Vaccinated or Not?

The challenges and costs (personal, corporate, national and global) of the current pandemic are severe enough. But the debate about vaccine types, brands and safety has added another dimension to people's concerns.

However I will use this post to mention another concern: the potential for communities to be divided between the vaccinated and the un-vaccinated.

There is much talk about the freedoms vaccinated people will have compared with those who have not been vaccinated when national and global restrictions are lifted.

There seems to be a fear held by many of the vaccinated about being in close proximity to the un-vaccinated, resulting in certain activities only being available to the vaccinated. Given that data currently available suggests vaccines are of most use to prevent serious disease and death, proximity to others is probably a mute point, especially when mask-wearing is often mandated.

However, I do not wish to discuss the medical side of this, but the social/moral cost that is looming, which is largely being ignored.

Although some citizens are required to be vaccinated by their governments or their workplaces, by and large vaccination is a personal choice - as is remaining un-vaccinated.
People need to make their own choices on their personal circumstances after sorting through the vast range of official and social media advice being offered.

With that choice made, each group has chosen its personal level of protection - and life should open up and return to "normal" with each group needing to respect the freedom of the other group to choose as they have decided.

I find this approach to be consistent with St Paul's instructions to first century Christians belonging to a multi-national church in Rome composed of Jews and Gentiles. Their backgrounds were clearly very different, as were their paths to church membership.

In the disputes that arose, mainly because the Jews wished to impose their path to membership on the Gentiles, there was great pressure on harmony in the church.

Romans chapters 14 and 15 are filled with wise advice on handling that situation. Here are some samples using the NIV translation.

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgement seat?
(14 : 10)
Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.
(14 : 13)
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
(14 : 19)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ has accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
(15 : 7)

I think we could use this advice as encouragement to accept and avoid being judgemental toward fellow saints who have made a different vaccine choice to us.

And, wherever God gives us the opportunity, to encourage others to adopt the same approach.

Blessings, Barry

Serious Big Picture Distractions

The last post, Keeping the Big Picture in View, was a reminder to keep God's Grand Plan in mind when observing and experiencing life's more challenging circumstances.
However there are sources other than life's sufferings and injustices that might distract us from keeping God's Big Picture in view.

The first is the misleading English Bible translations that most Christians own.

I have discussed this problem in several posts over the years so I won't take space here. But you can find two of them here and here; or just put "translation" in the search box on the right.

The most common and most misleading translation is the use of "eternal" when "aionian" or "eonian" or "of the age" should have been used.
And I have written about this many times too. You can find two posts here and here; or just put "age" or "aionian" in the search box.

However, the "eternal" mistranslations in English were initiated by very early (4th and 5th century AD) mistranslations between Greek and Latin, but the end result is the same. The difference between life in the coming kingdom and genuine eternal life has been hidden. Certainly believers (only) will have kingdom life, but others need to wait until the second resurrection for their preparation into eternity.

These mistranslations and the prophetic theology derived from them has produced doctrine that is so embedded in the mainstream churches that it is considered heretical to challenge it, even with accurate literal translations and the better theology they produce.

The second is the supply of misleading books and websites authored by Christians who don't know or accept God's Big Picture or build their theology on the mistranslations just mentioned.

We are blessed to have access to so much Bible teaching and discussion on the internet, as well as millions of books in print or in digital format.
However, we need to treat that abundance a bit like our shopping at a supermarket - choosing some to read while leaving others on the shelf.

And even after you dive into your selected site, you might still find some articles that appeal and some that don't.
I have some excellent sites that I learn so much from, yet they contain articles or points of view that conflict with God's Big Picture.

For example, the site For What Saith the Scriptures? authored by Shawn Brasseaux contains some excellent material.
Unfortunately, a few articles contain paragraphs that depart from Scripture.
Here is one of them:

God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; however, that does not mean that everyone will eventually go to heaven.
Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:10:“For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
While salvation from sin and hell is being offered to everyone through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, the phrase “specially of those that believe” proves that the merits of Christ’s work at Calvary cannot profit each individual until he or she trusts it.

Not only does Shawn fail to appreciate God's Grand Plan, but he actually contradicts it by filtering the verse through his own predetermined position (using terrible grammatical skills) to make his own position sound more Biblical than the Bible's.

You might see the poor grammar more easily with this parallel:
I like ice-cream, especially chocolate.
Shawn's grammar would accuse me of only liking chocolate ice-cream - which I can assure you is incorrect!

1 Timothy 4 : 10 correctly says that God will save all men, and of all the saved, believers have something special about them. Indeed they do. They are the Body of Christ, the Advance Party, through whom Christ administers the coming kingdom age.

So, although I learn much from this site, I am very cautious when reading an article that ignores or contradicts God's Grand Plan.

Now I can understand these commentators echoing traditional mainstream church doctrines based on faulty translations, because that's their starting point. But to actually change the text or contradict the text to uphold their doctrinal position is inexcusable.

So how do I avoid these distractions in my personal Bible Study?

I know the English words to watch out for in Bible translations - hell, eternal, forever and ever, torment, annihilation,  - and I am alert to the theology and points of view that deny or oppose God's Grand Plan of universal reconciliation. And I read Bibles and books and websites with these alert flags automatically in place.

But I wasn't always like this.
For many years, whenever I ran into poor Bible translation or interpretation or commentary (or author opinion) that contradicted what God had clearly declared in other parts of Scripture, I would give up reading that site (or that book).

In the case of books, there were many sitting on my shelves for years that I would never open again - and I would not give them away either as that would have me contributing to the distribution of false information (fake news, we call it these days).

But I have now changed my practice.
I now keep reading most authors for whatever sound teaching and commentary they are providing, but ignore or put a line through those parts that I can't align with Scripture or that contradict God's Grand Plan.

I seem to be following the advice given by Charles C. Ryrie in the Foreword of a book on Eschatology on my shelves:

The author's consideration of the Biblical material is thorough and thought-provoking. His conclusions will not always meet with full agreement even by those who share his approach, but those who read this book cannot help but be instructed and stimulated by his work.

Many years ago, I remember being dumb-struck by an author who seemed to be correct in so many areas and yet seemed horribly incorrect in another. I had spoken openly about my amazement of this author's apparent blind spot, when one young staff member said to me, "Barry, if he was correct in everything, you would worship him."

How profound!
I have since believed that God is not going to reveal all of His truth to any single person or group for that reason.
So I don't expect any author or teacher or preacher to have everything sewn up any longer.

And that surely includes me!
I still have many questions to be answered and points of understanding to be resolved, even though I spend many hours a week trying (especially during Victoria's "endless" lock downs).
I always write my theology in pencil. 😀

So I supermarket shop my way through books, websites and Bible translations - taking what is helpful to understanding and appreciating God's Grand Plan to reconcile all things to Himself and leaving other items on the shelf.

Blessings, Barry