Sense And Nonsense...

[RichMan]

That is not that hard to avoid.

You read what others write to help you learn.
You also say it is not hard to avoid the writing of those who do not know the truth.
So I assume you believe you know the truth and when someone is teaching things not true.
Do you just read after those who support your belief?

Commentaries are just someone's opinions. Opinions that are mostly wrong.
I will stick with the Scripture.

 

[Amanuensis]

Commentaries are just someone's opinions. Opinions that are mostly wrong.
I will stick with the Scripture.

Said no one who reads commentaries.

You read what others write to help you learn.
You also say it is not hard to avoid the writing of those who do not know the truth.
So I assume you believe you know the truth and when someone is teaching things not true.
Do you just read after those who support your belief?

One can make educated decisions and find credible resources. You aren't going to be "tainted" if you read an interpretation you don't agree with, you simply recognize that we see through a glass darkly and most of these things are not show stoppers.

I will read things that I don't agree is the best interpretation from an author but I don't toss the book in the fireplace because of it.

I am constantly learning so much that is true that I don't sweat it when the author misses it now and then. I am sure I will also if I ever pick up the pen to write such a work.

Sticking to the scriptures is the whole purpose of a commentary.

To discover authorial intent is how you are supposed to interpret scripture. What did the author mean in its original context. If we could ask him, what did you mean by that because we have 15 different meanings that people are proposing all saying they stick only to scriptures.

So how do you resolve this? Commentaries will show you examples of exegesis. If you have turned left when you should have turned right you will notice it and say "I can't believe I never saw that before" And then do we get mad at God for not showing it to us, or do we concede to the value of diligent study?

 

[RichMan]

Said no one who reads commentaries.


One can make educated decisions and find credible resources. You aren't going to be "tainted" if you read an interpretation you don't agree with, you simply recognize that we see through a glass darkly and most of these things are not show stoppers.

I will read things that I don't agree is the best interpretation from an author but I don't toss the book in the fireplace because of it.

I am constantly learning so much that is true that I don't sweat it when the author misses it now and then. I am sure I will also if I ever pick up the pen to write such a work.

With the time being short, I choose to read the Word of God instead of the opinions of men.
That way I do not have to determine what may be truth and what is not.

 

[Amanuensis]

You read what others write to help you learn.
You also say it is not hard to avoid the writing of those who do not know the truth.
So I assume you believe you know the truth and when someone is teaching things not true.
Do you just read after those who support your belief?

Commentaries are just someone's opinions. Opinions that are mostly wrong.
I will stick with the Scripture.

That is my same reasoning for reading them. Time is short. I need to speed up my learning curve.

I don't know what you think a commentary is but the kind I use include every verse of scripture. They are bibles and discussion about interpretation using exegesis and leaving it to you to decide. If you read a commentary you will be reading the scriptures.

I am so hungry for the word and desire to mine the depths that are there. I am experiencing so much joy in discovery that I my only regret is not having started this study of commentaries decades ago. I know realize I was dumber than a box of rocks but thought I was knowledgeable. And that is only because I was surrounded by people who were more ignorant than I was.

That is the general state of the church.

 

[Jocund]

When two disagree about the meaning of God's truth, either one of them or maybe both of them are wrong and don't have the truth within them.

Was Jesus' robe red or purple?

 

[RichMan]

That is my same reasoning for reading them. Time is short. I need to speed up my learning curve.

I don't know what you think a commentary is but the kind I use include every verse of scripture. They are bibles and discussion about interpretation using exegesis and leaving it to you to decide. If you read a commentary you will be reading the scriptures.

I am so hungry for the word and desire to mine the depths that are there. I am experiencing so much joy in discovery that I my only regret is not having started this study of commentaries decades ago. I know realize I was dumber than a box of rocks but thought I was knowledgeable. And that is only because I was surrounded by people who were more ignorant than I was.

That is the general state of the church.

Ignorance is the result of laziness.
People are to lazy to learn how to study and to lazy to study.
It is to easy to read the opinions of others.
What most believe, teach, and preach is just the opinions of other they have read after or set under their teaching.
So I content that the church is in state of ignorance because of commentaries and peoples laziness. Commentaries add to the problem.
Commentaries will not solve the problem, a prayerful study of the Scripture will.

 

[Amanuensis]

Ignorance is the result of laziness.
People are to lazy to learn how to study and to lazy to study.
It is to easy to read the opinions of others.
What most believe, teach, and preach is just the opinions of other they have read after or set under their teaching.
So I content that the church is in state of ignorance because of commentaries and peoples laziness. Commentaries add to the problem.
Commentaries will not solve the problem, a prayerful study of the Scripture will.

Reading the scriptures will give you an opinion. That is ok.

 

[Amanuensis]

Ignorance is the result of laziness.
People are to lazy to learn how to study and to lazy to study.
It is to easy to read the opinions of others.
What most believe, teach, and preach is just the opinions of other they have read after or set under their teaching.
So I content that the church is in state of ignorance because of commentaries and peoples laziness. Commentaries add to the problem.
Commentaries will not solve the problem, a prayerful study of the Scripture will.

Reading the scriptures will give you an opinion. That is ok. But there is no guarantee that your opinion is the right one just because you DID NOT reference a commentary.

Since writers have been discussing it for centuries there is a good chance that referencing what has been said will be informative.

The liklihood of making a mistake due to not referencing is exponentially increased based on ones lack of understanding about cutlural gaps or other issues that should be known. Ignoring all this valuable information increases ones chance of teaching something really dumb.

I once heard a preacher teach that "quit ye like men" meant stop acting like mere men, you have the Holy Spirit and are a supernatural man. Really dumb mistake that could have been resolved with one look at a commentary. He was KJV only. And anticommentary. And it showed up in his preaching. He lost credibility and did not even know it.

 

[RichMan]

Reading the scriptures will give you an opinion. That is ok. But there is no guarantee that your opinion is the right one just because you DID NOT reference a commentary.

Since writers have been discussing it for centuries there is a good chance that referencing what has been said will be informative.

The liklihood of making a mistake due to not referencing is exponentially increased based on ones lack of understanding about cutlural gaps or other issues that should be known. Ignoring all this valuable information increases ones chance of teaching something really dumb.

I once heard a preacher teach that "quit ye like men" meant stop acting like mere men, you have the Holy Spirit and are a supernatural man. Really dumb mistake that could have been resolved with one look at a commentary. He was KJV only. And anticommentary. And it showed up in his preaching. He lost credibility and did not even know it.

I did not say read the Scripture, I said learn how to study and then study.
Proper study with much prayer will replace opinions with truth.
Trust the opinions of others if you wish, I will trust the Scripture.

 

[Amanuensis]

I did not say read the Scripture, I said learn how to study and then study.
Proper study with much prayer will replace opinions with truth.
Trust the opinions of others if you wish, I will trust the Scripture.

I don't understand your logic that reading a commentary is "trusting the opinion of men." You can chose to reject any interpretation that you don't agree with. There is no "trusting" that has to be done.

 

[RichMan]

I don't understand your logic that reading a commentary is "trusting the opinion of men." You can chose to reject any interpretation that you don't agree with. There is no "trusting" that has to be done.

I do not understand why you spend time reading the opinions of men when the time would be better spent studying the Scripture.
I have a limited amount of time each day to read, I would much rather spend it in the Scripture then reading what other men believe.

Enough time wasted here.
Have a blessed day.