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Posts Tagged ‘1st Timothy 04’

Biblical Meditation

Posted in Meditation, Peace, tagged , , on April 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. – 1st Timothy 4:15

Meditation has beneficial effects on the mind and body – not eastern meditation but Biblical meditation.

Hebrew’s (the language of the Old Testament) word for “Meditation” literally means ” to mutter, speak, or muse (think)”.  It’s not emptying the mind while sitting in a strange position and saying something that has no meaning.  It is filling the mind with godly thoughts and words chock full of meaning!

“I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. – Psalm 77:12

The Greek (language of the New Testament) is similar.   “Meditate” literally means “to resolve in the mind, imagine”

Overcome worry and stress not by blanking out the mind but by pushing stress out with something peaceful.

Psalm 23 is a perfect candidate for Biblical meditation.   When enemies of peace stir around, think the imagery and repeat the words:

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. – Psalm 23:5;

In your mind see the table and God preparing it for a blessing your enemies can’t prevent, pouring oil of blessing upon your head, giving you more than you can hold.

Try that a while and tell me what you think.

– fritz

Related Post: Time with God Now – August 23, 2010

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Circular Reasoning and Fraudulent Scholarship

Posted in Bible, Scholarship, tagged on April 6, 2011| 2 Comments »

Bart D. Ehrman

Unfortunately, we have fraudulent experts in every field, including Biblical Studies.

One tool they use is Circular Reasoning; it goes like this:

Step 1. Define fundamentalism as a belief the Bible is literally true;

Step 2. Later decry that belief in the Bible is so stupid that only rabid fundamentalist hold onto it – everyone else is more enlightened.

Such is not true scholarship, not an honest evaluation of facts, and not good journalism.

Here’s an example – an article in the Huffington Post by Bart Ehrman, the “Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina” on March 25, 2011.

Professor Ehrman claims everyone knows, except “Rabid Fundamentalists”, that many biblical writings were, actually, written by someone other than the ascribed author. What people like Mr. Ehrman won’t tell you is that the early church went through an intense process of including only writings that could be verified as authentic. That’s why other writings, such as the Gospel of Thomas, were excluded.

I’ve encountered professors and “scholars” like this before. They only present ONE side of their theories, present them as facts, and claim anyone who disagrees is a “rabid fundamentalist”. They expect their titles and positions to give authenticity to what they say, not the facts.

Stick with the Bible. It will prove true in every instance.

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” – 1 Timothy 4:16

Of course, this is the opinion of a rabid fundamentalist. (grin)

Today’s Sound Bite comes from the Rev. Garret Crepon in 1974, my United Methodist pastor at Southwestern University, “Hold on to the Bible, it will get you out of every problem it gets you into!”
-fritz

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