What are your thoughts on this "post-literate" world? Do you agree with what Brad has to say about this? Let me know in the comments and if you love these interviews and would love to support what I'm doing, consider becoming a channel member! ua-cam.com/channels/bQN6j4hG50zcTYoy1OEV-w.htmljoin
"If you are not reading the Bible, you are not a follower of Christ, and that's just not true." Certainly, and yet I would say that you wouldn't be a true disciple unless you abide/live in the Word, John 8:31.
Amen! Because we DO have easy access to the word of God and so much leisure time, we have no excuses. Acts 17:11 (KJV) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Some thoughts to consider... ☆ ☆ Double loss of literacy 😢 ☆ 15-35 not reading anything, at all ☆ this is appalling and a warning ☆ too much access for a DISTRACTED MIND 🧠 ☆ Strategy & Awareness ☆ soooo good ☆ sooo Thought-provoking
Not knowing scripture is a solid guarantee that Christ, the Gospel, and the value of the Christian message will be incorrectly expressed by Christians further proving to the non-Christian world that it's worthless. We are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
I TOTALLY agree with everything both of you said. Great interview and thoughts. With a background in Christian broadcasting, I have always loved the oral presentation (performance) of Scripture. Three years ago I had the privilege of narrating the new NASB 2020 audio Bible (available on Audible). What a blessing it was to record the entire Bible, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I often recommend that people, in their Quiet Time or Bible study, read the passage aloud. I also recommend that anyone trying to memorize a passage, read it aloud over and over and it will become ingrained in your mind and soul. Thanks for posting this interview.
I myself have grown up in the church, Christian my whole life. However just this year is the first I’ve started to read the whole Bible all the way through. And loving it. And god has put such a passion for me for others like me who are biblically illiterate. My mom and I have started a “bible boot camp” to help people understand the Bible is an overarching story. And also in the works is talking to our pastor this week so see about starting a once a month (for right now) session of gathering at the church to listen to a half hour or so of the Bible.
@BibleMemoryGoal What makes it sad is that you see many men your age or older who can't read at a 3rd grade reading level. I met a guy in his mid 20s who was completely illiterate. He couldn't read at a kindergarten level, now he reads more at a 4th grade level. It makes me grateful as someone whose turning 28 this month, to have stayed in school, followed Jesus early in life, and avoid many of the vices that plagued low-income Americans for generations that many of the men I live with have battled (drugs, alcoholism, teen parenting).
@@mariowalker9048 Being poor is no excuse for being illiterate. (In America.) My parents both came from dirt poor backgrounds. My mother, especially. She grew up in a wooden shack with an open fire for cooking. I saw it when I was a kid. My father was a bit better off but not that much. I think he graduated high school. I'm not sure if she did. They learned to read & write Spanish. They learned English when they came here. And this was what, 60 years ago? They also both worked factory and other low income/brutal jobs. So, no, I do not accept this nonsense that people in America, especially in today's internet/smartphone world, are illiterate because they are poor. They're illiterate because they CHOOSE to ignore school, they CHOOSE to be involved in gangs, drugs, and crime. They CHOOSE to fornicate and have kids out of wedlock. And on and on. We have to stop making excuses for people and start calling them to accountability and responsibility for their choices.
I perform the Hallel, to myself, in private, and that has absolutely revolutionized my worship. I don't have it all memorized, yet, but man has it changed me. I read it as my prayer to God trying to put myself in the place of the author and feel the torture and the praise as I go through each of these psalms. Just. So. Epic. There is no better way to worship. I used to do this several times a week but have fallen off lately to only 2-3 times a month. I need to get back on it! Giving some context is important, but I think dumbing it down is what we have already done, why we are already in the mess that we are in. If we had more Chuck Misslers lighting people on fire for the Word of God, we would be so different. Give them depth and breadth and excitement. Or at least that is what hooked me. When we came to a new church and I realized that I was not in the top quartile of biblical knowledge, I knew I needed to up my game. I am not used to being at the bottom!
I attended a Roman Catholic convent for Secondary School Education. There the students memorized all of the Gospels (except John) plus the Acts of the Apostles in order to pass the London Examination in SCRIPTURE. That was when I fell in love with the person of Jesus. Fifteen years later I was reconciled to the Father - what a Glorious evening it was! Tears of repentance and joy which have anchored me over the years - Holy Spirit was in His Glee.
I agree that Scripture memorization should not be done in isolation but unfortunately, I am unable to find anyone who wants to memorize with me. I give memory workshops and ask at the end who wants to join me. No takers.
It does not help that pastors put the verses up on a screen so that it isn't necessary to have, touch or open a Bible. It gets people out of the habit. And they should not just REFERENCE the Bible in church, they should read ENTIRE CHAPTERS, not merely paragraphs or a few verses. Is this how you'd want YOUR letters treated when you write someone? Is this that habit you want to instill in people coming to learn His word? Nibbles? At what is called "pulpit speed" it is possible to read through the Bible in a year in 1 year - 11 min/day 6 months - 23 min/day 4 months - 45 min/day 3 months - 47 min/day 2 months - 1 hr, 10 min/day 1 month - 2 hrs, 20 min/day 2 weeks - 5 hrs, 4 min/day 1 week - 10 hrs, 7 min/day
I understand where you’re coming from and I wish I could give a more nuanced response, but I think the important thing is that the Bible is read or recited as a community in church. Opening a physical Bible, turning on your phone or reading off a screen is not the big issue here.
People close to me saying, “That’s in the Bible?” Is the scariest phrase I’m hearing more often. It’s how deception and apostasy enters. I am grateful to God that when I teach and preach it is not from a lot of known passages but from in-between them because until the Bible, in its fullness, becomes real and connected it will always be a bunch of disconnected short stories and “pithy” sayings that (in so many minds) fit right next to horoscopes, fortune cookies, and bed time stories. It is INFINITELY superior to All others.
Can i have the name of the Department chief he mentioned ''Cliff barbrick'' does he have material or even videos about him, he sounds fascinating to know. Great interviewed, i enjoyed it
I checked repeatedly before denouncing my family’s faith, and the Apostle’s Creed isn’t in the Bible. “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB1995 What’s wrong with getting back to the Bible only?
@@TheDanEdwards no such thing as going back to the Bible and being Christians only and not sectarians? The Bible is its own best commentary and has nothing to do with my culture or interpretation. If you don’t believe it, that’s on you.
You’re right, it’s not in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad to memorize. Why not memorize both the creed and the verses upon which it is based?
@@BibleMemoryGoal Ok, so you agree that it isn’t in the Bible, yet it isn’t bad to memorize. For many centuries after the founding of the Lord’s church in the 1st Century, there were no formal doctrinal statements aside from the Scriptures, which were considered inspired by God. At that time, God's revelation was believed to be complete, without any new doctrines or changes. If this sufficed for believers then, why do we require additional doctrinal statements like creeds now? Consider the message in Jude 3: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude 1:3 NKJV Also, If creedal statements align with what's already in the Bible, there’s no need for them since we already have the Bible. However, if they teach something different, they're just rules made by people. Only God's word is always true. We are not to add to or subtract from God’s word (Deuteronomy 4:2). If Moses was reprimanded from doing it, it also holds true for us today. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB1995 The Scripture is adequate for me, so I’m perfectly fine with not memorizing the creed.
My church teaches thru the Bible. I don't remember much of what's said. Is that the preacher's fault? We are so distracted with "noise" and images all day long we don't have the bandwidth to hold much of anything!
He's great. I've been reading the Bible consistently every year since 2019. I read the NT twice in a year and I just love to hear his commentaries when I'm done with a book. It's like having a conversation with a friend who's reading along.
This is something I have thought about and I don't claim to have a perfect answer. However, it bothers me to hear people refer to times in Church history where personal Bibles were not available and then say that since God led those believers without Bibles we shouldn't shame people for not reading their Bibles everyday. Don't get me wrong, I don't think shaming is necessarily the right way to do it but if someone doesn't hunger for God's Word, are they spiritually healthy? Do we tell people "You don't really need to eat a meal every day, many people have not and have survived." During those periods of Church history where Bibles were not readily available, there were serious lacks and problems in the church related to not having Bibles. I'm not trying to disagree with everything in the video, but I am uncomfortable with some of the reasoning. Since we do have personal Bibles, is it ok to revert to using them less like the early church were forced to do? On another note, I live in Chiang Mai (I'm in the US temporarily right now) and have wondered about the effectiveness of memorizing books of the Bible in Thai and quoting in public worship to inspire the Thai Christians to read and memorize the Scriptures. I have started memorizing Titus in Thai since it is one of the books I've memorized in English. Do you speak Thai and have you done memorization in Thai in addition to English? Thanks for your channel!
Thanks for the input. I’ve memorized portions of Scripture in Mandarin but not Thai yet. I guess I would turn it around and ask you: do you think it’s necessary to push Thai believers to read a physical Bible when it’s mainly an oral culture that would rather listen to it?
@@BibleMemoryGoal Thanks for replying. I'm not sure your question really fits with what I was talking about but I'll answer it. I think the issue is probably too nuanced to give a short answer, but I'll try. First, I don't think that just because a culture prefers doing something a certain way, that it is the right thing to do. However, I don't think it is wrong if the Thai's prefer to listen to the Bible more than reading. From my time in Thailand I don't get the idea that the Thai people are enthusiastic about listening the Bible but I could be wrong. I think the biggest problem there and here in the US is that our attention span has gotten shorter and we don't hunger for the Word as we should (I have been guilty of this myself). It's not just a change in culture problem, it's a heart problem. I'd be glad if the Thai's and Americans had more hunger for the Word of God, whether they listen to it or read it. That said, I think the Thai Church (and American church) should read more, it's just a good discipline to sit, be still and read a book. My main issue in my first comment was the idea that because the early church and the medieval church survived without personal Bibles, that somehow should make us less firm about daily Bible reading (or listening). I may have missed your point in the video and I apologize if I did. I don't expect you to carry on a long discussion here, things like this would be better as a face to face discussion. Thanks for your time and blessings on your ministry.
I see comments blaming the church and calling on the church to fix this problem, but God states explicitly in the OT and implicitly in the NT that the responsibility for instruction in the Scriptures is the responsibility of parents, and specifically fathers. Paul Washer hit the nail on the head when he said that the local church is giving fathers an excuse for being lazy in not discipling their families. Plain and simple, if my kids are Biblically illiterate by the time they leave my home, I will have failed in my responsibility as a father. Now, I’m not saying that churches have no responsibility at all in this area, because they certainly do. This is especially true for those who come to Christ later in life or those young people who do not live in Christian homes. If the church (the people not the “organization”) does not take these people under their wing and disciple them, then the Church has also failed. But, for our children being raised in Christian homes in the church, the primary responsibility for the teaching them does not belong to the church it belongs to the parents.
I agree that this responsibility falls on parents as well, but please understand and have empathy for the fact that not all children have Christian parents.
That portion about supposed young "Christians" not knowing the parable of The Prodigal Son was embarrassing! How does anyone call themselves a Christian and even go to be trained for Christian ministry and they've never heard this?! What's going on in these churches? It also means they've never bothered to even read the New Testament in full, much less the Old Testament. It makes me despair. It really does. I cannot abide WILLFUL ignorance of any kind, but especially biblical ignorance about basic things, among supposed Christians. It makes me angry. There is NO excuse for this in America. None!
More of a question than anything else. Brad East mentioned pronunciation of names a few times. This drives me nuts. Is there a good reference for this? I know there’s a whole question about historically accurate pronunciation versus common Christian pronunciation. But I’d love a reliable single source. I’ve tried listening to audio Bibles, but from translation to translation the pronunciation seems to vary wildly. I even asked my pastors one Sunday and in the moment at least they couldn’t supply me a resource, it was more of surprise and confusion about what my end-goal was for the pronunciation. For the record, in case it affects the resources to be used, my end-goals are recall ability and not sounding ridiculous. A word or name will not stick in my mind if I can’t pronounce it. It will be a literal blank that I’m attaching facts to. You get too many blanks, and there’s not much to hold onto.
Here is the book I used for proper pronunciation of names and places when I recorded the NASB 2020 audio Bible. “That’s Easy for You to Say: Your Quick Guide to Pronouncing Bible Names”, by W. Murray Severance. Broadman & Holman Reference. I believe it is out of print now, but I found a Used copy online that was brand new. A Bible professor I know had one and recommended it to me.
I am 55 and my observations tell me that reading the Scriptures does absolutely nothing for a person's faith or understanding. I talk to people all the time about reading the Bible and I find very few in any age category who reads. But I find at the same time, people who lead Bible Studies or other small groups will hardly know any more than those who do not read Scripture. So whether Believers read or not read, there does not seem to be much impact. Both groups, readers and non-readers, will have their understanding of Scripture based upon what their pastor says or what some preacher on TV says. And the ones who read, will read the Bible and find the exact same "interpretation" as what they heard from their pastor or TV evangelist. Or priest, if they are Catholic. Now, I have gone through the Bible and found 40+ key teaching elements in Scripture. And no matter what church or denomination I ever go to, they have only ever taught 1 or 2 of these 40+ key topics that ALL Christians need to understand. And I do listen to a lot of sermons online or on the radio along with at my church, but I would guess that 75% of what I hear coming from the pulpits today is not Scriptural or Doctrinally accurate. Yet it is quite prevalent in our days and I suspect much of it is taught in seminaries or other training schools. Why don't preachers teach on these 40+ topics that are of utmost importance? I'm not going to list the 40. I am sure most anyone has the ability to look at Scripture and find these 40 topics that are not taught in churches but should.
I think you have some skewed observations. And frankly I’m always on high alert when somebody tells me that they know the “key topics” from the Bible that everybody else is missing. Unfortunately, this hints at the beginnings of a possible cult belief.
@BibleMemoryGoal With all due respect, the line of thinking in this comment is the line of thinking that got us to this point. “Get them in church and let the church fix them.” God states explicitly in the OT and implicitly in the NT that the responsibility for instruction in the Scriptures is the responsibility of parents, and specifically fathers. Paul Washer hit the nail on the head when he said that the local church is giving fathers an excuse for being lazy in not discipling their families. Plain and simple, if my kids are Biblically illiterate by the time they leave my home, I will have failed in my responsibility as a father. Now, I’m not saying that churches have no responsibility at all in this area, because they certainly do. This is especially true for those who come to Christ later in life or those young people who do not live in Christian homes. If the church (the people not the “organization”) does not take these people under their wing and disciple them, then the Church has also failed. But, for our children being raised in Christian homes in the church, the primary responsibility for the teaching them does not belong to the church it belongs to the parents.
It was mentioned that the Apostles Creed is a memorization mandate, but here's a question. Why would you memorize the AC when it is not Scripture? Here lies some of the problem with the church today. We teach and embed in our memories things not of Scripture and them make it Scripture. Let's stop this practice. This is the same mistake the ancient Israelites made when they mixed the things of the Pagan cultures around them and mixed it with Scripture. Not saying the AP is Pagan, but we are taking Scripture and mixing it with a religious views and moving away from a more biblical context.
Yes! Growing up, I had to memorize the Apostle’s Creed. When I got older, and read and studied the Bible for myself, the Apostle’s Creed wasn’t in there. I denounced my family’s faith and made my faith my own. We need to go back to the Bible only.
@@sensiblechristian9791 As a relatively new believer, the churches I attended in the early years of my faith didn’t mention anything about the creeds. In fact, one pastor, who grew up in church, said something to the effect of “everybody knows Romans Road…” I had no idea what the Romans Road was. So I started teaching myself. Most of the evangelical churches are theologically weak. I find even the pastors have no idea what the creeds and confessions are. There is so much theological depth in learning the history of early Christianity. Memorizing the Apostles Creed isn’t a bad thing because every sentence is based on scripture and summarizes what we believe and why we believe it. Yes, we need to read and understand the Bible in depth but don’t underestimate the need for creeds and confessions in our education. I think our churches are failing the sheep because they’re catering to the goats.
Tip for people that I've been starting to do is look up Bloom's Taxonomy , if your using level one and two, you're probably taking the bible out of context and whatnot.
We are talking biblical ignorance and it is a person fault....the bible states we are without excuse....especially as His Law is written in our hardened hearts......keep it real here......
Well said. Well, well said. Thank you. You have only to read your Bible carefully to realize those people in the Old and New Testament times knew God's Word, literate or not. I will cite Hannah's humble, amazing prayer, and how Mary's Magnificat echoes it centuries later. Both men and women had Scripure "hidden in their hearts". Do we? Alas, the answer is often "no". My personal image is that they were better trained in memory than we are to begin with, and they meditated as they lived those incredibly busy lives by reciting it to themselves. Talking about it when they rose up, as they went about their days, and as they settled for evening rest. God's people lived with Him.
3 Causes for Bible ignorance and lack of memorization: 1. No family worship or personal devotion time (see Pew and Barna 2. Preachers not preaching from the Bible 3. Too many translations and no agreed upon translation, leading to a lack of congregational reading. Every other explanation springs from these 3 points
@@BibleMemoryGoal Human nature. When people have SO MANY choices there comes a paralysis of analysis. Also, the MANY choices lead away from a CULTURE of Scripture reading. As humans we learn most often by immersion and osmosis. There are MANY who can quote John 3:16 from the KJV and the NKJV even though they almost never pick up the Bible. Why? Because they OFTEN hear that verse quoted from those translations When there are SO MANY translations, the dilemma is to know which one is best. Because everyone is different, everyone will have their own opinion of which translation is best (based on whatever criterion). Knowing that churchmembers are using different translations,, there will no longer be parts of hte service where the church is led to a congregational reading of scriptures (for example, Psalm 23) because it will sound like Babylon. The effect is less opportunities to read the scripture, leading to less use of the Bible from the pulpit during sermons, and people will be LESS LIKELY to read the Bible Why would people be less likely to read the bible? because they are less confident that the translation they use is the Word of God. From my personal experience - the people who are the best with the Bible are those who are CERTAIN that their translation is the best. It is the reason why so many Christians get destroyed in debates with JWs. They are CERTAIN their NWT is the best translation. And I don't know ANY group of people who has more passages and books of the Bible memorized than those who read from the KJV.. And I would not be surprised that KJV readers are the LEAST likely to become a part of the rising "nones" in the West.
60% of the books of the Bible can be listened to in 30 min or less. There are numerous ways to do that for free. There are so many resources for people to find that help them understand the Bible. We have tons of Christian studies disguised as Bible studies that help people learn to be a better person but don’t help anyone learn the Bible. People CHOOSE not to because they are lazy and because our churches don’t make Bible literacy a priority. They teach that Jesus loves us and forgives us and that’s all people feel they need to know. This is the #1 problem in the church today.
I don't agree that it's the pastor's job to explain the stories he might allude to during a sermon. I've been a believer since Oct 2021. I have a hard time memorizing scripture (and just general memory problems). I desire God's Word. I consume it as much as I can. If a pastor or teacher mentions something I'm not familiar with I make a note and go home to learn for myself. When I stand before the Lord one day my pastor won't be there to give an account for my lack of knowledge. It's our responsibility to learn God's Word and seek His Truth for ourselves. Pastors and teachers help us along the way. My pastor says not to believe everything he says without filtering it through God's Word myself. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn't change. His Word doesn't change. If chose to watch TV, play video games or stare at my phone for hours and have no time for Him, that on me. I'm chosing myself over Him.
Absolutely, we are personally responsible for our decisions. The point we’re making here is that as a community, we also have a responsibility to each other for how we handle the Word.
26:55 I used to beat myself up for not being able to memorize where passages or a scripture was but then I read Paul writing the same thing, “someone, somewhere wrote…”. I’m more gentle now with myself. As long as I know the scripture (and understand the context!), I don’t stress about knowing where it’s at in the Bible.
PARENTS are the ones to instruct their children about the Bible. Deuteronomy 64-9 spells it out CLEARLY. Also, Timothy had a mother and grandmother who instructed him (2 Timothy 3:14-15).
@@BibleMemoryGoal Of course not. Nehemiah 8:8 makes that clear. But the primary responsibility for religious instruction falls upon the parents. I am reminded of a Christian college that I went to where the parents sent their misbehaving children their HOPING they would become converted.
The problem is both society and the church. At some point both, when relating to Scripture, need to stop teaching bad theology and stop relating the scripture as a Greek text and get back to the Hebraic center of the entire book. The church and society for many years has been teaching what it thinks Scripture means as it applies to feelings and has been teaching a heretical and even apostate in some cases, gospel and we are seeing the culmination of that today.
" stop relating the scripture as a Greek text and get back to the Hebraic center of the entire book. " - the NT was written in Greek for Greek readers.
@@TheDanEdwards I disagree in part. Yes, the NT has been translated from the Greek into English, but from a Greek translation. Consider this, the four gospels were written about a Jewish Messiah coming to a Jewish people, and more directly, to a set of twelve Jewish disciples to bring them back to the Torah, that spoke Aramaic as a common language, in a Jewish land. So now we're saying that this was all originally done in the Greek. I don't buy that for a minute. In the case of Paul, just because Paul was a Roman citizen doesn't mean Greek was his common tongue. Remember, he was a Pharisee. Albeit, he did much mission work in many European nations, which did speak a Greek language, many of those letters he wrote were to Jews in the diaspora. So, my point is while some of his letters more than likely would have been in Greek because the assemblies he wrote to were of a European make up, many of the letters were not. Additionally, an honest biblical scholar will recognize the Jewish idioms and Jewish ways of writing throughout the NT writings and not associate them with a Greek view point because they don't line up.
@@BibleMemoryGoal The statement was supposed to be a general one, but direct. It was meant to enlighten the idea that we have been led down a path away from Scriptural truth to follow church doctrine, religious views and the like, over what Scripture actually says and means. This is the problem that the church and society have brought to the table and why so many younger believers don't know the Scriptures.
Check your Bible. There have been a lot of verses removed in the last few years. A lot of verses changed. If you can get an older Bible, you’ll at least get the modern version of the full Bible.
Thanks for the feedback. You’re acting as if the English translation is the end-all-be-all. Thankfully we have original scrolls to work with, so I’m not too worried about out what gets updated between translations.
You are wrong. Christians do know their Bible, as you put it, and live from it. Those who do not know their Bibles are simply not Christians. All you are doing is unwittingly highlighting people who deceive themselves ... and you.
Is that always true of everyone? What do you mean by "know?" How much do you have to understand to be a Christian? I do think this can be true, but is it always true?
The man on the cross next to our Lord had not read the Bible, yet he is in heaven with Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. True statement? Of course! If you believe, you are saved. If you don't believe or stop believing, then you are not saved.
@@tripnc1374 He had the Word with Him and heard Him. As to having read the Bible, your assertion is almost certainly wrong. since the Bible was common currency with the Jews. How can you hear God's word without the Bible? ...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Always there is the legalist who wants to argue against God's command and provision. You think that an exceptional case sets aside the order of God?
@@BibleMemoryGoal The holy scriptures, are able to make wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. God has given us the Bible that we may be taught, reproved, corrected, andlearn righteousness. So without it how can any have any of those things? Either we are lead by the Spirit or we are not and if any does not have the Spirit then then are none of Christs'. Fortunately God is not nuanced but very clear and cuts accross all our prevarication. He only deals in truth. and His word, the Bible is truth.The world, of course is very nuanced, and nuances ebverything which is why they remain the world and not in truth.
What are your thoughts on this "post-literate" world? Do you agree with what Brad has to say about this? Let me know in the comments and if you love these interviews and would love to support what I'm doing, consider becoming a channel member! ua-cam.com/channels/bQN6j4hG50zcTYoy1OEV-w.htmljoin
"If you are not reading the Bible, you are not a follower of Christ, and that's just not true." Certainly, and yet I would say that you wouldn't be a true disciple unless you abide/live in the Word, John 8:31.
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Amen! Because we DO have easy access to the word of God and so much leisure time, we have no excuses.
Acts 17:11 (KJV) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Few can learn from creation
Some thoughts to consider... ☆ ☆ Double loss of literacy 😢
☆ 15-35 not reading anything, at all ☆ this is appalling and a warning
☆ too much access for a DISTRACTED MIND 🧠
☆ Strategy & Awareness
☆ soooo good
☆ sooo Thought-provoking
Thanks so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Not knowing scripture is a solid guarantee that Christ, the Gospel, and the value of the Christian message will be incorrectly expressed by Christians further proving to the non-Christian world that it's worthless. We are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
Agreed, so the question we’re discussing here is how do we do this in a post-literate age?
I TOTALLY agree with everything both of you said. Great interview and thoughts. With a background in Christian broadcasting, I have always loved the oral presentation (performance) of Scripture. Three years ago I had the privilege of narrating the new NASB 2020 audio Bible (available on Audible). What a blessing it was to record the entire Bible, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I often recommend that people, in their Quiet Time or Bible study, read the passage aloud. I also recommend that anyone trying to memorize a passage, read it aloud over and over and it will become ingrained in your mind and soul. Thanks for posting this interview.
Wow…that’s so cool! Thanks for sharing, Larry.
I myself have grown up in the church, Christian my whole life. However just this year is the first I’ve started to read the whole Bible all the way through. And loving it. And god has put such a passion for me for others like me who are biblically illiterate. My mom and I have started a “bible boot camp” to help people understand the Bible is an overarching story. And also in the works is talking to our pastor this week so see about starting a once a month (for right now) session of gathering at the church to listen to a half hour or so of the Bible.
Excellent 🙏
Lots of wisdom and practical ideas in this video. I came for the Scripture memorization, subbed for all of it. Great interview.
Great!
Thanks for the very thoughtful and eye opening conversation. You really crystallized the situation for me.
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Man this hits home as someone who lives in a men's discipleship home with many of the guys struggle with basic literacy.
That makes sense.
@BibleMemoryGoal What makes it sad is that you see many men your age or older who can't read at a 3rd grade reading level. I met a guy in his mid 20s who was completely illiterate. He couldn't read at a kindergarten level, now he reads more at a 4th grade level. It makes me grateful as someone whose turning 28 this month, to have stayed in school, followed Jesus early in life, and avoid many of the vices that plagued low-income Americans for generations that many of the men I live with have battled (drugs, alcoholism, teen parenting).
@@mariowalker9048 Being poor is no excuse for being illiterate. (In America.) My parents both came from dirt poor backgrounds. My mother, especially. She grew up in a wooden shack with an open fire for cooking. I saw it when I was a kid. My father was a bit better off but not that much. I think he graduated high school. I'm not sure if she did. They learned to read & write Spanish. They learned English when they came here. And this was what, 60 years ago? They also both worked factory and other low income/brutal jobs.
So, no, I do not accept this nonsense that people in America, especially in today's internet/smartphone world, are illiterate because they are poor. They're illiterate because they CHOOSE to ignore school, they CHOOSE to be involved in gangs, drugs, and crime. They CHOOSE to fornicate and have kids out of wedlock. And on and on. We have to stop making excuses for people and start calling them to accountability and responsibility for their choices.
I love the word. My bible is open next to me most of the time. I hate fluff studies. I want meat.
That’s wonderful.
I perform the Hallel, to myself, in private, and that has absolutely revolutionized my worship. I don't have it all memorized, yet, but man has it changed me. I read it as my prayer to God trying to put myself in the place of the author and feel the torture and the praise as I go through each of these psalms. Just. So. Epic. There is no better way to worship. I used to do this several times a week but have fallen off lately to only 2-3 times a month. I need to get back on it!
Giving some context is important, but I think dumbing it down is what we have already done, why we are already in the mess that we are in. If we had more Chuck Misslers lighting people on fire for the Word of God, we would be so different. Give them depth and breadth and excitement. Or at least that is what hooked me. When we came to a new church and I realized that I was not in the top quartile of biblical knowledge, I knew I needed to up my game. I am not used to being at the bottom!
Thanks for sharing 👍🏻
Thank you for such a blessed channel, interviews and your tips of Bible memorization 😊
Thank you too!
Excellent!
Thank you! Cheers!
I attended a Roman Catholic convent for Secondary School Education. There the students memorized all of the Gospels (except John) plus the Acts of the Apostles in order to pass the London Examination in SCRIPTURE. That was when I fell in love with the person of Jesus. Fifteen years later I was reconciled to the Father - what a Glorious evening it was! Tears of repentance and joy which have anchored me over the years - Holy Spirit was in His Glee.
🙏🙏
I agree that Scripture memorization should not be done in isolation but unfortunately, I am unable to find anyone who wants to memorize with me. I give memory workshops and ask at the end who wants to join me. No takers.
I’ve been trying to find someone to do true bible study with!
For Scripture memorization, that’s why I created an online community that you can join for free! BibleMemoryGoal.com/join
It does not help that pastors put the verses up on a screen so that it isn't necessary to have, touch or open a Bible.
It gets people out of the habit. And they should not just REFERENCE the Bible in church, they should read ENTIRE CHAPTERS, not merely paragraphs or a few verses. Is this how you'd want YOUR letters treated when you write someone? Is this that habit you want to instill in people coming to learn His word? Nibbles?
At what is called "pulpit speed" it is possible to read through the Bible in a year in
1 year - 11 min/day
6 months - 23 min/day
4 months - 45 min/day
3 months - 47 min/day
2 months - 1 hr, 10 min/day
1 month - 2 hrs, 20 min/day
2 weeks - 5 hrs, 4 min/day
1 week - 10 hrs, 7 min/day
I understand where you’re coming from and I wish I could give a more nuanced response, but I think the important thing is that the Bible is read or recited as a community in church. Opening a physical Bible, turning on your phone or reading off a screen is not the big issue here.
People close to me saying, “That’s in the Bible?” Is the scariest phrase I’m hearing more often. It’s how deception and apostasy enters. I am grateful to God that when I teach and preach it is not from a lot of known passages but from in-between them because until the Bible, in its fullness, becomes real and connected it will always be a bunch of disconnected short stories and “pithy” sayings that (in so many minds) fit right next to horoscopes, fortune cookies, and bed time stories.
It is INFINITELY superior to All others.
Interesting.
Can i have the name of the Department chief he mentioned ''Cliff barbrick'' does he have material or even videos about him, he sounds fascinating to know. Great interviewed, i enjoyed it
I’m not sure his name…you’d have to search the ACU website.
Dr. Clifford Barbarick per ACU website.
@@LarryWilliams-xu8qsthank you so much
I agree with him 100℅
Yea, it's hard not to 😂
I checked repeatedly before denouncing my family’s faith, and the Apostle’s Creed isn’t in the Bible. “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”
Acts 17:11 NASB1995
What’s wrong with getting back to the Bible only?
"What’s wrong with getting back to the Bible only?" - because there is no such thing. Everything in the Bible is interpreted through your culture.
@@TheDanEdwards no such thing as going back to the Bible and being Christians only and not sectarians? The Bible is its own best commentary and has nothing to do with my culture or interpretation. If you don’t believe it, that’s on you.
You’re right, it’s not in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad to memorize. Why not memorize both the creed and the verses upon which it is based?
@@BibleMemoryGoal Ok, so you agree that it isn’t in the Bible, yet it isn’t bad to memorize.
For many centuries after the founding of the Lord’s church in the 1st Century, there were no formal doctrinal statements aside from the Scriptures, which were considered inspired by God. At that time, God's revelation was believed to be complete, without any new doctrines or changes. If this sufficed for believers then, why do we require additional doctrinal statements like creeds now? Consider the message in Jude 3:
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Jude 1:3 NKJV
Also, If creedal statements align with what's already in the Bible, there’s no need for them since we already have the Bible. However, if they teach something different, they're just rules made by people. Only God's word is always true. We are not to add to or subtract from God’s word (Deuteronomy 4:2). If Moses was reprimanded from doing it, it also holds true for us today.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB1995
The Scripture is adequate for me, so I’m perfectly fine with not memorizing the creed.
Give the time stamp where they stated the Apostles' Creed is in the Bible.
My church teaches thru the Bible. I don't remember much of what's said. Is that the preacher's fault? We are so distracted with "noise" and images all day long we don't have the bandwidth to hold much of anything!
Thanks for the feedback.
One thing I think can help Gen Z is have them listen to the Bible. Or listen to it while reading it.
That’s one solution!
One resource I’ve come to love that has helped my passion for reading the word is One Hour One book with Dr. Randall Smith 🤯🤯
Nice
He's great. I've been reading the Bible consistently every year since 2019. I read the NT twice in a year and I just love to hear his commentaries when I'm done with a book. It's like having a conversation with a friend who's reading along.
This is something I have thought about and I don't claim to have a perfect answer. However, it bothers me to hear people refer to times in Church history where personal Bibles were not available and then say that since God led those believers without Bibles we shouldn't shame people for not reading their Bibles everyday. Don't get me wrong, I don't think shaming is necessarily the right way to do it but if someone doesn't hunger for God's Word, are they spiritually healthy? Do we tell people "You don't really need to eat a meal every day, many people have not and have survived." During those periods of Church history where Bibles were not readily available, there were serious lacks and problems in the church related to not having Bibles. I'm not trying to disagree with everything in the video, but I am uncomfortable with some of the reasoning. Since we do have personal Bibles, is it ok to revert to using them less like the early church were forced to do?
On another note, I live in Chiang Mai (I'm in the US temporarily right now) and have wondered about the effectiveness of memorizing books of the Bible in Thai and quoting in public worship to inspire the Thai Christians to read and memorize the Scriptures. I have started memorizing Titus in Thai since it is one of the books I've memorized in English. Do you speak Thai and have you done memorization in Thai in addition to English?
Thanks for your channel!
Thanks for the input. I’ve memorized portions of Scripture in Mandarin but not Thai yet.
I guess I would turn it around and ask you: do you think it’s necessary to push Thai believers to read a physical Bible when it’s mainly an oral culture that would rather listen to it?
@@BibleMemoryGoal Thanks for replying. I'm not sure your question really fits with what I was talking about but I'll answer it.
I think the issue is probably too nuanced to give a short answer, but I'll try. First, I don't think that just because a culture prefers doing something a certain way, that it is the right thing to do. However, I don't think it is wrong if the Thai's prefer to listen to the Bible more than reading. From my time in Thailand I don't get the idea that the Thai people are enthusiastic about listening the Bible but I could be wrong. I think the biggest problem there and here in the US is that our attention span has gotten shorter and we don't hunger for the Word as we should (I have been guilty of this myself). It's not just a change in culture problem, it's a heart problem. I'd be glad if the Thai's and Americans had more hunger for the Word of God, whether they listen to it or read it.
That said, I think the Thai Church (and American church) should read more, it's just a good discipline to sit, be still and read a book.
My main issue in my first comment was the idea that because the early church and the medieval church survived without personal Bibles, that somehow should make us less firm about daily Bible reading (or listening).
I may have missed your point in the video and I apologize if I did.
I don't expect you to carry on a long discussion here, things like this would be better as a face to face discussion. Thanks for your time and blessings on your ministry.
I see comments blaming the church and calling on the church to fix this problem, but God states explicitly in the OT and implicitly in the NT that the responsibility for instruction in the Scriptures is the responsibility of parents, and specifically fathers. Paul Washer hit the nail on the head when he said that the local church is giving fathers an excuse for being lazy in not discipling their families. Plain and simple, if my kids are Biblically illiterate by the time they leave my home, I will have failed in my responsibility as a father.
Now, I’m not saying that churches have no responsibility at all in this area, because they certainly do. This is especially true for those who come to Christ later in life or those young people who do not live in Christian homes. If the church (the people not the “organization”) does not take these people under their wing and disciple them, then the Church has also failed. But, for our children being raised in Christian homes in the church, the primary responsibility for the teaching them does not belong to the church it belongs to the parents.
I agree that this responsibility falls on parents as well, but please understand and have empathy for the fact that not all children have Christian parents.
@@BibleMemoryGoal which is why I addressed that in the second half of my comment 😉
Amen to that!
That portion about supposed young "Christians" not knowing the parable of The Prodigal Son was embarrassing! How does anyone call themselves a Christian and even go to be trained for Christian ministry and they've never heard this?! What's going on in these churches? It also means they've never bothered to even read the New Testament in full, much less the Old Testament. It makes me despair. It really does. I cannot abide WILLFUL ignorance of any kind, but especially biblical ignorance about basic things, among supposed Christians. It makes me angry. There is NO excuse for this in America. None!
It’s sad, for sure, but hopefully our response can be a determination to train the next generation better.
This is why we homeschool 😊
Ha!
More of a question than anything else. Brad East mentioned pronunciation of names a few times. This drives me nuts. Is there a good reference for this? I know there’s a whole question about historically accurate pronunciation versus common Christian pronunciation. But I’d love a reliable single source. I’ve tried listening to audio Bibles, but from translation to translation the pronunciation seems to vary wildly. I even asked my pastors one Sunday and in the moment at least they couldn’t supply me a resource, it was more of surprise and confusion about what my end-goal was for the pronunciation. For the record, in case it affects the resources to be used, my end-goals are recall ability and not sounding ridiculous. A word or name will not stick in my mind if I can’t pronounce it. It will be a literal blank that I’m attaching facts to. You get too many blanks, and there’s not much to hold onto.
Here is the book I used for proper pronunciation of names and places when I recorded the NASB 2020 audio Bible. “That’s Easy for You to Say: Your Quick Guide to Pronouncing Bible Names”, by W. Murray Severance. Broadman & Holman Reference. I believe it is out of print now, but I found a Used copy online that was brand new. A Bible professor I know had one and recommended it to me.
Sounds like a good resource! I don’t have anything else to add.
@@LarryWilliams-xu8qs I didn't know such a thing even existed! Very cool.
I am 55 and my observations tell me that reading the Scriptures does absolutely nothing for a person's faith or understanding. I talk to people all the time about reading the Bible and I find very few in any age category who reads. But I find at the same time, people who lead Bible Studies or other small groups will hardly know any more than those who do not read Scripture.
So whether Believers read or not read, there does not seem to be much impact. Both groups, readers and non-readers, will have their understanding of Scripture based upon what their pastor says or what some preacher on TV says. And the ones who read, will read the Bible and find the exact same "interpretation" as what they heard from their pastor or TV evangelist. Or priest, if they are Catholic.
Now, I have gone through the Bible and found 40+ key teaching elements in Scripture. And no matter what church or denomination I ever go to, they have only ever taught 1 or 2 of these 40+ key topics that ALL Christians need to understand. And I do listen to a lot of sermons online or on the radio along with at my church, but I would guess that 75% of what I hear coming from the pulpits today is not Scriptural or Doctrinally accurate. Yet it is quite prevalent in our days and I suspect much of it is taught in seminaries or other training schools. Why don't preachers teach on these 40+ topics that are of utmost importance? I'm not going to list the 40. I am sure most anyone has the ability to look at Scripture and find these 40 topics that are not taught in churches but should.
I think you have some skewed observations. And frankly I’m always on high alert when somebody tells me that they know the “key topics” from the Bible that everybody else is missing. Unfortunately, this hints at the beginnings of a possible cult belief.
Reach your local churches to sound the alarm. The churches need to do better equipping our youth
This is true.
Parents need to do a better job spending time with their kids teaching them about God.
@BibleMemoryGoal With all due respect, the line of thinking in this comment is the line of thinking that got us to this point. “Get them in church and let the church fix them.” God states explicitly in the OT and implicitly in the NT that the responsibility for instruction in the Scriptures is the responsibility of parents, and specifically fathers. Paul Washer hit the nail on the head when he said that the local church is giving fathers an excuse for being lazy in not discipling their families. Plain and simple, if my kids are Biblically illiterate by the time they leave my home, I will have failed in my responsibility as a father.
Now, I’m not saying that churches have no responsibility at all in this area, because they certainly do. This is especially true for those who come to Christ later in life or those young people who do not live in Christian homes. If the church (the people not the “organization”) does not take these people under their wing and disciple them, then the Church has also failed. But, for our children being raised in Christian homes in the church, the primary responsibility for the teaching them does not belong to the church it belongs to the parents.
It was mentioned that the Apostles Creed is a memorization mandate, but here's a question. Why would you memorize the AC when it is not Scripture? Here lies some of the problem with the church today. We teach and embed in our memories things not of Scripture and them make it Scripture. Let's stop this practice. This is the same mistake the ancient Israelites made when they mixed the things of the Pagan cultures around them and mixed it with Scripture. Not saying the AP is Pagan, but we are taking Scripture and mixing it with a religious views and moving away from a more biblical context.
Yes! Growing up, I had to memorize the Apostle’s Creed. When I got older, and read and studied the Bible for myself, the Apostle’s Creed wasn’t in there. I denounced my family’s faith and made my faith my own. We need to go back to the Bible only.
Who said it was a mandate? I sure didn’t.
@@BibleMemoryGoal the professor said he had his children memorize it as a memory lesson
@@sensiblechristian9791 As a relatively new believer, the churches I attended in the early years of my faith didn’t mention anything about the creeds. In fact, one pastor, who grew up in church, said something to the effect of “everybody knows Romans Road…” I had no idea what the Romans Road was. So I started teaching myself. Most of the evangelical churches are theologically weak. I find even the pastors have no idea what the creeds and confessions are. There is so much theological depth in learning the history of early Christianity. Memorizing the Apostles Creed isn’t a bad thing because every sentence is based on scripture and summarizes what we believe and why we believe it. Yes, we need to read and understand the Bible in depth but don’t underestimate the need for creeds and confessions in our education. I think our churches are failing the sheep because they’re catering to the goats.
Tip for people that I've been starting to do is look up Bloom's Taxonomy , if your using level one and two, you're probably taking the bible out of context and whatnot.
Interesting.
We are talking biblical ignorance and it is a person fault....the bible states we are without excuse....especially as His Law is written in our hardened hearts......keep it real here......
We have personal responsibility, for sure. But we also have a responsibility as a community, don’t you think?
Okay maybe they not reading. But are the churches teaching if young people don’t even know the popular bible stories?
That’s definitely a problem.
Have them read the sermon on the mount.
I think that's kind of the point - people CAN read, but often they don't.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. John 8:31
🙏
Well said. Well, well said. Thank you. You have only to read your Bible carefully to realize those people in the Old and New Testament times knew God's Word, literate or not. I will cite Hannah's humble, amazing prayer, and how Mary's Magnificat echoes it centuries later. Both men and women had Scripure "hidden in their hearts". Do we? Alas, the answer is often "no". My personal image is that they were better trained in memory than we are to begin with, and they meditated as they lived those incredibly busy lives by reciting it to themselves. Talking about it when they rose up, as they went about their days, and as they settled for evening rest. God's people lived with Him.
So true! Thanks for the feedback, Carla 🙏
How many believers believe the Scripture?
Do they believe its just a translation and has mistakes?
Hopefully all believers believe Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).
@@BibleMemoryGoal Have you ever seen how the KJV Bible is mathematically encoded
3 Causes for Bible ignorance and lack of memorization:
1. No family worship or personal devotion time (see Pew and Barna
2. Preachers not preaching from the Bible
3. Too many translations and no agreed upon translation, leading to a lack of congregational reading.
Every other explanation springs from these 3 points
I agree with the first two, but I’m not sure how “too many translations” contributes to ignorance. In some ways, I’d say it’s a benefit.
@@BibleMemoryGoal Human nature. When people have SO MANY choices there comes a paralysis of analysis.
Also, the MANY choices lead away from a CULTURE of Scripture reading. As humans we learn most often by immersion and osmosis. There are MANY who can quote John 3:16 from the KJV and the NKJV even though they almost never pick up the Bible. Why? Because they OFTEN hear that verse quoted from those translations
When there are SO MANY translations, the dilemma is to know which one is best. Because everyone is different, everyone will have their own opinion of which translation is best (based on whatever criterion). Knowing that churchmembers are using different translations,, there will no longer be parts of hte service where the church is led to a congregational reading of scriptures (for example, Psalm 23) because it will sound like Babylon.
The effect is less opportunities to read the scripture, leading to less use of the Bible from the pulpit during sermons, and people will be LESS LIKELY to read the Bible
Why would people be less likely to read the bible? because they are less confident that the translation they use is the Word of God.
From my personal experience - the people who are the best with the Bible are those who are CERTAIN that their translation is the best. It is the reason why so many Christians get destroyed in debates with JWs. They are CERTAIN their NWT is the best translation.
And I don't know ANY group of people who has more passages and books of the Bible memorized than those who read from the KJV.. And I would not be surprised that KJV readers are the LEAST likely to become a part of the rising "nones" in the West.
60% of the books of the Bible can be listened to in 30 min or less. There are numerous ways to do that for free.
There are so many resources for people to find that help them understand the Bible.
We have tons of Christian studies disguised as Bible studies that help people learn to be a better person but don’t help anyone learn the Bible.
People CHOOSE not to because they are lazy and because our churches don’t make Bible literacy a priority. They teach that Jesus loves us and forgives us and that’s all people feel they need to know.
This is the #1 problem in the church today.
Interesting fact. Thanks for sharing, Jenna.
I don't agree that it's the pastor's job to explain the stories he might allude to during a sermon. I've been a believer since Oct 2021. I have a hard time memorizing scripture (and just general memory problems). I desire God's Word. I consume it as much as I can. If a pastor or teacher mentions something I'm not familiar with I make a note and go home to learn for myself. When I stand before the Lord one day my pastor won't be there to give an account for my lack of knowledge. It's our responsibility to learn God's Word and seek His Truth for ourselves. Pastors and teachers help us along the way. My pastor says not to believe everything he says without filtering it through God's Word myself. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn't change. His Word doesn't change. If chose to watch TV, play video games or stare at my phone for hours and have no time for Him, that on me. I'm chosing myself over Him.
Absolutely, we are personally responsible for our decisions. The point we’re making here is that as a community, we also have a responsibility to each other for how we handle the Word.
You do have time. You just choose to do something else.
Time for what?
@@BibleMemoryGoal people have time to read out of the Bible, they just choose not to.
26:55 I used to beat myself up for not being able to memorize where passages or a scripture was but then I read Paul writing the same thing, “someone, somewhere wrote…”. I’m more gentle now with myself. As long as I know the scripture (and understand the context!), I don’t stress about knowing where it’s at in the Bible.
So true!!
PARENTS are the ones to instruct their children about the Bible. Deuteronomy 64-9 spells it out CLEARLY. Also, Timothy had a mother and grandmother who instructed him (2 Timothy 3:14-15).
No argument here. But are they the ONLY ones?
@@BibleMemoryGoal Of course not. Nehemiah 8:8 makes that clear. But the primary responsibility for religious instruction falls upon the parents.
I am reminded of a Christian college that I went to where the parents sent their misbehaving children their HOPING they would become converted.
No😮😮
No what?
The problem is both society and the church. At some point both, when relating to Scripture, need to stop teaching bad theology and stop relating the scripture as a Greek text and get back to the Hebraic center of the entire book. The church and society for many years has been teaching what it thinks Scripture means as it applies to feelings and has been teaching a heretical and even apostate in some cases, gospel and we are seeing the culmination of that today.
" stop relating the scripture as a Greek text and get back to the Hebraic center of the entire book. " - the NT was written in Greek for Greek readers.
Heresy has always existed, but making such a blanket statement isn’t helpful at all.
@@TheDanEdwards I disagree in part. Yes, the NT has been translated from the Greek into English, but from a Greek translation. Consider this, the four gospels were written about a Jewish Messiah coming to a Jewish people, and more directly, to a set of twelve Jewish disciples to bring them back to the Torah, that spoke Aramaic as a common language, in a Jewish land. So now we're saying that this was all originally done in the Greek. I don't buy that for a minute. In the case of Paul, just because Paul was a Roman citizen doesn't mean Greek was his common tongue. Remember, he was a Pharisee. Albeit, he did much mission work in many European nations, which did speak a Greek language, many of those letters he wrote were to Jews in the diaspora. So, my point is while some of his letters more than likely would have been in Greek because the assemblies he wrote to were of a European make up, many of the letters were not. Additionally, an honest biblical scholar will recognize the Jewish idioms and Jewish ways of writing throughout the NT writings and not associate them with a Greek view point because they don't line up.
@@BibleMemoryGoal The statement was supposed to be a general one, but direct. It was meant to enlighten the idea that we have been led down a path away from Scriptural truth to follow church doctrine, religious views and the like, over what Scripture actually says and means. This is the problem that the church and society have brought to the table and why so many younger believers don't know the Scriptures.
Check your Bible. There have been a lot of verses removed in the last few years. A lot of verses changed. If you can get an older Bible, you’ll at least get the modern version of the full Bible.
Thanks for the feedback. You’re acting as if the English translation is the end-all-be-all. Thankfully we have original scrolls to work with, so I’m not too worried about out what gets updated between translations.
You are wrong. Christians do know their Bible, as you put it, and live from it.
Those who do not know their Bibles are simply not Christians.
All you are doing is unwittingly highlighting people who deceive themselves ... and you.
Is that always true of everyone? What do you mean by "know?" How much do you have to understand to be a Christian? I do think this can be true, but is it always true?
The man on the cross next to our Lord had not read the Bible, yet he is in heaven with Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. True statement? Of course! If you believe, you are saved. If you don't believe or stop believing, then you are not saved.
I think there’s nuance here that you’re missing. But I appreciate your feedback.
@@tripnc1374
He had the Word with Him and heard Him. As to having read the Bible, your assertion is almost certainly wrong. since the Bible was common currency with the Jews.
How can you hear God's word without the Bible?
...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Always there is the legalist who wants to argue against God's command and provision. You think that an exceptional case sets aside the order of God?
@@BibleMemoryGoal The holy scriptures, are able to make wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
God has given us the Bible that we may be taught, reproved, corrected, andlearn righteousness.
So without it how can any have any of those things?
Either we are lead by the Spirit or we are not and if any does not have the Spirit then then are none of Christs'.
Fortunately God is not nuanced but very clear and cuts accross all our prevarication. He only deals in truth. and His word, the Bible is truth.The world, of course is very nuanced, and nuances ebverything which is why they remain the world and not in truth.
I sent you an email. It's longer that what would fit here. I hope you read it.
Thanks 😊