Culture And The Bible.

[Scott Hutchinson]

We know that the Bible is the sole rule of faith for Christians throughout the ages and all cultures , and God's principles don't change.
Yet the Bible was wrote in another place and another time ,so when we read the scriptures how much bearing does culture have in making application of the scriptures ?
Does culture have any bearing at all when reading certain passages of scripture ?
Or does it have no bearing at all ? Or does it really matter ?
We know that God's purpose is eternal and yet God's church in culturally diverse.

[Scott Hutchinson]

Any thoughts anyone ?

[Sam]

All Scripture is written for us
but
not all Scripture is written to us.

Some things in the Bible are descriptive.
Other things are prescriptive.

Some times we have a problem deciding which is which.

[Sister Alvear]

I spoke about this to my children this week...am anxious to read posts how people feel about this.

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

We know that the Bible is the sole rule of faith for Christians throughout the ages and all cultures , and God's principles don't change.
Yet the Bible was wrote in another place and another time ,so when we read the scriptures how much bearing does culture have in making application of the scriptures ?
Does culture have any bearing at all when reading certain passages of scripture ?
Or does it have no bearing at all ? Or does it really matter ?
We know that God's purpose is eternal and yet God's church in culturally diverse.

One must consider the cultures in which the Bible was written when trying to determine what the authors meant by what they wrote but we have no business basing our interpretation of scripture on the worldly cultures in which we live today - particularly since the Christian's "culture" is that of the kingdom of God.

[Scott Hutchinson]

Well would a scripture like greet each other with a holy kiss be done by Christian men today ? Or would Christian brothers and sisters kiss each other in a fourier of a church ?

[Scott Hutchinson]

Originally Posted by Chan

One must consider the cultures in which the Bible was written when trying to determine what the authors meant by what they wrote but we have no business basing our interpretation of scripture on the worldly cultures in which we live today - particularly since the Christian's "culture" is that of the kingdom of God.

Don't fall over and the sky isn't going to fall today ,but I do agree with you at least I hope my spelling is correct.

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

Well would a scripture like greet each other with a holy kiss be done by Christian men today ?

In Europe and the Middle East, yes.

Or would Christian brothers and sisters kiss each other in a fourier of a church ?

One would have to determine what a "holy kiss" actually is and how it was practiced in the first century Church.

My point, of course, was that we are not to use modern cultures as the basis for interpreting scripture - in other words, we should not try to conform the Bible to modern cultures.

[Scott Hutchinson]

So in other words we must determine what is Biblical law and what is mere social custom and convention.

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

So in other words we must determine what is Biblical law and what is mere social custom and convention.

That is part of interpreting scripture, yes.