Cutting And Pasting God's Word

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There's a new move afoot to subvert God's teachings through His holy Word. I just finished reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol which, as those of you who have read other books by this author will know, deals with the subject of Freemasonry. In the book, one of the main characters extols the virtues of the Holy Bible and encourages the protagonist, Michael Langdon, to read it. However, he goes on to say that the whole Bible is a parable, full of hidden codes and meanings which will be revealed to us at the proper time.


Now I have a problem with that. If the Holy Bible were a parable which has not yet been interpreted, how could we live by it?  How could we discern right from wrong? Why are we seeing those "parables" fulfilled before our eyes as time- as we know it- hurtles to an end? It is no wonder that many are disputing the virgin birth and even the resurrection of Christ. Jesus was famous for speaking in parables; it was the hallmark of his teaching style. When His disciples asked Him, "Why do you speak in parables?" (Matthew 13: 10), Jesus replied, "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them" (v 13-15).

In other words, Jesus was saying that they (the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day) were so hard-hearted that they would never understand when He spoke. But Jesus always interpreted the parable to His disciples when they were alone, and those interpretations are in the Bible for us to read and understand. Therefore to say that the whole Bible is a parable is dangerous and misleading and gives people the licence to interpret God's Word any way they please.

It is no wonder that teachings on sin, heaven and hell and the Holy Spirit are now banned in some churches and a new MTV style of teaching is now penetrating the twenty-first century church. Peter said, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1 : 20-21). 2 Timothy 3 : 16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: "

Let us not be taken in by skeptics' claims that  the Bible is an allegory which should not be taken literally. I believe that Jesus was literally born of a virgin, that He literally died on a crude Roman cross, was buried, literally rose and ascended into heaven, and that one day He is literally coming back for all who believe in Him. And that's no parable!

Related articles

• What are parables and why did Jesus use them? (insightscoop.typepad.com)
• Parables (Stories Jesus Told) (candywork.wordpress.com)