I grew up in church and am very thankful for the teaching I received along the way. I also studied religion in college at a Christian university. However, there was a time that a distinct shift was made in my own life. Instead of continuing to believe the various textbooks, as well as professors that would try to “explain” the Bible, I decided to take the Bible at its word and simply believe what the Bible said.
Perhaps many of these well-meaning teachers had not experienced the “God of the Bible” for themselves so they their understanding and therefore their ability to translate biblical teaching was limited.
For all the good intentions religion has created, there always seems to be an overreach of sorts. Many of our religious patriarchs have reduced God in a way due to their own limited understanding. As a result, they have totally missed the heart of the Bible.
Remember the astronomer Galileo? In 1633, he was ordered to turn himself in to the Holy Office to begin trial for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the sun and that the Earth was round. It would take at least 300 years for the church to admit that Galileo was right and to clear his name of heresy.
It is unfortunate that one of the so-called clergies did not simply consult the Bible. If they had read Isaiah 40:22, they would have seen that the Bible actually declares the earth is round. “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers”.
It was also the religious people in the New Testament that sent Jesus to the cross.
Do not allow your religion to take the place of what the word of God says. It is all about the relationship. The Word is our truth. John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth”.
Rhonda Smart, [email protected]
