A terrible “war of the worlds,” Rev. 12:7, engages a new planet, where a snake in a garden charms naked humans, Gen. 2-3.  It’s an astounding story with real angels and demons—but it’s not mainly about the “war.”  It’s much more about a creator God, Jn. 5:39, who represents ultimate love and perfect goodness.  His enemy and ours is an ultimately evil hater, Jn. 8:44, bent on destroying our planet.

There are many other supposedly “holy books” we could read, but none of them claims to tell the story of our planet “from beginning to end.”  They aren’t really “storybooks.”  None tracks the history of the all-encompassing issues of good and evil, and none contains a being anything like the God of the Bible.

So how should we read this story?  Take it literally, or symbolically?  Look for scientific proof that those stupendous events really happened?  Should we engage in endless debates about metaphysics, science and literature—or better, learn to know the God of the Bible?  The story itself is thrilling, but if we don’t get acquainted with its God, Jer. 9:24, we’ve missed the whole point.

The Bible is organized into two “testaments,” an old one and a new one.  If we read the story as written, these are the testimonies of many “eyewitnesses,” Lk. 1:2, humans who in one way or another came into contact with God, and then reported their experience and its results for us to consider.  They testified about God, Acts 23:11, and it’s for us to believe their story—or not.

But we should not make that decision before we read it, just accepting whatever we’ve been told.  Instead, let’s read the story with an open mind and then make our decision.  We might try to imagine ourselves alongside the people who “lived” the story.  What would the supernatural contacts have been like, as in Gen. 15 or Ex. 19?  Would we react the same way they did? 

Ultimately, of course, we want to know whether to believe It.  But what if it’s deliberately presented in a way that nobody else can decide that for us, as in Josh. 24:15?  If the decision about “truth” is up to us—that makes it even more important to read the story!

Recently I started a new Bible reading schedule. I have been reading aloud for about 20 minutes every morning. I seem to be on schedule to finish the Old Testament and the New Testament within a year. I'll keep you all updated :)

Do you have a Bible reading schedule? If so, what is it?

Hey everyone! I am very new to reading the bible and had kind of a strange (in a good way) thing happen to me just yesterday that I have been trying to figure the meaning out of. I'm hoping you all can help!

As I was reading the bible verse John 12:36 "Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light" (NLT), I was in a semi-dark room. Seconds before I read this verse, someone opened a door and light flooded into the room so much so that it was blinding me!

I'm trying to determine if that was God or Jesus Christ sending me a message (if so, what do you interpret?), or just a coincidence?

Thank you all for the help in advance!

John 14 is a famous chapter in the Bible that speaks of the "Father's house" (v. 2). There have been various interpretations of what this house is referring to. But just as it should be with any verse or passage in the Bible, this topic needs to be addressed in its context in at least three levels: in its immediate context (usually the whole chapter), in the context of the entire book (the Gospel of John), and then in the context of the entire Bible.

In its immediate context, we see that this place, called "My Father's house" is a place where there are many "abodes" (noun form of the word "abide"/"dwell"). The same use "abode" is used in verse 23 of the same chapter, where Jesus speaks of He coming with the Father take make an "abode" with those that love Him.

Interestingly, Jesus talks about "My Father's house" in another place in the Gospel other than John 14. It is all the way in chapter 2 when He goes into the temple and cleanses it, calling His "Father's house."

Lastly, looking at the Bible as whole, we can see that on the one hand the church is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), and on the other hand, God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 7:48; 17:24).

By putting all these together (and the verses surrounding those mentioned above), the Father's house must refer to the church as the spiritual house of God where God dwells with and in man and man dwells with and in God. This is an amazing reality and entity that the believers in Christ can experience today (John 15:4)!

What is your take on the "Father's house"?

In the Bible, heaven represents God (Luke 15:21) and earth represents man (Isa. 4:2). A great application of this analogy is in John 1:51 where Jesus, as the one who joins God and man, refers to Himself as Jacob's ladder that joined heaven and earth (Gen. 28:12).

This understanding of the symbolic uses of heaven and earth renders a great help in understanding the Bible as a whole. For example, just as the earth was initially created and formed in an orderly fashion and with the intention to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18), man too was created and formed in the image of God and with the intention to be inhabited by God (Gen. 1:26; Eph. 2:22; cf. Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 3:17).

Through the fall, this image was marred and God would not inhabit a corrupted man. But Christ has come to reconcile man to God, and to give us access unto Him, thus joining God and man (Rom. 5:10; Eph. 2:18; John 1:51). Now heaven and earth are joined as one, and God and man can mutually indwell one another (John 14:20; 15:4; 17:21, 23) for eternity in a mutual eternal satisfaction.

This post talks about what the Bible is in a general sense. In this post, I would like to start exploring what the Bible says about itself.

In the Bible, there are instances of commandments, directing certain ones to scribe the divine revelation on a physical medium. One of the first examples are found in Exodus 17:14, which reads,

And Jehovah said to Moses, Write this as a memorial in a book and recite to Joshua…

In the last book of the New Testament we find this:

And He who sits on the throne said,…Write, for these words are faithful and true. (Revelation 21:5)

So the Bible (meaning book in Greek), is the collection of the writings of the divine revelation. Within the Bible, these writings are referred to as the γραφὰς (meaning writings), often translated as the scriptures (2 Pet. 3:16; Rom. 1:2; John 5:39).

The following verses help illuminate a particular characteristic of these scriptures:

…no prophecy (of Scripture) was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holly Spirit (2 Peter 1:21; cf. v. 20)

All Scripture is God-breated and profitable for teaching… (2 Timothy 3:16).

These verses clarify that the source of the Bible is God Himself. These writings were not something manufactured by men or according to men's will, but it originated from God and even is God's breathing out.

This makes the Bible, at the very least, the most special book known to mankind.

Hello! I created a Bible iOS app to make the Bible more accessible to blind and visually impaired users,

Having worked in accessibility for years, I created a Bible app thats easy to read for people who are blind and/or visually impaired, including being able to massively increase the text size. Any feedback is welcome.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible-chat-widgets-audio/id387597113

In Matthew 4 is a record of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. In the three cases that are recorded, each time Jesus responds and is victorious over the tempter by the application of the word of God. I believe that these three cases give us a tremendous help in understanding how to read & handle the Bible.

In the first case, Jesus says,

But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” (v. 4)

This highlights that the word of God should be first and foremost our life supply, strengthening and building up our souls, akin to what the physical bread is for our bodies. It is when the word is handled in a proper way, not merely mentally or analytically, but in spiritually dynamic way (cf. John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:15-16), that the word can be a supply to our souls.

In the second case, the devil tempts him by also quoting the Bible. Jesus responds,

Again, it is written, “You shall not test the Lord your God. (v. 7)

In saying, "Again," it brings out the point that the Bible cannot be quoted in a vacuum. The Bible is a united whole. Each verse must be balanced & checked with another verse—the Scripture must interpret the Scripture (cf. Isa. 28:10, 13).

Lastly, in the third case, Jesus responds to Satan by quoting from Deuteronomy,

Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. (v. 10)

This seems to call attention to the "weightier" matters of the word of God (cf. Matt. 23:23). One could argue that once Jesus receives all the kingdoms of the world, he could have given it to God. But it would have caused him to break the word of God. It is far more crucial to worship God than to receive all the kingdoms of the world.

To summarize, the Bible must be:

1. Received as our life supply.
2. Interpreted by the Bible.
3. Taken with the proper emphasis.

If we take the Bible in these three ways, it will become to a life supply for our spiritual growth and a weapon of warfare to defeat the devil.

I was thinking about how there are so many people who want to know about God, but do not have a church to go to, and then I came across a post on another social site that there are a lot more people who are thinking the same thing. And then the verses Jesus tells his disciples about the children came to mind. The verses are in Matthew 18:3-4 ~

"Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Reading the Bible without a church, we should approach it like a child who approaches anything new to them. There are a lot of reason why people don't go to church, but that doesn't mean they can't read the Bible. We only need the understanding God gives us when we read the Bible. And then a beatitude came to mind: Matthew 5:9 ~

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

Religion, like politics, has become so controversial, and I believe it was because of the churches and their religions. That's why in Revelations 2:1 - 2:14, Jesus calls the churches out. ((I can't make these things up.) The churches have been harboring pdfs, and then they cover it up. That's a whole other topic.

I was Catholic, lost my religion, and God showed me what it is like to believe and have faith in Him so I continue reading the Bible as well. And I suggest to approach it like a child. Humble yourself, pray to God for guidance, and ALWAYS do the right thing by not judging.

“Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.”
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬ ‭KJV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/1/2sa.9.10.KJV

The Bible app has a typo in it and I’m not sure where to submit the typo to lol, if anyone knows how please report it!

The Book of Revelations is the book that tells us that everything will be revealed. The bad will be revealed to the good destroying the bad.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12

A principality is an order of angelic hierarchy (the fallen angels); the powers are those in power, and the rulers are those who rule, but they use their powers rule the darkness of this world; the high places are those who are held at a higher standard than he average person, but they practice spiritual wickedness.

Epstein and the files were hidden from us for decades. The truth about UFOs and aliens are still being hidden from us. Now they are lying about the war with Iran, and who knows what else they have not been telling us. Like who really killed Charlie Kirk, and was his wife in on it? They are rulers of the darkness of this world because they keep their secrets that will only harm themselves in the end.

So if anybody out there is keeping secrets, just know that you too are with the darkness. For those of you who practice any kind of spirituality like yoga, and of course witchcraft, are wicked. Also, know that it will be revealed. "No stone shall be unturned." because the "truth shall set you free." Stay in the light and you will shine during the night for others who need your guidance to stay right.

What words would you use to describe what the Bible is about in 3 words, 2 words, and 1 word?

Here is my take:

3 Words: God. New Jerusalem.
2 Words: Humanization. Divinization.
1 Words: Grace.

Explanation:

The Bible begins with God creating the universe in the beginning. And it is followed by focusing on His work in creating man and being involved with man throughout history to redeem and save them to the point that they become a city in which God Himself will dwell (Rev. 21:22), New Jerusalem (v. 3).

The above is accomplished through the humanization of God, that is, God becoming human (John 1:14). By putting on the human nature, Jesus the God-man could shed His blood to redeem man. Now, those who believe in the gospel can experience divinization, that is, becoming divine, partaking of the divine nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4). By the humanization of God and the divinization of man God will obtain the New Jerusalem.

When God became human, it is said that He was full of grace and truth. In fact, the coming of Jesus was the coming of grace (John 1:17). Grace is, therefore, who He was in His becoming what we are (human). Furthermore, we are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8), grow in grace (2 Pet. 3:18), receive grace upon grace (John 1:16), so that by grace we may become what He is (divine). So grace is who He is in becoming what we are making us what He is. Hence, both humanization and divinization are included in this wonderful word: grace.

Would love to hear your thoughts & takes!

I've long appreciated how the Bible began:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

I understood and still do understand this verse to have many implications. For example, it declares that God is the source of all the created order. This puts Him in a unique category, making Him transcendent of time, space, matter, and the natural laws that govern them. This verse also puts forth a significant (long-rejected-but-now-virtually-unanimously-agreed-upon) thought that the universe had a beginning, that it was not eternal.

These are all important thoughts that have metaphysical and universal implications. However, recently, I was helped to see that there is something more being conveyed in this verse.

Revelation 4:11 is such a verse that, in my view, really expounds Genesis 1:1. It read,

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because of Your will they were and were created.

This verse seems to open a window to show us not only that God created, but why He created. The act of creation by God was not an arbitrary activity, as if He got bored and had nothing better to do. Rather, there was a definite intention, a sublime will, which impelled Him to create.

So in a sense one can argue that the rest of the Bible, following Genesis 1:1, is a gradual unveiling of God's will because of which He created the heavens and the earth, and how God accomplishes that will throughout the history of time.

Now, the question is, what is this will?

I have created a list of all the English Bible translations with updates, let me know what you think.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fud1t5DM0HqHhaJnQpuvH68Wv64RD4uDei9D29oSGsI/edit?usp=drivesdk

"[God] Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things, through whom also He made the universe;" (Hebrews 1:2)

The Bible is a library of texts by multiple writers in varying styles. What one word would you use to describe what the entire Bible is about?

Throughout history, the doctrine of the Trinity has been debated over, misunderstood, misrepresented, and opposed. Some argue that it's an idea invented in the fourth century. Some are opposed to the term since it's not explicitly found in the Bible. I found at least one subreddit that is entirely dedicated to oppose the doctrine of the Trinity.

In this post I would like to come to the crux of the issue. In dealing with this matter, I feel there are two extremes. On the one extreme, some insist on creedal formulation of the Trinity, saying that if one does not use the traditional terminologies, his or her teaching concerning the Trinity is dubious or even heretical. On the other extreme, there are those who reject the concept outright because of the lack of the exact term Trinity in the Bible. The first group should then consider Jesus and all the writers of the Scriptures (prophets and apostles) as dubious or heretical, since they never used the creedal formulation or the traditional terminologies that are common today. The second group should not even be talking about the Bible because the term Bible , in the sense that it is being used to refer to the entirety of the divinely inspired Scripture, is not found in the Bible either.

I present here that the word Trinity is used to denote the concept found in the Bible concerning a particular characteristic of God. So the real question is not whether or not the write terminologies are used, nor whether or not the word Trinity is present in the Bible. The real question is how is God described in the Bible? I would like to present some key verses below to let the readers decide for themselves.

1. There is a singular God who created all things—Genesis 1:1 (the morphology of the verb "created" in Hebrew shows that the subject God is singular)
2. This singular creator God is identified as YHVH—Gen. 2:4 (Jehovah in traditional English rendering)
3. Jehovah God is one—Deut. 6:4
4. Jehovah God is described with an aspect of plurality—Gen. 1:26; 3:22; Isa. 6:8 ("Let Us", "of Us", "for Us"); Gen. 19:24; Zech. 2:8-11 (more than one Jehovahs)
5. Jehovah God is described as the Father—Isa. 63:16; 64:8
6. Jesus, the Son of God, is Jehovah—Heb. 4:14; John 12:36-41; Rom. 10:9-13
7. The Spirit of Jehovah—the Holy Spirit—is Jehovah—2 Sam. 23:2-3; Isa. 6:9-10 + Acts 28:25-27;
8. The Father is God and is eternal—1 Pet. 1:2; Isa. 9:6
9. The Son is God and is eternal—2 Pet. 1:1; Heb. 1:8, 12
10. The Spirit is God and is eternal—Acts 5:3-4; Heb. 9:14
11. The Father and the Son and the Spirit are distinct—Matt. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 13:14
12. The Father and the Son and the Spirit are inseparably one—John 10:30, 38; 14:9-11, 16-20, 26; 15:26; Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17

If the term Trinity incorporates the twelve points above, whether it is expressed in traditional or creedal formulation or not, it should be considered an orthodox teaching found in the Bible.

What are your go-to verses to show the Trinity? Or, what are your go-to verses to counter the concept of the Trinity?

"You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

How is this possible?