Saturday, January 2, 2016

Do you even know where that comes from? Is it in the bible?



How many people have ever used or heard the term "shekinah" in referring to God glory or presence? Most people probably don't realize this Hebrew used after the fact by Jewish Rabi's in Rabbinical writing. The word does not appear in scripture. I had this discussion with someone earlier today and it got me thinking. Don't believe all you hear without understanding and discernment! Is it wrong to use the term, I suppose that appears on intent, as descriptive term its okay, but to represent as a scriptural thing........ that is an issue. There are many other examples

Is there anything directly wrong with prayer beads, well it all depends on intent and who you pray to as to whether they are sinful to use. We just have to realize and use them based on personal conviction and not pass them off as scriptural.  What about church lore? St Theresa of Avila is quoted as saying that Jesus appeared first to his mother Mary and had to stay with her for some time to comfort her after the resurrection. These are traditional teachings but cannot be confirmed based on scripture, we need to practice discernment.  We need to be aware terms like trinity, divinity, rapture, incarnation. These are descriptive words assigned by scholars to represent events or ideas laid out in scripture, but they do not appear in the bible. It is important that we teach scripture, understand scripture, and know the difference between scripture and doctrinal things that man as described. 

Imagine telling a Pentecostal that term shekinah glory is not in the bible, or a Baptist that the Jesus or the disciples never used the word trinity….. What reaction would you get? Perhaps you should pull a Catholic aside and tell them there rosary comes from a pagan religion. How would that go……?

I am not by any means saying that there is anything wrong with these terms, teachings, or actions. I am however concerned how many teach them as being in the bible, and how many people do not realize there origins. If we are to use these terms we need to be able to explain and defend them. We need to know why we use these. We must have the knowledge needed, to answer the nonbeliever when asked questions, it is a part of our jobs as Christians to be able to tell others about Jesus.

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