Who interprets the bible correctly?

If the Bible were written correctly, it wouldn't have to be "interpreted" by anyone.

IMO, nobody interprets it correctly, but everybody thinks that they do. There are so many ambiguous and contradictory passages that it can be used to justify anything. You just have to find some verses that can be twisted to agree with you and ignore the rest.

What Terry said.

Everybody twists it about to be relevent to their situation.

Since no one really knows what was in the minds of the people who wrote the Bible, it is difficult, if not impossible, to interpret. We can only make guesses. Different translations, and changes in the meanings of words over the centuries have added to the confusion.

Terry is wise.

I suppose that if you think that the Bible is totally impossible to interpret correctly, that is your interpretation of it. And of course everybody believes their opinion of the Bible is correct, or else they would have a different opinion.

there are people that spend there entire life on this question

Re: Who interprets the bible correctly?


Who interprets the Constitution correctly?

You?

Me?

Your high school teacher with the mismatched socks, tape on his glasses and gravy on his tie?

A pundit?

One political party?

A court?

Everybody interprets it correctly for themselves?

Nobody?

How can it be used to justify anything if we all can't agree on what it says?

No one interprets it correctly. If you gave 10 people 1 verse there would be 10 different definitions. Aren't there some missing books that have not been included in the King James Version? If we don't have all the pieces, that may be one reason it's so difficult to put the puzzle together.....

real life,

I guess you mean your country's constitution?

It means nothing to me.

It's simply a consensus of opinion on what kind of country you want...luckily for you it's mostly democratic. You can't use it to justify anything other than a consensus of opinion.

If the bible is instructions from a god, then it is entirely a different thing.

My question is, do people believe they are right in their interpretation?....or is it obvious to them that even if it is the literal word of a god, that they still can't be sure they are picking out the right bits to follow? Do they realise that they are guessing as to which interpretation is correct based on which one fits best with them, or does each person think the god leads them to the "right" one (because they are special?)

The funny thing about theists is each one seems pretty sure they know what god really is and what he wants even though they are VAST-ly outnumbered not only by the atheists and agnostics, but by all the other theists whose interpretation is different.

Are there two people on the planet that entirely agree on what god is and what he wants?

reading

We Jews believe that the Torah (The Old Testament -- though we don't call it the old) was dictated to Moses Rabbienu at Mount Sinai. Every word was dictated by Hashem (G-d) to Moses. Moses then wrote it down and brought it down the mountain to the rest of the Israelites.

The Torah was written in Hebrew, the Lashon Hakodesh (Holy Tongue) and not even one word has been altered to this day in the continous copying of Torah seforim (scrolls).

As with every language, each word has its own meaning that can never be correctly translated 100% into another language.

How much more so with the word of Hashem -- if one wanted to study His word, he should NOT go about it by studying the translation -- he has to go to the ORIGINAL.

True, there are many interpretations of each verse in the Torah, and the discussions continue to this day. But this does not mean that we should abandon it just because it doesn't make sense to you.

Perhaps one should take into account that the Torah was G-d dictated, while the so-called other books in your Bible was written by man; man has the human capability to err.

The interpretation is in the eyes of the beholder as well as what they have been taught to believe. Is it any different from the belief in a particular religion. There are many religions, large and small with the adherents believing that theirs is the true religion.

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It may not be of any consequence but the Hebrew language lacked vowels and word spaces when it was first created. Thus the misinterpretation and mistaken readings could multiply.

neo...did I see you type once that you are a Jehovah's Witness?

Maybe I thought that and it's not right.

Yes, but my opinions posted here are my own.

Just asking.

What you said must be interpretted. Did you say it correctly?
Once one utters, the hearer needs to interpret. Anything less is ignorance.

The Prophets and Apostles all had inner circles of intimate acquaintances. These heard their sentiments in general. When they delivered a Message for them to others, they had general Knowledge of the Writers' Teachings, out of Which to amply amplify the Written Content.
I rarely. if ever, fail to perfectly interpret the meaning of even the most oddly worded notes written by those I know best. If my brother had a recorded speach, famous to all, I could fill in much of the releted thought for others that never got to ask him what he thought behind his words. Others, then, that took note of my interpretations could pass them on alongside the speach as a tradition both written and oral, and very articulate, worthy of authoritative appeal for all generations.