How often do we hear sayings that are not found in the Bible? Of course we do! The English language contains thousands of “wise” sayings that, while partially truthful, are not found in the Scriptures. Nevertheless, people will sometimes assert that they are. I am reminded of a particular story of an old woman who told a preacher, “You know what the Bible says: just grin and bear it.” The preacher replied by saying, “And where is that in the Scriptures?” The old woman proceeded to insist that it was there, and she stated that it was somewhere in Paul’s letter to the Deuteronomite.
This story, while comical, is a sad reflection of how easy it is to believe wise sayings are biblical. A long time ago, this problem used to be referred to as “chimney corner Scriptures.” This phrase arose in a time when everyone had a fireplace in his home, and older men or women would gather around it and discuss the Scriptures. During these discussions, someone would insist that a particular saying was biblical, and usually, the group would not dispute it.
So, what would be some examples of a “chimney corner Scripture”? Essentially, any saying that one insists is in the Scriptures would fall into this category. Have you ever heard the saying “all’s well that ends well”? What about “out of sight, out of mind”? Are these sayings found
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In the Galatian letter, Paul offers a stern rebuke to the Christians there for accepting false teachings. In fact, they had turned aside to what he describes as a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:6-10). Undoubtedly, this “different gospel” sounded good. But was it really good? Most certainly not! We live in a deceitful world, and Satan seeks to find ways to infiltrate a Christian’s life and lead him/her astray. Chimney corner Scriptures are merely one avenue he might
During the early 1900s, the south was full of religious fervor. Most small communities were based around two or three church families. Cold Sassy Tree, which is a recounting of Will’s memories, contains many references to religion and God. Rucker Blakeslee,...
The Poisonwood Bible is the story of an evangelical Baptist preacher named Nathan Price who uproots his wife and four daughters from the modern culture of America and moves them to the Kilanga Village in the Belgian Congo as missionaries. He is bullheaded and obstinate in all his ways. His approach is inflexible, unsympathetic, and unaccepting of the culture and customs of the people of Kilanga. Nathan Price exemplifies the words of Romans 2:4 that says, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” He did not share the goodness of God, but sought to spread his uncompromising pious agenda. Instead of leading people to God he turned them away.
The author used “firey pit” to put the image of burning inside of unconverted sinners head when
The Gospel of Thomas is considered to be a non-canonical collection of sayings of Jesus that reportedly have been dictated to the apostle Thomas. Some of the statements within the Gnostic Scriptures are extremely bizarre and could not have possibly been said by Jesus of Nazareth. In contrast, some of the statements parallel with parables or statements that are present in the New Testament of the bible. While not all are included, some statements that readers can conclude came from the Jesus of Nazareth are described and their parallel to the New Testament is explored.
As a book that represents the very belief system of Christians everywhere, the bizarre man transforms a book that “ought to be in the parlor” into a book of faithless in order to represent his empty and irreligious belief system. Simply put, the man presumed to be Manley Pointer had beliefs as hollow as his bible and he used that lack of belief to exploit peoples’ assumptions of his character. That is to say that, when it comes to this “salesman,” there is more than meets the
Where, when, why, and by whom Galatians was written as well as the issue, of Paul's authority, addressed by him in his letter and the primary themes are all important in order to understand this book. "The Letter of Paul to the Galatians" is the ninth book of the New Testament in the Bible. It is one of the ten Pauline books, and there are three more books that are possibly Pauline. Galatians is one the Pauline letters that has little debate of authorship attributing it to Paul. "In the long period of critical studies in the New Testament there have been very few who have questioned the Pauline authorship of this epistle" (Guthrie, 1).
Following is the Evangelical theology which evolved from the Pietism and Revivalist movement (Olson 33). Charles Finney, a leader in Evangelism, emphasized the need and ability to evangelize the world while also maintaining the power of free will” thereby influencing all but not trying to control the mind of the masses (Lane 253, 254). As well as being a supreme authority Evangelist’s believe that because the Bible was written by man through God’s instruction the Bible is both fully man’s and God’s (256). Furthermore, because the words written by man come directly from God the Bible is God’s holy word and everything it contains is true (257). The Evangelicals believed that “the Bible is the supreme authority for faith and practice” and it is Christ who redeemed us through the cross (Bingham 162).
his aunt ran over to him and asked him why he was not going to Jesus. She knelt there and prayed for him. Langston sat there waiting for something to happen, but nothing! He truly wanted to see Jesus but he did not. Finally, he thought to himself and saw that nothing had happened to Westley for lying about not seeing Jesus. Langston then decides that he, too, will go to the altar and lie, hoping that nothing will happen to him for lying to God. Suddenly, loud cries of rejoice were heard throughout the church and everyone was pleased to see that “all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God” (220). That night Langston cried because he did not understand why he did not see Jesus. His aunt had heard him and explained to his uncle, “the Holy Ghost had come into my life” (220). From that point on he did not believe there was a Jesus, since he d...
not the gospel of the good doctrine which led to many interpretations of the teachings of the gospel.
Burns, Thomas J. Canonical Texts: Selections from Religious Wisdom Traditions. San Diego, CA: Cognella/U Readers, 2012. Print.
A Christian, when faced with the challenge of writing, finds himself in a dilemma: how is he to complete the task? Should he create an allegory? Should he try to teach a lesson reflecting God’s glory? Or should he follow secular trends and current desires in literature? To this, many Christians would say, “Certainly not!” Dorothy L. Sayers and Flannery O’Connor both aim to answer the first question of any Christian writer: How do I write a story with my beliefs?
This parable is supposed to be a narrative for the reader to help interpret and understand the significance of faith, but as for all the parables it might be extremely heard for people today to understand the connection between the words and the actual meaning. Even with Jesus interpretation the parable might be misleading if you don’t know during what kind of circ...
Evangelist exclaimed, “An Elder! I am undone! To what do we have this pleasure Sir?” while struggling through his words; for an Evangelist, a thing that happens not oft. Then the Elder answered, “I have carried the souls of your friend's wife and children here. I see that you have made it through the terrible pass of Merciless men where you gave up Mercy in order to ...
Theopedia, an Encyclopedia of Biblical Christianity." Theopedia, an Encyclopedia of Biblical Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. (Theopedia) (Theopedia)
"James Williams Quotes." The Quote Garden - Quotes, Sayings, Quotations, Verses. Web. 15 July 2010. .