Why do we argue over the meaning of scriptures in the Bible among ourselves?

Lanolin, what exactly is it you have against someone pointing out sources of poison in the body? Is it something you object to generally or just here on this forum? You know you can simply not participate in those discussions. But I get the sense from you that you feel it does some kind of harm. What's the problem? Explain it to me.

I'm curious because it's not just you but many others express the same view.

Wintersrain is a wise soul. Amen, Wintersrain!

I think you've got it right. We should follow our consciences and the Holy Spirit will show us what is right and the right way to do right. Often times the offenders don't even realize they have committed an offense. They jsbelieve they are right and that makes it ok.
that of course is self-righteousness and in Matt 23 Jesus makes it very clear to the Pharisees whad th thinks about it.

Because (place your name here) is always right and (place everyone who disagrees name here) are always wrong.

Great thoughts here. I appreciate the contributions.

@allsaved
Did you intend your post 46 to respond to @Diakonos in your posting#44?

People will be people. Sounds simplistic but you asked. One thing I've learned in my walk in this world. Greater ego and pride does not exist than a people, an individual, who is absolutely certain God loves them more than anyone else in the world.

That observation is going to meet scrutiny certainly. As is intended. Because it may cause someone to think about what was being said.
If we believe God loves us enough to save us from the plans he made for the whole world that are those not his chosen, we should feel humility, gratitude, and peace. While looking deeper to ask ourselves what is the message in that core teaching in his word?

As long as we think of God in human terms, using human intellect, and hold to that, I don't think we'll see the deeper message. We have to think outside the box. And I think the box is human intellect and its limits. That many of us don't accept as relating at all to comprehending the almighty. all-mighty and sovereign.

I think we argue often times because we're defending a god we've created in our image and likeness. And that's due to limited consciousness that thinks remaining in the box and the confines of the book, the Bible, that actually invites us to look deeper for God.

There's an old saying that is often disparaged because some think a feminist, who happens to also be a Christian, coined the idea and therefore it is unworthy of respect. However, I find it to be true. Maybe some of you have encountered people in the church or in community that sound like this.

“You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamott

I'm sorry, but were you responding to what I wrote?

Apparently not.

We argue about the meaning of Scripture amongst ourselves because we want our own opinions/thoughts to be true, rather than those of Scripture. Why so many different opinions and translations of Scripture amongst Christians? Because we deem ourselves to be our own little infallible popes, inerrant on our interpretation of Scripture. We raise ourselves, not the Holy Spirit, as the authority on Scripture.

Peter condemns private interpretation of Scripture, saying " No prophecy [or explanation] of Scripture is made by private interpretation." (2 St. Peter i. 20.)

If so many of us disagree on the true meaning and interpretation of Scripture, that means that many of us are just wrong. If one person interprets Scripture in one way and another Christian in another, both can't be right. Either one or both is just wrong. That's a simple concept to grasp.

Many interpret Scriptures to coincide with what they want to believe. And when this happens, Scripture no longer becomes the Word of God but the word of the person who is interpreting Scripture for their own benefit.

That's seems right to me. And, we should be terrified if what you're saying is True.

Galatians 1:8 KJV - "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."

That is one of the most misinterpreted and misused verses of scripture in the Bible. (it seems)

Kinda funny that you said all of that - and then proceeded to seriously misinterpret and misuse it...

Correct.
God knows we cannot understand his thoughts...so He gave us His words. If we all took Scripture at face value (literally), we would all end up at the same place, doctrinally. But many think God meant something other than what he said, which is where sects and denominations and arguments arise. The authority of Scripture shifts to us when we say it means something other than what it says. Also, many don't understand that the Bible is clear how figurative language can be detected and understood objectively. But people tend to be literalistic (not to be confused with literal), or allegorical as their default approach. Both are fallacious. God talks to us through His word the same we talk to each other every day: literally, with a mutual understanding of some figurative language.

Not trying to start an argument; rather, pointing out just how easy it is to err if we are not really careful.

Hmmm . . . I've never heard anyone say this before. Do you really believe that the Bible reflects the way we talk to each other every day? I'm not seeing that . . . at all. I must be misunderstanding you. Sorry.

That's ok, I'll try to clarify for you.

In short, we mean exactly what we say with the exception of our mutual understanding and usage of figurative language. In other words, there is no reason for you to assume I mean anything other than what I say unless I say something we both understand as a figurative phrase that corresponds to a literal meaning in our shared language.

If I said: "The sermon was astonishing", you should understand that as "The sermon was astonishing".
If I said: "The sermon took my breath away", you should understand that as "The sermon was astonishing"

The 1st phrase means exactly what it means.
The 2nd phrase means exactly what the 1st phrase means.
In English, we share a common understanding that the 2nd phrase means what the 1st phrase says. If a foreigner hears me say the 2nd phrase, they might not believe or understand me because the literalistic meaning is so improbable, and in some cases of figurative language, impossible.

This is the challenge with figurative language in the Bible. We sometimes do not understand that a Jewish (or Biblically associated) figure of speech is being used, so we might assume the literalistic interpretation is absurd, and we invoke another (false) meaning to a text that "makes more sense" in our mind. Every figurative usage in the Bible is either already established in the Jewish culture or in a passage of Scripture.

For example,
Daniel 7 clearly says that the 4 beasts are 4 kingdoms and the 10 horns of the 4th beast are 10 kings.
Revelation 17 - the angels tells John the waters which he saw (earlier) are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues
(in short, humanity).
Revelation 12 says that the dragon is Satan.

Consider all that, look at how the beast of Revelation 13:1-10 is described:


These symbols are not ambiguous; They are defined either in the passage, somewhere else in the Revelation, or in the Old Testament.

We can objectively understand this passage as something like:

Now go read Daniel 2, 7, 8, 11 and evaluate its legitimacy. The whole Revelation can be understood without ambiguity by just taking God's word at face value and apprehending what we do not (yet) understand.

Now there are many more details I could have mentioned and defined in the Revelation 13 passage, but I gave just some key points to get the main picture across. The book of Revelation is a timeline of vision, expressed in symbols, and grounded in reality. I know that is an intense example because there are so many Biblically established figures of speech lumped together in the book (518 OT references in 22 chapters). But that is how you go about understanding Biblically established figurative language. As for the (already established) Jewish figures of speech, which are intrinsic to the culture, you can identify many from their usage and association to other things in the Bible, or you can independently study cultural concepts that don't make sense in our language (English).