{"id":50170,"date":"2017-03-12T20:36:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T01:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=50170"},"modified":"2022-07-18T20:46:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T01:46:17","slug":"how-do-you-know-youve-understood-the-bible-correctly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-know-youve-understood-the-bible-correctly\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you know you&#8217;ve understood the Bible correctly?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\nHi there,\nI have a question about the different ways people read the Word of God. Overall each one has something right, but I would mainly like to know of a way of reading the Bible and taking it to heart. How is this specific method obtained through the Scripture?\nA fellow worker and I had a few good talks about God&#8217;s word and I got worried for his sake and somewhat for myself. Most points that I believe, he believes, and we agree that we are saved by grace through faith by the blood of Jesus. But this guy has some serious scripture memory and is a priest at his church. I&#8217;m just a guy who reads my Bible, prays before reading after reading, and I&#8217;m not committed to a certain method of worship or church. I&#8217;ve noticed that most communities think their way is the right way and look down on the people who are not in that community!\nBack to my question: A few things that worry me are that this guy tells me that Jesus is not coming again and that there will be no Armageddon. I did point out when Jesus spoke to the disciples before He left earth and left us with the Holy Spirit, and the signs of the end of days, but he tells me that the disasters are in a person&#8217;s spirit. All the things are pointing to the person without the word of God in him &#8212; hunger, drought, etc. Armageddon is the day you give your heart to Jesus and are reborn. I agree that Jesus gives us the water that quenches forever and He is the bread of life. This fellow worker says the way I should read the Bible is to look at everything in a spiritual way. I do, but only when it is applicable, so I&#8217;m worried that maybe I missed something. I&#8217;m worried for his sake because I am no match for his spiritual knowledge, and he is trying to get me to see and do things the way his church does!\nI don&#8217;t get it.\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s start with a basic truth: &#8220;<em>But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one&#8217;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>&#8221; (II Peter 1:20-21). When your friend claims that everything in the Bible is figurative he opens the door wide for personal assignment of meaning to any and every verse. He does this to remove any objection from his claims because proving the truth becomes impossible.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine writing a letter to a friend where the friend is allowed to personally interpret everything you wrote as figurative language. It would be impossible to communicate with your friend.<\/p>\n<p>The science of understanding what someone communicated is called hermeneutics.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/keys-to-understanding\/keeping-the-context\/\">Keeping the Context<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-basics-of-communication-tell-show-imply\/\">The Basics of Communication: Tell, Show, Imply<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are times when figurative language is being used, but there are indicators, so we are not left guessing. Nor does the use of figurative language mean that any interpretation can be used. There is only one that is meant by the author and it can be determined.<\/p>\n<p>In regards to whether there will be a second coming: &#8220;<em>And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him<\/em>&#8221; (Hebrews 9:28-29). But in regards to signs of that time, Jesus repeatedly stated that there will be\u00a0<em>no<\/em>\u00a0advance warning. See:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/the-fall-of-jerusalem\/\">The Fall of Jerusalem<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/the-second-coming-of-the-lord\/\">The Second Coming of the Lord<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I suspect both of you missed the meaning of Armageddon. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-battle-of-armageddon\/\">The Battle of Armageddon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Hi there, I have a question about the different ways people read the Word of God. Overall each one has something right, but I would mainly like to know of a way of reading the Bible and taking it to heart. How is this specific method obtained through the Scripture? A fellow worker and&hellip;<\/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,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[529,964],"class_list":["post-50170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-hermeneutics","tag-understanding-the-bible"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/roman-catholic-quotes-regarding-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":50170,"position":0},"title":"Roman Catholic Quotes Regarding the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bible Alone was Used in the Early Church There was far more extensive and continuous use of Scriptures in the public service of the early Church than there is among us. [Addis and Arnold,\u00a0Catholic Dictionary, The Catholic Publication Society, 1887, page 509] Our present convenient compendiums -- the Missal,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10924,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-reading-the-bible-the-best-place-to-start-if-you-have-never-been-religious\/","url_meta":{"origin":50170,"position":1},"title":"Is reading the Bible the best place to start if you have never been religious?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just wanted to know if reading the Bible is the best place to start. I've never been religious. I remember going to church and getting baptized as a kid, but I never understood what it was about, and my family stopped going to church so I just forgot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5770,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-best-way-to-study-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":50170,"position":2},"title":"What is the best way to study the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When studying the Bible or a topic, such as baptism, what is the best way? Is it with a particular Bible version, such as the King James, New King James, or the New International Version, with no commentary and a concordance as a Bible aid? My church has recently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-know-of-good-inductive-study-guides\/","url_meta":{"origin":50170,"position":3},"title":"Do you know of good Inductive Study guides?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does anyone know a good Inductive Study Guide for study on how to learn the Scripture? I know there are items out there, but I was trying to locate one that members of the Church of Christ have reviewed and found to be of sound teaching. So many folks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14844,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-wrong-with-the-baptists-methodists-etc\/","url_meta":{"origin":50170,"position":4},"title":"What is wrong with the Baptists, Methodists, etc.?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I think my main concern is: \"Is the Church of Christ the only way?\" What is wrong with the Baptists, Methodists, etc...? Am I going in the right direction to get to Heaven? I know I have a lot of doubts and questions. Answer: The question, \"Is the Church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-listened-to-the-entire-bible-during-my-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":50170,"position":5},"title":"I&#8217;ve listened to the entire Bible during my day","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your article on \u00a0Reading the Bible Cover to Cover. Permit me to share that I love listening to my audio Bible and have covered 50 to 100 chapters a day. I have since gone through the Good Book eleven times. By late Wednesday, March 5th, I'll complete\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50170","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=50170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}