ability to

711
00:55:21.320 --> 00:55:24.320
do so, and I have the
authority and the ability to judge whether whether

712
00:55:24.320 --> 00:55:36.199
it's preached is true or false without
any formal education. To be honest,

713
00:55:36.239 --> 00:55:39.679
I'm shocked that we don't have more
chaos in the evangelical word. I mean,

714
00:55:39.719 --> 00:55:43.519
we already we have more chaos than
I think we want to admit we

715
00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:45.639
put on a good facade, but
when you just hear how many people leave

716
00:55:45.639 --> 00:55:49.800
this church or leave this church,
or disagree with this or disagree with that,

717
00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:52.920
or disagree with this or disagree with
that, and they have this interpretation

718
00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:54.960
and this interpretation, and they say
this person is wrong and this person is

719
00:55:54.960 --> 00:56:01.039
wrong. Just look on social media
when Christians start arguing about whatever. Everyone

720
00:56:01.039 --> 00:56:05.599
thinks they're right, and everyone thinks
their interpretation is right, and everyone else's

721
00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:10.480
interpretation is just magically wrong. Do
you understand what you read and what is

722
00:56:10.559 --> 00:56:24.039
required to understand it properly? That
it's just my real time thinking that was

723
00:56:24.119 --> 00:56:30.679
motivated by the live webcast that I
listened to earlier. I would love to

724
00:56:30.679 --> 00:56:37.599
get your thoughts. You can email
me news if at Yahoo dot com,

725
00:56:37.079 --> 00:56:42.679
that's news, I f at yeahoo
dot com, that's news I f at

726
00:56:42.719 --> 00:56:45.840
yeahoo dot com. I had more, and I wanted to kind of organize

727
00:56:45.880 --> 00:56:49.920
this, but this is really more
just like real time reaction. Like I

728
00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:52.000
just listened to a live webcast and
I just immediately turned on the microphone and

729
00:56:52.039 --> 00:56:54.840
just went live. So there wasn't
a lot of time to polish this and

730
00:56:55.320 --> 00:57:00.599
make it nice, but I wanted
to raise these questions because I just whenever

731
00:57:00.639 --> 00:57:04.599
I hear do you understand what you
read? I'm like, I just I

732
00:57:04.639 --> 00:57:07.239
just don't know. I just think
you go to the average church. I'll

733
00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:12.599
just never forget. I don't end
with this. We were visiting, well,

734
00:57:12.639 --> 00:57:15.960
it was a church we ultimately joined
in Abilene before I got called out

735
00:57:15.960 --> 00:57:21.159
to Victory Baptist Church to be the
pastor. But we were already just like

736
00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:24.239
fatigued because we'd been to so many
churches in Abilene and we're like, we

737
00:57:24.440 --> 00:57:28.119
just about to give up. So
we just kind of settled for this church

738
00:57:28.159 --> 00:57:30.880
because we had nothing. We didn't
know what else to do. And I

739
00:57:30.880 --> 00:57:32.920
think maybe a Sunday night, or
it may have been a Wednesday night,

740
00:57:35.159 --> 00:57:38.360
and it was coming kind of like
class, you know, teaching setting,

741
00:57:38.719 --> 00:57:43.119
and so the pastor's talking about the
baptism of Jesus, and the next thing,

742
00:57:43.159 --> 00:57:47.519
you know, just full blown like, no Jesus got baptized for this

743
00:57:47.559 --> 00:57:52.320
reason, No he got baptized for
this reason. No Jesus baptism signified that

744
00:57:52.519 --> 00:57:55.400
no. Nobody was listening to the
pastor. They just all completely like,

745
00:57:55.440 --> 00:58:00.480
you know, everyone's interpretation was right. They knew it was right based off

746
00:58:00.519 --> 00:58:06.320
what just because they understood what they
read without any requirement to understand what they

747
00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:08.760
read and it and I was just
about I was. I. I finally

748
00:58:08.800 --> 00:58:15.239
got frustrated and basically said, do
people even understand, well, you know

749
00:58:15.440 --> 00:58:20.079
what what the significance of Jewish baptism
was? Do you even understand the concepts?

750
00:58:20.079 --> 00:58:22.639
Do you even understand what was required
for a gentile to convert to Judaism

751
00:58:22.719 --> 00:58:27.280
and where washing would come into play? Do you understand what Jesus was demonstrating

752
00:58:27.280 --> 00:58:30.360
it? Do you understand? Like, oh, it was driving me like

753
00:58:30.599 --> 00:58:35.320
crazy, and like I was just
like I think I I just recently and

754
00:58:35.360 --> 00:58:37.639
maybe a couple of years before,
I had to write a paper about the

755
00:58:37.800 --> 00:58:40.559
entire thing for school, and it
was just like and I kind of just

756
00:58:40.599 --> 00:58:46.599
went like just started reciting odd everything
that was in the and then that that

757
00:58:46.719 --> 00:58:49.960
kind of everybody just kind of looked
at me like, well, who do

758
00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:52.800
you think you are? But it
was just so like everyone's just throwing out

759
00:58:52.840 --> 00:58:59.119
these wild opinions based off what,
Like, I know, you haven't been

760
00:58:59.119 --> 00:59:02.199
sitting at home all week studying the
subjects, so why are you blurting out

761
00:59:02.239 --> 00:59:06.159
in class? You're wrong, you're
wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong based

762
00:59:06.159 --> 00:59:12.039
off what five seconds of reading and
you just immediately assume you know. Sometimes

763
00:59:12.039 --> 00:59:14.840
it would drive me crazy. As
a pastor. You can spend all week

764
00:59:14.880 --> 00:59:16.920
prepare, prepare, prepare, prepare, you preach, and before the sermon

765
00:59:17.039 --> 00:59:20.480
is over, you already have someone
arguing with you, either in the middle

766
00:59:20.519 --> 00:59:22.760
of the sermon, are they coming
up to you as soon as the sermon

767
00:59:22.800 --> 00:59:24.599
is over to tell you're wrong?
Like, so, did you spend all

768
00:59:24.639 --> 00:59:28.119
weeks studying this? Oh? I
didn't think so. But you don't need

769
00:59:28.159 --> 00:59:30.719
to right because you just get to, I don't know, look at the

770
00:59:30.719 --> 00:59:34.519
text once and you get to tell
everyone that you're right, because do you

771
00:59:34.599 --> 00:59:36.840
understand what you read? Well?
I know, I guess, I know

772
00:59:36.920 --> 00:59:39.880
this. There's no requirement for you
to understand anything other than just hearing it

773
00:59:40.000 --> 00:59:49.159
once. It's there's a I don't
know, and I think this is my

774
00:59:49.280 --> 00:59:53.360
own hypotheses, that there is an
arrogant and I think it typically shows up

775
00:59:53.360 --> 00:59:57.239
in Christian men. I don't know
about the Christian women. You can tell

776
00:59:57.239 --> 01:00:00.239
me what's going on with the Christian
women, but Christian men there's a almost

777
01:00:00.280 --> 01:00:05.719
an arrogance. Well, Now I'm
a Christian, I have God and I

778
01:00:05.760 --> 01:00:13.280
can understand, and so I'm right. Okay, that's that's good. That's

779
01:00:13.280 --> 01:00:15.559
good. Well, if you would
like, why don't you just get behind

780
01:00:15.559 --> 01:00:16.360
the pulpit and do it. Oh, you don't want to get behind the

781
01:00:16.360 --> 01:00:19.920
pulpit to do it. You just
want to tell the people behind the pulpit

782
01:00:19.920 --> 01:00:25.159
that they're wrong. Gotcha. That
an that's an awesome gig. I don't

783
01:00:25.159 --> 01:00:29.039
have to actually do the study.
I don't actually have to go to school.

784
01:00:29.280 --> 01:00:30.519
I don't actually have to do any
of the work. I don't have

785
01:00:30.559 --> 01:00:34.519
to take tests. I don't have
to I don't have to do any extra

786
01:00:34.599 --> 01:00:37.679
reading. I don't have to spend
all this money for the education. I

787
01:00:37.719 --> 01:00:45.039
can just come to church, open
the Bible and say he's wrong. That's

788
01:00:45.639 --> 01:00:54.320
that's that's the Evangelical Protestantism in a
nutshell. All right, email me news

789
01:00:55.079 --> 01:01:00.360
if at yahoo dot com. That's
news I f a Yahoo dot com.

790
01:01:00.880 --> 01:01:06.760
Do you understand what you read?
And what is required for you to understand

791
01:01:07.559 --> 01:01:12.280
what you read? Godless