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When reading Scripture it is important to get the sense of what we read. Many read Scripture and claim to accept it as authoritative, but are led astray because they do not get the sense of what they read. Some religious bodies do not entirely accept Scripture and only take out of it what agrees with their own thinking, or to put it another way, what they find acceptable. Others take the ground of accepting Scripture as authoritative, but add bits to it. The former are taking from Scripture; the latter are adding to it (see Revelation 22:18/19 and Deuteronomy 4:2). Both are wrong. The infidel takes from Scripture, the Roman Catholic Church adds to it. In Christ’s day the Sadducees did the former (Acts 23:8); the Pharisees the latter (Mark 7:1-13). We ought to accept all of Scripture and no more. In legal terms Scripture, all Scripture and nothing but Scripture. See Matthew 5:17-20 |
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However, one is not particularly concerned with the above, but with those who either materialise spiritual conceptions or spiritualise material ones. There is flesh and there is spirit; hence Paul tells us to “purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7: 1). A Roman Catholic materialises spiritual things (for instance, Christ’s body and blood are said to be physically the communion bread and wine when these have been blessed). However, the Christian Scientist avowedly spiritualises away material things (“Divine metaphysics explains away matter” Science and Health page 278). We have therefore to ensure that we do not fall into either ditch. The value of material things is that they often enable us to get some idea of spiritual things, for example, the physical air enables us to get some idea of the Holy Spirit. However we must not mix up the two. The disciples were clearly breathing ordinary air when they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). |
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When Christ was on earth there was a clear tendency with the Jews and the disciples to give a material meaning to Christ’s utterances. This is particularly pronounced in John’s Gospel, though it is also apparent in the other Gospels. To give a few examples: in John’s Gospel Nicodemus confused being born anew (a spiritual matter) with a second physical birth (John 3:1-8). The woman of Samaria confused |