Should the Bible be a resource for the individual?

[marcus]

This is a fun topic for Protestants! I've recently been convinced by people smarter than myself that the Bible should be reserved for the Church community, and not for the individual (i.e., getting the Bible out of the hands of the people). Josh, could you transfer Robin/my last comments from the other thread to here? Don't know how.

Anyway, love to hear everyone's thoughts. I'll write my thoughts when I get the chance, but I want to know what the rest of you think.

[marcus]

And more importantly, what's your reasoning for your stance? Should individuals be free to interpret scripture apart from the context of the Church?

[Josh]

I am told the ability to transfer/ split threads is coming in the update later this year. For now, here's the best I can do:

Elsewhere, Marcus wrote:

To the author of the first post: put down your Bible. You're oversaturating yourself with Scripture that does not speak to what you are dealing with. Someone who struggles with shame will always find those passages that make them fear God's wrath, while skipping all of the passages that should give you confidence that God is trustworthy and good and gracious when He judges, and even errs to the side of forgiveness and mercy (read Jonah if you have to read something).

Boy we need to get the Bible out of the hands of individuals and place it instead in the center of a community of believers as it was intended.

Freaking Gutenberg.

To which iamscared replied:

And what is wrong with non believers getting ahold of Bibles? Shouldn't they have every right to read God's word as we do? A Christian that I know of just started reading a Bible one day, and after that he wanted to become a comitted Christian. I'd say that it is a good thing to let non believers have Bibles.

Marcus then wrote:

I don't like believers or non-believers scouring scripture on their own. Sure good things can come from it, but it's like prescription medication - just because it's good doesn't mean that everyone should have full access to it. It's too powerful and too easily misused, even with good intentions. Scripture needs to stand at the center of the community (the church) not at the center of an individual's faith. Individual interpretation seemed like a good idea when it first began, but I think we Protestants have proven that our initial theory was wrong.

To which Robin replied:

Perhaps you are going a little too far. For three plus years I found myself outside of a church community still found significant spiritual growth though studying scripture on my own. If fact I found greater growth on my own then I did in the church communities I was involved in prior to Aletheia. I read through my bible a couple time during that period without much outside interaction and I was able to discover real truth and growth from this experience.

I think we must leave room for God to work with people in many different ways and speeds. The bible can be most comforting, where many "Church communities" can be very condemning and judgmental, nor do they always make the bible the center of their community.

That brings us up to speed.

[Josh]

Marcus- I kinda forgot about this thread, but I have some thoughts I hope to get to on this soon.

[Kirby]

I was hoping you would start a thread on this...and I was hoping to discuss it at Pubagetics tonight!

[Josh]

OK, lets do it then.

I put a call in to Marcus to see if he can join us.

[sarah]

heard there was a rousing discussion on this last night! I would love to hear the details for those of us following along at home!

[Josh]

I was there and I'm wondering if anyone has the ability to sum it up. It was a good conversation but I know I don't have the mental energy just now

[Kirby]

I was there as well, and I am not sure we came to a solid consensus. I think it was agreed that Bible study within the context of community was more beneficial, but I was not convinced that it should be completely taken away from the individual. It was a good conversation.