It's OK to Interpret the Bible for Yourself
Think for Yourself: Pastor's Interpretation of Scripture Not Infallible
Priests and Pastors do not necessarily help one understand God's word by enforcing their own interpretation when other valid interpretations exist
By: FatLester
I once encountered a self-proclaimed religious and theological 'expert' who caught my attention when he muttering something or other and basically made the claim that angels were gender-neutral and that the proof was in the bible. I didn't bother asking where. Instead, I opened it up the man's Bible to the very first book, Chapter 6 (The Origins of the Nephilim), and then proceeded to ask if he had made it that far into the book yet. Needless to say, he had no response.
For those of you unfamiliar, depending upon which version is being used, how large the pages are and how big the font, the specific chapter in Genesis I am referring to typically falls within the first 7-15 pages of the first book in the Bible. This, the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis, tells of what some have referred to as "fallen angels" or "sons of heaven", who somehow travel from either heaven or outer space to earth, where they proceed to create a strain of alien-human hybrids (or angel-human hybrids if you consider angels to be different from aliens) either by way of sexual intercourse (as is implied in the King James and New International versions), or genetic manipulation - a theory increasing in popularity as a symbolic alternative interpretation.
Is the story true? If so, were these "Nephilim" created through intercourse of laboratory procedures?
The truth of the matter is that I don't know, and the chances are that your pastor doesn't know either. Nor, for that matter do any other pastors claiming to have exclusive access to some pristene source of wisdom that allows them and only them the ability to be able to read the Bible and know exactly what it was God was trying to communicate.
My gut instinct when I encounter these types of so-called religious leaders is one of skepticism and a desire to at least take a peek at the Church's financial records for the past couple years.
It just goes to show you that just because someone is claiming to be a Biblical expert and human intermediary between mankind and Almighty God himself, such claims should always be put to the test before assuming the person to be a trustworthy source on the matter.
The fact is that many legitimate expert theologians will almost always avoid answering questions posed in such a way as to elicit a definitive statement involving God's opinions, views or positions on a given subject (with obvious exceptions of course).
Perhaps the one definite statement that can be made about Almighty God is that he is far more intelligent than any of us here on earth, and that any human purporting to possess the ability to comprehend the mind, will and intentions of God without acknowledging the potential for human error and the possibility that he or she might be wrong should probably undergo a thorough mental health evaluation before being released back into normal society.
Personally, I am suspicious of anyone pushing an idea, agenda or lifestyle and claiming to be doing so on the behalf of a higher authority, with the exception of the Vatican as well as a few other religions and religious denominations I consider to be legitimate. I do not consider all religions and sects of various religions to be legitimate, and I reserve the right to make that judgment at my sole discretion.
Fat Lester is an independant author and entrepreneur whose businesses include an internet domain name registrar (GoDotYourself.com), as well as a comprehensive blog about domain names, and a semi-commercial website where customers can go browse from an impressive selection of several hundred premium domain names for sale (FatLester.com).
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Tags: Holy Bible, Other, Religion
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