A few questions I have:<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n\t
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God<\/em>” (II Peter 1:20-21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God wrote the Bible to communicate to men what He wanted us to do. It was not written for men to decide what God meant to say. See:<\/p>\n
\n
- That’s Your Interpretation!<\/a><\/li>\n
- Communication Between God and Man<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Suppose you want to read Alexander Dumas’\u00a0The Three Muskateers<\/em>. It was written in French, but you can’t read French so do you reject all English translations of the text, saying “That’s just his interpretation!”? You would be implying\u00a0that the interpreter did not do a good job and that he gave his opinion instead of what the author actually wrote, just in a different language. A good translation is dependable because it is based on an original work that can be checked to verify that the translation was accurate.<\/p>\n
In the same way, the Bible has been translated from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages. Good translations are not the interpreter’s opinions. The interpreter is striving to convey the meaning found in the original language into a different language. Especially in English, we have hundreds of translations. Even without knowing the original languages, you can compare the various translations and get a good feel for the message that is found in the original language. See:<\/p>\n
\n
- Can We Trust the Text of the Bible?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Why Believe in the Bible?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Yes, you can prove that the Bible text is accurate and that what the Bible says is correct. However, even the best proof won’t sway a person determined not to believe. Rather than waste your time, if you can’t consider the Bible and its message, there are many people who would, so move on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: A few questions I have: Is the Bible left to each individual’s own interpretation? How can we trust translations? Isn’t that just someone else’s interpretation(s)? How can I prove the Bible is correct if someone doesn’t even believe it in the first place? Thank you. Answer: “But know this first of all, that no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[530,311],"class_list":["post-49007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-interpretation","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38272,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-the-scriptures-can-be-unclear-doesnt-it-require-an-organization-to-state-what-is-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":49007,"position":0},"title":"Since the Scriptures can be unclear, doesn’t it require an organization to state what is true?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Scripture is unclear at times and at other times seems to be contradictory. With that in mind, there are many different interpretations from many different sources. So, my question is this; If what the Bible says is true, not according to personal interpretation, who or what organization is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-prophecy-require-an-interpreter\/","url_meta":{"origin":49007,"position":1},"title":"Doesn’t prophecy require an interpreter?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you also tell me how there can be an interpretation of prophecy without prophets? \"No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation\" (II Peter 1:20). Answer: \"And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-check-my-own-understanding-if-i-misunderstand-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":49007,"position":2},"title":"How can I check my own understanding if I misunderstand the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can I check my own understanding in comparison to the Bible, if I misunderstand the Bible itself? Answer: \"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is\" (Ephesians 5:17). The first point to realize is that the Bible is understandable. Yes, people do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/interpretation-versus-belief\/","url_meta":{"origin":49007,"position":3},"title":"Interpretation Versus Belief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Phillip Owens via The Elgin Hills Examiner, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 2006. \"Interpreters\" explain or give the meaning of words from one language to another language. No one would knowingly say of a competent interpreter, \"Well, that's just his interpretation,\" meaning that his translation is only an opinion,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-not-to-attend-a-family-dinner-hosted-by-a-couple-who-are-living-together-unmarried\/","url_meta":{"origin":49007,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong not to attend a family dinner hosted by a couple who are living together unmarried?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeff, Is it wrong for me to not attend a family dinner because the ones hosting it are living together unwed? They are not Christians, they are Baptist. I do not want to approve of sin be it through words or actions. Answer: \"But now I have written\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thats-just-your-interpretation\/","url_meta":{"origin":49007,"position":5},"title":"That’s Just Your Interpretation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Larson via The Elgin Hills Examiner, Vol. 1, No. 5, May 2006. That's just your interpretation! How many times has someone said that to you when you attempted to teach him the truth from the Scriptures? Rather than take the message of truth to heart, it is quickly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}