שמע ישראל ה 'הוא האלוהים שלנו הוא אחד

Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad
"Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One"

Questioner: Pete
Private: no
Subject: the prophets
Question: Hello and thankyou for taking my question:

I would like to know if when the prophets, in particular Jeremiah and lamentations, spoke - were they conveying their own or God's feelings.

My Reply:

Discuss this issue on my blog!

Hi Pete,

This is an ongoing debate as you know.

If one accepts the standard Anglican/Protestant position of the Bible as the "inerrant" (without error) and "God breathed" Word then every word, every letter is the revelation of God and hence His "feelings" on the various issues.

This view seems a bit problematic to me.

First we do not have any original manuscripts of any chapter in the 66 book library we call the Bible, so even if the originals were inerrant and God breathed they have been lost. We rely on copies of copies and these copies are not in agreement in some cases. Then we have the question of translation of the various copies from the competing manuscripts into the various languages. Translation is an art, not a science.

In the case of the prophets of the Tanakh ("Old Testament") we assume the originals were written in Hebrew (as stated by the rabbis) but in many cases (especially with Daniel, perhaps the most important Tanakh prophet for we Believers) the Aramaic manuscripts we have are older and much was filtered through the Greek Septuagint and back into Hebrew, often through the Aramaic languages, and merged with (or even producing according to some critics) the Masoretic text (an idea soundly rejected by the rabbis of course). This entire area is open for debate and frankly these issues can not be answered to everyone's satisfaction based on existing evidence.

So... we have problems with questions like this.

In my opinion the biblically established and most consistent way of handling these sorts of issues is to "Rightly divide the Word of the Truth" (II Timothy 2:15).

My advise is, if you are a serious student of the Word, to determine the version of the Bible you will use as your foundation. I believe overall the manuscript family known as the Textus Receptus (Received Texts) is the most accurate, best preserved, most clearly inspired in its usage and most internally consistent. Once you determine your source material and translation(s), establish your doctrines on that authority. I use the Authorized King James Version (the preeminent translation of the Textus Receptus) because despite a few obvious errors I believe it is the closest we have to the originals.

Study never ends. Compare the other translations if you feel so inspired (I suggest specifically avoiding the New International Version -- NIV -- as I believe it is intentionally at odds with the Wisdom of God and teaches Humanism rather than biblical religion).

When studying any scripture, including the prophets, contrast its writings with the overall sense and meaning of scripture ("rightly divide" it). Should you find specific verses that are problematic study those out utilizing prayer and the whole light of the Word to make your careful determinations. There is nothing in Jeremiah nor in Lamentations I have found to question personally.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The only scriptures these people knew was the Tanakh ("Old Testament") so we can read this verse as "...they received the word [of the Way missionaries] with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures [the Tanakh] daily, whether those things were so."

We are to reason and not to accept our beliefs blindly, however at the same time the Tanakh and B'rit Hadashah (New Testament books) are our spiritual foundations and they do reveal the Truth of God. What we believe is to be harmonious with the teachings of these books. Part of our studying should therefore include digging into the problematic passages and developing ever deeper insights and understandings, not to challenge but to understand.

Keep studying to show that you are approved by God,

Hope this is helpful,

~ Yochanan ben Avraham
~ John of AllFaith

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