Using Scripture's terms and phrases

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Bootstrap
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Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by Bootstrap »

Ernie wrote this in another thread:
Ernie wrote:More and more I am urging the teams that I am a part of to use scriptural terminology and phraseology as much as possible whenever we talk about debatable topics. We may mean different things but at least we will be using the same terminology/phraseology and it leaves open the possibility that we or the next generation will eventually believe the same thing.

Whenever we start using different terminology/phraseolgy that is not found in the Bible, there is a 99% chance that we or the next generation will eventually believe different things.
I think this is important. If you want to understand Scripture, thinking with the same terms and phrases Scripture uses really helps. We have often built a lot of theologies and understandings on top of Scripture, and rely on them instead of continually returning to Scripture.
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cmbl
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by cmbl »

Bootstrap wrote:Ernie wrote this in another thread:
Ernie wrote:More and more I am urging the teams that I am a part of to use scriptural terminology and phraseology as much as possible whenever we talk about debatable topics. We may mean different things but at least we will be using the same terminology/phraseology and it leaves open the possibility that we or the next generation will eventually believe the same thing.

Whenever we start using different terminology/phraseolgy that is not found in the Bible, there is a 99% chance that we or the next generation will eventually believe different things.
I think this is important. If you want to understand Scripture, thinking with the same terms and phrases Scripture uses really helps. We have often built a lot of theologies and understandings on top of Scripture, and rely on them instead of continually returning to Scripture.
I agree with these. It's especially helpful to stay close to the Scripture on areas where one knows the debate exists. For example, I've met a man who attends Beachy who says that he is quite careful to use the Biblical terms "Father" "Son of God" "Jesus" "Son of Man" and "Holy Spirit" when talking to his Oneness Pentecostal family. Now in my case, I come from an evangelical Protestant background which shares the CA view on the Trinity, but I might want to use only Biblical terms when talking about things like discipleship, salvation, justification, faith, and works.
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Wade
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by Wade »

The word discipleship isn't in the Bible. So what is the biblical term for discipleship?
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by cmbl »

Wade wrote:The word discipleship isn't in the Bible. So what is the biblical term for discipleship?
Oops! Maybe something like Jesus saying "Follow me" or "whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me."
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Wade
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by Wade »

cmbl wrote:
Wade wrote:The word discipleship isn't in the Bible. So what is the biblical term for discipleship?
Oops! Maybe something like "Follow me."
I didn't mean for it to be directed at you. I use that term too but now I am considering what is the right way to go about using it and others:

What is the biblical term for Individualism?
I don't mean to cause grief but - Trinity?
Age of accountability?
Rapture?
Pietism?
Eschatology, exegetical, and words like these go right over my head...

The scripture doesn't actual use the word non-resistance - I think it is a great word but how do we apply this to words like it?
Or non-conformity instead of "be not conformed"...?

Is this why more Anabaptist would be more comfortable with "pouring," with baptism because the word immersion isn't in scripture?

This has been a real big challenge learning the Christian "language." It has been many times I thought I was agreeing with someone only to find I had the wording mixed up and they were trying to politely maybe correct me and I've walked away confused... And only realized much later when the "language" sinks in a bit more... These words still can confuse...
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by ohio jones »

Any discussion on the use of specific words and phrases presumes a prior agreement on the use of a specific translation. Are we using the vocabulary of the 1769 KJV, or something more recent? Maybe we should be conversing amongst ourselves in Greek and Hebrew if we want to be more rigorously scriptural (Αυτό δεν θα ήταν μια καλή ιδέα).

I don't have a problem with translating theological terminology into more contemporary language if it communicates better to someone with an unchurched background. However, we do need to stay as close as possible to biblical concepts and use unambiguous words (or clearly define them when necessary).
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by Neto »

I don't exactly dislike this idea, but it is possible to spew out the "Biblically correct" terms all day long, and not know what they mean. (I right away think of stuff like 'propitiation'.)
Also, sometimes a group or a person will use a familiar term, but in their mind it means something else entirely. Like within Liberation Theology. It was fairly new in terms of its exposure in the West when I went to Bible college, and was presented in a mostly favorable light. But when you really get into it, you will realize that it is Marxism couched in Biblical terms. For them, 'sin' is social injustice, and 'salvation' is freedom from social injustice.
A co-worker once asked me if I was a "Born-Again Christian". I asked them what that was, and they proceeded to tell me that a 'born-again Christian' is someone who was born in the church, left, then came back. A Christian, by way of contrast, was a person who did not grow up in the church, but then joined the church. There was another one, but unfortunately I don't remember what it was. (This was not just a single person, but a couple of my co-workers, and they agreed on the meaning of these terms.) So sometimes it is important to use different terminology, or carefully define it. In that case, a simple yes-no question became an opportunity to explain the new birth, the Gospel, really.

[Edited to add: OhioJones posted before me while I was writing this. I agree with his comments as well.]
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Bootstrap
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by Bootstrap »

ohio jones wrote:Maybe we should be conversing amongst ourselves in Greek and Hebrew if we want to be more rigorously scriptural (Αυτό δεν θα ήταν μια καλή ιδέα).
Not in Google Translate Greek ;=> That's modern Greek, not Koine.
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by Bootstrap »

Wade wrote:The word discipleship isn't in the Bible. So what is the biblical term for discipleship?
But disciples is.
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Re: Using Scripture's terms and phrases

Post by appleman2006 »

Neto wrote:I don't exactly dislike this idea, but it is possible to spew out the "Biblically correct" terms all day long, and not know what they mean. (I right away think of stuff like 'propitiation'.)
Also, sometimes a group or a person will use a familiar term, but in their mind it means something else entirely. Like within Liberation Theology. It was fairly new in terms of its exposure in the West when I went to Bible college, and was presented in a mostly favorable light. But when you really get into it, you will realize that it is Marxism couched in Biblical terms. For them, 'sin' is social injustice, and 'salvation' is freedom from social injustice.
A co-worker once asked me if I was a "Born-Again Christian". I asked them what that was, and they proceeded to tell me that a 'born-again Christian' is someone who was born in the church, left, then came back. A Christian, by way of contrast, was a person who did not grow up in the church, but then joined the church. There was another one, but unfortunately I don't remember what it was. (This was not just a single person, but a couple of my co-workers, and they agreed on the meaning of these terms.) So sometimes it is important to use different terminology, or carefully define it. In that case, a simple yes-no question became an opportunity to explain the new birth, the Gospel, really.

[Edited to add: OhioJones posted before me while I was writing this. I agree with his comments as well.]
And I agree with both of you. You saved me a lot of time. :)
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