A much worse problem, however, is when people insist that God speaks to them, God whispers something to them in “still small voice,” that God is active in prophesying, particularly in the so-called developing world. I personally have never seen any of these witnesses to these events reference Deut. 13 and 18 as the test as to whether these prophecies are from God or not. Additionally I have heard more than one person say that God talks to them, but what He says is not 100% all the time accurate (I heard recently a popular pastor from the Pacific Northwest claim that God gave him sexually explicit visions of different people in extra-marital affairs, but he qualified what he said by saying that the visions were not always accurate).

Deut. 18:22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

What improved my writing skills the most was a course I took in college that required me to edit and re-write a paper several times. If you have the time and would like to submit to me a pre-draft that would be great, although certainly not required.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for doing a great job of keeping up with everything.

In this message Dr.Cone gives some more detailed subject for students to remember and apply in our interpretation of the Bible. The followings are:
1. the verifying of texts and translations (versions)…..,looking for a unit thought & idea, compering translations.
2. background and context: primarily historical narrative;complimentary historical narrative; poetry & praise;prophecy; epistles; the kinds of the documents.
3.Identifying the structure of the book we are dealing with.
4.Grammatical&syntax keys-looking how words fit together,sentences…..
5.Lexical keys- dealing with key words.
6.Identifying Biblical context.
7.Theological context.
8.Secondary verification: checking and testing the conclusions of our work….
9.Development of exposition.

All these are not easy to work with and that requires all of our efforts,patient, and diligence.

Other than the scriptural references put forward to justify eternal security, there is a theological rational that is present. This can be addressed by three questions that may be asked to those who would challenge eternal security. (1) If someone can lose their salvation, how can they tell they have lost it? How do you know at what point the loss occurred? Objective proof is required. (2) How much can someone sin and get away with it? (3) If someone could and did lose their salvation, when and how can they know they have received it back?

Since I cannot save myself, and there is nothing I can do to contribute toward my salvation, there is therefore nothing I can do to get myself unsaved. Salvation was a gift. Assurance rests not on emotional experience, but on the authoritative testimony to Christ’s saving work. It also includes the deep personal conviction created by the Holy Spirit in the heart that sins have been forgiven and one is adopted into the family of God; belonging to Him forever.

In contrast, the ideas that biblical counseling offers are very similar to the counter part of psychology. There are certain methods that are implemented that have been prearranged. In this model one has been set up as an authority called counselor, which then helps the counselee. After predetermined amount of time (50 minutes once a week) one will be assigned homework to complete. In my estimation the counselor has removed the Helper (Holy Spirit) from the relationship and has step into role of trying to search the persons inner most thoughts through methodologies to try and have a favorable outcome.

Russ

Leon reviews the book of “Christ-Centered Ministry vs Problem-center ”. The issue at hand in the way that psychology and Biblical counseling is problem centered paradigm versus what the Spirit of God can do through a person that puts their faith in Him to lead, guide, encourage them as they go through their troubles in life. It is the responsibility of everyone in the church to encourage, lift up, to minister to one another. As one is led and under the submission of the Spirit of God one will be able to be available to minister soul to soul with other believers.

Russ

Dr. Ray reviewed mistakes that students made in their research papers and gave advice on how to make corrections. An example of this is being less vague when making a definitive statement. This is helpful so the reader can understand what you’re trying to claim and why it matters. He also stressed the proper formatting of your paper according to the standards set by the Professor of your course.

In this week’s lecture on Hermeneutics, Dr. Cone discusses “Identifying Theological Context”. This process involves several steps. The first step is to identify the theological principles in the passage. The key words identified from the previous word study will help with this process. The second step is to connect the principles to the overall context of the book. This process involves explaining how the principle relates to the whole book in which the passage of study is located, and to verify whether or not we understand the principle correctly. The next step is to compare with far reaching context. This step involves figuring out how the principle compares with other related passages from other Biblical books of the Bible. During the lecture, Dr. Cone also discussed what progressive revelation and cumulative revelation mean. Dr. Cone also touched on the Canonical Dogmatic approach used by the Catholic Church, which asserts that only the Church has the authority to interpret scripture.

In this week’s reading of Basic Bible Interpretation, Dr. Zuck discusses “Testing the Types and Sensing the Symbols” chapter 8. Dr. Zuck focuses on what a “type” is, as it relates to the Bible. A “type” is defined as, “an Old Testament person, event or thing having historical reality and designed by God to prefigure in a preparatory way a real person, event, or thing so designated in the New Testament and that corresponds to and fulfills the type.” Dr. Zuck also defines “antitype” which means, “answering to the type” or “counterpart” to the type. There are several characteristics of a “type”: 1) Resemblance – a notable resemblance or correspondence between the type and the antitype; 2) Historical Reality – historical reality in both the type and the antitype; 3) Prefiguring – a prefiguring or predictive foreshadowing of the antitype by the type; 4) Heightening – a heightening in which the antitype is greater than the type; 5) Divine Design – can divine design be observed in the relationship between the type and the antitype? Dr. Zuck also covered “symbols”, and defined the word as “Some object (real or imagined) or action, which is assigned a meaning for the purpose of depicting rather than stating the qualities of something else.” Dr. Zuck states that whereas type represents something to come, a symbol has no time reference. Throughout the Bible the use of symbolic numbers, names and colors have been used to depict people (docile believers), places (Israel), or things (seven churches).

In this week’s reading of Classical Evangelical Hermeneutics, Dr. Couch covers the “Principles of Hermeneutics”. Dr. Couch asserts that there must be a consistency in applying hermeneutic guidelines to Biblical interpretation. Dr. Couch suggests that a spiritual attitude is key to the interpretive process. The following guidelines should be followed by the interpreter when interpreting scripture: 1) The interpreter must be grounded in faith; 2) Believe in the plenary verbal inspiration theory, which means the Bible is completely inspired; 3) Understand the Scriptures in their original autographs; 4) Be guided by the Holy Spirit; 5) Recognize that he has the duty to search the Word of God in his quest for the truth; 6) Must be objective; 7) Recognize that the Bible is a spiritual book, and it speaks to the issues of the soul, spirit and mind; 8) Believe the word of God is capable of yielding meaningful theological interpretation; 9) Realize that all the Word of God points to the revelation of Jesus Christ; 10) Must become familiar with the original languages; 11) Have some understanding of human behavior, ancient history, sociology, geography, sciences, and liberal arts; 12) Have good observation skills; 13) Use inductive reasoning; 14) Understand the meaning and practical application of the passage of study; 15) Learn to study with discipline. Dr. Couch also listed foundational principles that the interpreter must be aware of, which include the following: scripture interprets scripture, scripture cannot contradict scripture, words are to be read in their normal literal sense, allegorical interpretation must be rejected, and all literary devices depend on the literal normal use of language. The chapter also covered eleven steps to beginning the process of interpreting the scriptures and the seven-step responsibility of the interpreter.

In this week’s reading of Prolegomena, Dr. Cone covers the fundamental step of “Identify Theological Context”. Dr. Cone lists four steps in the process. The first step listed is to identify theological principles in the passage. This step involves using the key words to establish a significant theological framework. The second step is to connect the principles to the overall context of the book. This step involves comparing the passage of study with other related passages within the book. The third step is to compare with far reaching contexts to verify the theological principles. This step involves comparing the passage of study with other related passages within other books of the Bible. The fourth step is to summarize the themes and principles based on the context. This step will help determine our understanding of the theological principles within the passage of study and the book.