I am thoroughly sick of people who think that they know what God says.
A typical example would people from Westborough Baptist Church who have signs saying 'God hates fags', 'God hates America', etc.. On the other hand, in a direct response to this there was a billboard poster which said '"Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate anyone who is gay." - God'. While the second example is certainly preferable, I feel that there is a problem with it as well, because it too, like the WBC signs, tries to speak for God.
Recently on a discussion forum I saw someone say that it is not in God's nature to go against His word. There are three assumptions being made there: 1. that this person knows what the nature of God is; 2. that the Bible is indeed God's inspired word; and 3. that this person's interpretation of 'God's word' is correct.
What angers me so much about this kind of thing is that people just throw around statements of "God says this..." and "God says that...", as though those are valid arguments. If you quote anyone else you have to be able to reference your sources and provide proof that, yes, it is what they said, at this time and place, etc.. But with God people think they can just say "God says...", and that is enough. Anytime someone tells me what God says I want to hear a full recount of their encounter with Him, or to be provided with Bible chapter and verse, along with extensive commentary from Biblical scholars and theologians, at the very least.
Really though, I wish people could just be honest and say "I think..." instead of "God says...", or maybe even "I think that God says...". If people would just own their opinions we wouldn't have this problem.
Well, to be honest. If it's in the Bible then surely it is what God's saying? I agree that signs say 'God hates fags' is presumptuous but if something is in the Bible, then surely it will have been valid. Bible Scholars are great as it is, but the Bible is the ultimate source. If it doesn't go with the Bible then it isn't from God. Simple. Hope you understand where I'm coming from
ReplyDeleteAnd in my experience, (and I can only speak on my own happenings), people who hate people who think they know what God says is usually because of the content of what they are saying.
I do understand where you're coming from. If we assume that the Bible is God's inspired word, then anything in there must be true. However, there are hundreds of different denominations and cults, all based on the Bible, and all with different beliefs. Why is this? Because the Bible is very difficult to understand and everyone reads it differently to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteWhen there are thousands of opinions out there about what the Bible really says, and thus what 'God says', how can any of us presume to know exactly what is true?
By prefacing something with 'God says' we are making a claim that our interpretation of the Bible is entirely and irrefutably correct. Given the number of perspectives on what the Bible says, any one of them being entirely true seems highly unlikely.
I hope that makes sense.
I'll just add that I don't hate people who think they know what God says. I often disagree with them and they make me angry sometimes, but I do not hate them. They are people with a very strong conviction of what is right and wrong, and they try to share that with everyone. It would be very unreasonable of me to hate them for that.