I was wondering if anyone can show me where the words "immortal soul" are used together in the bible. I'm kind of new to this and was wondering about the soul.

they aren't. Just like the word trinity isn't used in the Bible or grandpa.

Well obviously grandpa wasn't used in the Bible because it is a modern word and it would have no relevance. I was just curious as to where it came from. Sorry that I'm not very knowledgable in this type of stuff.

The word isnt in there, it was once again a pagan belief.

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

It isn't in the Bible. It only speaks of a "living soul" as quoted above. If you're seeking information on the afterlife, read Revelation chapters 20 and 21. It speaks of an earthly millenial reign of Christ and his saints, but afterwards gives enlightenment of a "second death". In the second death, all those who were previously in hell are cast into the "lake of fire" along with "death and hell". Therefore death is no more, but those who are not followers of Christ are left in the flame.

It then gives us information on the new heaven and earth, with a new holy city of Jerusalem.

It may be confusing to you at first, but the more you read the more it makes sense. PM me if you have any questions whatsoever, and I will try my very best to help you. God bless.



lol

Edit: It's a bit late, but I noticed I created the word "casted" earlier, and felt absolutely childish and silly... *facepalm*

This post has been edited by Rayn: Oct 23 2009, 11:35 AM

Good question.

np. just put it because a lot of people will say as little as you did and then say where is it in the Bible and because it doesn't explicitly state it, the person says its not true.

How about this.

Immortality is a gift, only God can give (Romans 6:23)
Therefore, God gives out to His people immortality (John 3:16)
Therefore, people who God does not give immortality, do not receive the gift of immortality.

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
Luke 16:22-26 (ESV)

I believe the human soul is immortal, as the above passage would seem to attest.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Rev 21:8 (KJV)

Put simply: the Bible teaches that to sin is to invite eternal death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (ESV)

However, the Bible never says spiritual death is completely like a physical death. Of the passages in the Bible that speak of death, Hell, the grave, judgment and so forth, none of them say anything about such punishment ever ending. Likewise, no verse (that I know of) says that spiritual death is the cessation of existence. Spiritual death seems to be, in every verse I'm aware of, the permanent and complete separation from God and His Salvation.

Such a lack of cessation would imply an eternal existence, whether in heaven or hell.

In a nutshell: based on the above verses and reasoning, humans do indeed have an immortal soul, even though those words are not in the Bible. Based on one's choices in life (the choice of Salvation, that is), one will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell: eternal life or eternal death.

Any questions?

Yes and no. People who believe in an immortal soul cant prove it from the Bible they quote the parable of Lazarus and they get words like forever and eternity mixed...an easy mistake but mean different things in greek.

This post has been edited by Solja247: Nov 3 2009, 01:24 AM

I'll look that up, but I don't really believe you on that one. Furthermore, even though some Bibles label "The Rich Man and Lazarus" as a parable, Jesus Himself gave no indication that it was to be taken as a made-up story for the purpose of relaying good morals. In fact, the lack of notice about a "parable" lends itself to the belief that the "story" of "The Rich Man and Lazarus" was, in fact, quite literally real.

ok lets imagine the Rich man and Lazarus is not a parable. But there needs to be more evidence for immortality of the soul, which unfortunately there isnt.

True. The text does not relate to it being a parable. In fact, there is no sign that it is. All of it points to it being an actual event from the fact Jesus used real names to the context itself.

I have logically showed why this is a parable.

I'm going to deconstruct this one myself.



First assumption, Speaks as if it is already a fact that the view of it being a parable is true. Most of what is talked about is a red herring.



The author chooses again to start with a red herring. What people believe about heaven and hell is irrelevant to discussion as to whether or not it is a parable.



The first claim is refuted by angels.

Angels are pure spirit yet throughout the Bible they have spoken, ate, looked like humans, walked, and done much more. These were spirit beings that are able to do this. In fact, angels have a form. It's an erroneous claim to think that a soul would not have a shape or form, the ability to talk, or anything as such for that matter. In Revelation, we find the souls of the martyrs speaking out.

We have Samuel's talking to Saul in the Old Testament, we have Jesus talking to Moses in the New Testament, and multiple accounts of spirits and the souls of humans talking, walking, and looking like a normal human with the exception they were not in a body.

Let's make this more interesting. There is so miniscule of a difference between being in your body and not that Paul said:

"I knew a man in Christ [himself: Paul] above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)



This one though I am being nice about is almost laughable. Abraham's Bosom is not heaven, it is paradise, which is where Christ went for three days which is in Sheol.



Red herring. Completely irrelevant to the topic.

Now here is my post:

More evidence? By whose standard? I'm not trying to convince you. Furthermore, since Scripture is infallible, God's Written Word, it is all the evidence one needs. In my earlier posts, I quoted several scriptures, all in context, that all said the same thing, and God-Sent, in his last post, rebutted the classic "parable" fallacy of Luke 16. There is no more need for evidence.

Jarkaimaster, You only posted one quote concerning immortality which was the parable of the rich man and lazarus.


Death is death.



Quoting one parable is hardly any evidence...



If you dont mind, I will post verses on soul sleep, could you deconstruct them? Thanks



I copied and pasted it from another post I made. I was showing that Jesus, in His parable, doesnt always believe what is being said.



I wouldnt call it a red herring. I would call it obiter dicta



You seriously dont believe that was Samuel?

Samuel was a man of God...and He ends up being summoned by witches? It was the devil!





This is an easy one. Paul is talking about a man he knew. Now God allowed him to see the mysteries of heaven, whether that be physical form (going to heaven) or spiritual (visions etc)



ok. so is there hell in 'Abraham's Bossom' ?
Note: You may be surprised that sheol means; 'grave' , 'pit' look it up.




Luk 7:41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

Does this mean this was a true story?

what about this one??

Luk 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

Now The story of hell was what pagans believed...even Josephus knew and described the exact same as Jesus. Jesus used example people knew.



Actually He does its in the story and before it:

Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.


Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and then used the example. I imagine He used one of the pharisees as the rich man! (The last part is speculation)


Now
1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

How is a Christian supposed to read this?


This is clearly some sought of destruction. The Bible never hints of eternal torment.

* Daniel 12:2 "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

* Luke 8:52, 53 "Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. 'Stop wailing,' Jesus said. 'She is not dead but asleep.' They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead."

* Acts 13:36 "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption."

* 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."


Lastly I would like to challenge you with what Tyndale said



This post has been edited by Solja247: Nov 3 2009, 04:43 PM

Actually, I quoted three passages, which, when taken together in context, with logical reasoning, demonstrate the existence of the immortal soul.

I'll refer you to them again:

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
Luke 16:22-26 (ESV)

I believe the human soul is immortal, as the above passage would seem to attest.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Rev 21:8 (KJV)

Put simply: the Bible teaches that to sin is to invite eternal death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (ESV)

However, the Bible never says spiritual death is completely like a physical death. Of the passages in the Bible that speak of death, Hell, the grave, judgment and so forth, none of them say anything about such punishment ever ending. Likewise, no verse (that I know of) says that spiritual death is the cessation of existence. Spiritual death seems to be, in every verse I'm aware of, the permanent and complete separation from God and His Salvation.

Such a lack of cessation would imply an eternal existence, whether in heaven or hell.

----

Now, if you'd like to consider the FULL argument, then be my guest.

It's not a parable so that story alone stands to refute you idea.



No, it was not the devil. You need to read in context. Your eisegesis is terrible.The witch did not summon the familiar spirit she was expecting if you read the story.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul." (1 Samuel 28:12 ESV)

Clearly, the witch was not expecting Samuel to come up and realized who Saul was. Either way, there is no textual indication that it was not Samuel. In fact, the Bible tells us it was Samuel. Please stop your esigesis. The irony to the story is that God allowed it to happen in order for Saul to be judged/condemned.



Paul is talking about himself.

His half-hearted attempt at modesty in addressing the Corinthians led him to claim rather weakly that he knew a man who had this experience. Well, that man was Paul. He was not trying to be deceitful or evasive, but used this method of writing as a means of getting his point across in the letter.


Hell is not in Abraham's Bosom. Abraham's Bosom was in Hell. I know what Sheol is and means.

You may be suprised to find that Sheol when translated in to Greek is Hades which means:

Hades
This word only occurs in the NT, ten times, and corresponds to the OT word "sheol." Jesus uses the word four times: Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23. The other six occur in Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14.

It was probably the "subterranean abode of all the dead until the judgment. It was divided into two departments, paradise or Abraham's bosom for the good, and Gehenna or hell for the bad."2 In particular, in the account of Lazarus and the Rich man of (Luke 16:19-31), it is the place of the conscious dead who are wicked.



Those are parables. There are no names used and Christ gives an explanation afterwards. He does not do this with the rich man and Lazarus, because it's not a parable.


Your eisgesis is killing you.






In context, and light of all other scripture.

Matthew 22:32 states, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

2nd Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

Ecclesiastes 12:7 from the same Book... "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it."

Ephesians 3:14 and 15 states, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."

Genesis 5:24 we are told, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."

Matthew 17:1-4 reads, "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."

Moses died around fifteen centuries prior.


1st Thessalonians 4:14 tells us, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Wow, Jesus must be sleeping too! Says "bring WITH him" in order to do that they must already be WITH him.

Philippians 3:20 says, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”



No, not so.

Last of all:



This post has been edited by God-Sent: Nov 4 2009, 05:40 AM

Nice posts.



I believe only God has the power to grant an immortal soul, we are not born with it. The Bible says nothing about being born with immortality, rather its a pagan idea.



Even though this is a parable, I will give you this one. The immortality or motrality of the soul is a big topic, so surely you would have more than 1 verse support your claim.

Yes, this does not support immortality of the soul.



The Punishment is eternal, but there is little no torment, I dare you to find a verse referring to humans suffering eternal torture.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

States explicitly that when you go into the lake of fire (hell) you die. You make have your speculations and assumptions but this is what the Bible says.








I showed what the moral of the story was, Jesus was also talking to the pharisees and we said this, what was the point of Him telling them this? Hell isnt nice? (Although they didnt believe in hell)




My eisegesis terrible?

Lets look at this logically:

Sin leads to death, sin is also against God.
Men and Women of God did not engage in sinful acts, Samuel was a man of God.
Therefore Samuel did not engage in sin, as it is against God.

Would you say casting a magical spell to bring up the dead as sinful?

After Saul disobeying God and saving the king of the Amelikites and keeping the live stock of the Amelikites alive and Samuel telling him God has rejected him the Bible states:

1Sa 15:35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

God AND Samuel had both rejected Saul, now why would Samuel reveal himself when Saul went to see a witch?


God explicitly states:

Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

and yet for some reason you think God used evil to show evil? And you are telling me my esigesis is wrong, pherhaps one should stick with the Bible and logic?


Paul says:

2Co 12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

This doesnt mean in the soul or our of the soul. it means whether he went to heaven or saw it out of the body (like a vision)

You dont have any proof whether that was Paul or not.



I see you are trying rather hard but please, from the Bible, show me where there is a good place where people go when they are dead and a bad place where they go when they are dead.

It seems like you are making a lot of it up.




Really? what is the rich man's name then?



I dont see how.


I

All supporting soul sleep.


exactly! I thought every one went to the under ground world?


lol. you have never heard the term, 'Hes sleeping in Jesus' Its a term used for waiting for the return of Christ.


I dont understand what you mean here?




Lets make the assumption that it isnt a parable, show me from other verses where immortality of the soul is backed up from the Bible.

What about Ecclesiastes 9:5

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

This is a very good verse, as well. Lets say what the opposition has to say about it.

False. Verses must be read in context, otherwise their assumed points are not cogent.

1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
Eccl 9:1-6 (ESV)

The context here, as well as the rest of the chapter, and the surrounding chapters, deals with how PHYSICAL death comes to EVERYONE, regardless of their deeds or lives. It is true, also, that physically, people who are dead gradually fade away from memory.

This is all I'll reply to tonight, because I'm tired, and I just got back from a LONG day.

Nice try, but no cigar.

I'm sorry, but it is a literal story. If it was not Jesus would have explained it as he did with ALL parables, no exceptions. Your argument has already failed.





Eisegesis. Your trying to alter the text by you own personal bias, rather than letting speak for itself.

First, your logic is irrelevant. The witch raising Samuel would not have been a sin. 1. The witches can not raise people from the dead. They would bring up what is known as a familiar spirit, one they work with. In this case, the witch is shocked and displaced when she calls upon Samuel because rather than the familiar spirit she was calling, Samuel actually came.

Let's look at this logically.

The Bible says it was Samuel.

^That alone disproves your argument. I don't know why you persist on this ignorance.




Used evil to show evil? No, He allowed evil to do good, the same way he used the worst evil in history to be the greatest good, the death of Jesus Christ.




That's not what it means at all. "out of body" NEVER means in a vision. Your getting ridiculous. It was Paul, every scholar in the world who is a Christian will tell you it is Paul.


"2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ - That is, a Christian. It is plain from 2Co_12:6-7, that he means himself, though in modesty he speaks as of a third person." -John Wesley

"2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago,.... Which is to be understood of himself, as appears from 2Co_12:7, where he speaks in the first person; and the reason why he here speaks in the third, is to show his modesty and humility, and how much he declined vain glory and popular applause;" -John Gill

2Co 12:2
I knew a man in Christ - I was acquainted with a Christian; the phrase “in Christ” meaning nothing more than that he was united to Christ or was a Christian; see Rom_16:7. The reason why Paul did not speak of this directly as a vision which he had himself seen was probably that he was accused of boasting, and he had admitted that it did not become him to glory. -Albert Barnes




Trying hard? I'm stating facts that you keep ignoring. I already have shown you. Multiple times.



I didn't say everyone in the story had a name. I said no parable uses names. The story of the rich man and LAZARUS did. Then it talks about Abraham and Moses like-wise.


None of those support soul sleep.





2 Cor. 5:8, "we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."


First, Elijah never died. Second, Moses was in spirit present there, not in body. Your question is irrelevant seeing that God makes special cases as he did with Enoch and Elijah, two men who have never died.



The whole Bible.

I consulted an authority on the subject, and he showed me several verses, that when taken in context, support and affirm the doctrine of both an immortal soul and eternal torment.

First up:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”


27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.
Gen 1:26-27 (ESV)

Taken in context both chapter-wise and linguistically (plus logically), these verses from Genesis support the immortal soul. Why? God created man in His image. "His image" means God's particular perception of us, but also as containing some elements that God Himself has. This does not mean we ARE God, but rather that we share some attributes. Since God is eternal, then it stands to reason that human beings, created in His image, are eternal as well.

Furthermore, other Scripture, taken in context, demonstrates the existence of eternal torment (and likewise, an immortal soul, because a mortal soul cannot be tortured eternally).

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
Rev 14:9-11 (ESV)

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Rev 20:7-10 (ESV)

13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:13-15 (ESV)

Comparing Revelation 20:7-10 and Revelation 20:13-15, one see that the "lake of fire and sulfur" from the first passage is the "lake of fire" in the second passage. Likewise, one can also see that the "lake of fire and sulfur" torments those who are in it "day and night forever and ever". So then, it is completely logical to believe that the "second death", the "lake of fire", which torments those who are in it "day and night forever and ever", is not the cessation of existence for an immortal soul.

Oh, and in case you were thinking of this one:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt 10:28 (ESV)

Contextually, there is nothing here or in the surrounding verses to suggest that souls are not immortal. Please don't continue to proof-text. Read Scripture in its own context, and then we might make some headway.

In a nutshell: From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible declares that human beings are created with immortal souls, and that such souls will be in eternal torment, both in Hell and in the Lake of Fire, if those souls are not saved.



I'm sorry, but none of these verses have anything whatsoever to do with soul sleep. Additionally, you took none of them in the contexts of the books themselves.

(The following italicized quotes are from Wikipedia, merely for a general reference.)

Prooftexting is the practice of using decontextualized quotations from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition. Critics of the technique note that often the document, when read as a whole, may not in fact support the proposition.

The above is exactly what you are doing. As I said before: stop proof-texting, and then we might get somewhere.

The practice of quoting out of context, sometimes referred to as "contextomy" or "quote mining", is a logical fallacy and type of false attribution in which a passage is removed from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended meaning.

This is essentially the same thing: it is an informal fallacy of equivocation. In other words: you aren't making logical sense.

If it is axiomatic that the canon of Scripture must be an organic whole, rather than an accumulation of disparate individual texts written and edited in the course of history, then any interpretation that contradicts any other part of scripture is not considered to be sound.

The following are general principles for correct contextual reading of Scripture:

1. Lexical-syntactical method: This method looks at the words used and the way the words are used. Different order of the sentence, the punctuation, the tense of the verse are all aspects that are looked at in the lexical syntactical method. Here, lexicons and grammar aids can help in extracting meaning from the text.

2. Historical/cultural method: The history and culture surrounding the authors is important to understand to aid in interpretation. For instance, understanding the Jewish sects of the Palestine and the government that ruled Palestine in New Testament times increases understanding of Scripture. And, understanding the connotations of positions such as the High Priest and that of the tax collector helps us know what others thought of the people holding these positions.

3. Contextual method: A verse out of context can often be taken to mean something completely different from the intention. This method focuses on the importance of looking at the context of a verse in its chapter, book and even biblical context.

4. Theological method: It is often said that a single verse usually doesn't make a theology. This is because Scripture often touches on issues in several books. For instance, gifts of the Spirit are spoken about in Romans, Ephesians and 1 Corinthians. To take a verse from Corinthians without taking into account other passages that deal with the same topic can cause a poorer interpretation.

5. Special literary methods: There are several special literary aspects to look at, but the overarching theme is that each genre of Scripture has a different set of rules that applies to it. Of the genres found in Scripture, there are: narratives, histories, prophecies, apocalyptic writings, poetry, psalms and letters. In these, there are differing levels of allegory, figurative language, metaphors, similes and literal language. For instance, the apocalyptic writings and poetry have more figurative and allegorical language than does the narrative or historical writing. These must be addressed, and the genre recognized to gain a full understanding of the intended meaning.


Until you stop proof-texting, I doubt I will have much more to say. If you start to follow the above principles, then that will make your eisegesis (specifically, using proof-texting to make Scripture say what you want it to say) turn into exegesis, and we will have a much easier discussion, I should think.

This post has been edited by jarkaimaster: Nov 5 2009, 12:00 PM