Bible Quoters, Beware
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Bible Quoters, Beware |
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Several days ago during prayer I was visited by the Angel Moe Roni who revealed to me the location of some spectacles with special lenses made of seer stones that allows me to translate all forms of written speech. These magic spectacles have given me the ability to interpret what Bert says on his website. I turn, then, my lenses of lucidity to his article Bible Quoters.
Bert writes:
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie"( 2 Thessalonians 2:11)
The Bible Quoter here does not mean someone who quotes biblical verse to enlighten, but rather people who restrict a broad understanding of text with well rehearsed "proof texts."
TRANSLATION: First of all, there is absolutely no irony whatsoever to be found with the fact that I begin my diatribe against people who quote biblical verse by…..um……quoting biblical verse.
Anyway, only a Worker or fellow 2x2 is capable of quoting the bible correctly in order to "enlighten". In fact, all non-2x2s who quote the bible to any degree that disagrees with my own belief structure is immediately identifiable as a False Bible Quoter.
When a 2x2 spiritualizes his observation of some mundane aspect of the human experience into a homespun testimony during Sunday morning meeting – that’s True Bible Quoting. On the other hand, when a non-2x2 offers, for example, a biblical defense of Trinitarian doctrine – that’s False Bible Quoting. As a result, what might normally be a generally accepted and legitimate scriptural argument can be automatically dismissed as a "well-rehearsed proof text".
Although I don’t actually identify what is so wrong with a bible quote being "rehearsed", this makes it convenient for me to ignore it nonetheless.
Furthermore, even though the phrase "workers without a home and meeting in the home" is rehearsed, it's not incorrectly rehearsed because we 2x2s are the ones rehearsing this rehearsed statement...
[Bert] People who argue over verses often lay claim to Special Revelation.
TRANSLATION: Even though William Irvine claimed all sorts of interesting special revelations, and even though a person is saved through a special revelation by hearing the gospel from a Worker and being baptized into the 2x2 Fellowship – we do not lay claim to any special revelation.
[Bert] The Bible Quoter uses verse to make themselves an authority on the bible. The agenda is similar to the Bible Translator - to overthrow biblical themes.
TRANSLATION: Only when a 2x2 uses verse to make himself an authority on the bible is it perfectly acceptable, and for no other reason than that he is a current, professing member of the 2x2 fellowship in good standing with the workers.
[Bert] An example were the Jews quoting scripture to "prove" that the Messiah must come from Bethlehem and be of the tribe of David. Jesus, they noted, was a Galilean and therefore most likely from the tribes of Zebulun or Naphtali.
TRANSLATION: Elsewhere on my website I refer to the requirement of special revelation for Jews to recognize Jesus as the Messiah (see the "Why Weren’t They More Open?" section), and I suggest that the same applies to believers today. Regardless, this in no way means that I am being intellectually inconsistent for the sake of my 2x2 polemic.
[Bert] The bible was not intended as a historical text: it uses figurative language and rhetorical devices, and engages the reader with question and answer constructions and parallel clauses. The bible uses theme and variation, unity, design, contrast, symmetry, repetition, coherence and unified progression to present God's word.
TRANSLATION: And by "God’s word" I mean that conglomeration of 2x2 religious sentiment and generic piety that has never been formally defined by anyone. That way no one can ever accuse us of false bible quoting. Brilliant, right?
[Bert] Examples of misquotations include:
1. Liberal churches arguing that all ways lead to God because of His tolerance.
2. Rubbishing biblical warnings about hell and judgment by pointing to verses that show the love and forgiveness of God.
3. Promote socialist dogmas by quoting Jesus when he railed against materialism, wealth and the oppression of the poor.
4. Quote Old Testament texts to justify the modern priesthood; church buildings, religious law and even warfare
TRANSLATION: I prefer to engage in a form of straw man argumentation by attacking mere stereotypes. When challenged, however, I probably would never admit that I really believe that all non-2x2 churches - liberal or conservative - are guilty of misquoting the bible whenever they happen to disagree with me. Not that I’m making myself an authority on the bible, of course. That would be wrong.
Except that it's not wrong when I'm the one doing the quoting.
At least at some level I’m aware that Jesus came not to abolish the Old Testament but to fulfill it, and that Workers undeniably represent our own version of a modern priesthood, and that the religious laws of the Old Testament's Ten Commandments certainly still apply to us today – but I can conveniently disparage any biblical argumentation from dissenting viewpoints as coming from "bible quoters".
To summarize, when I quote scripture it is enlightening. When you quote scripture it is "overthrowing biblical themes" and "restricting a broad understanding of text".
Your Brother in Christ,
Bert
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