Cowan Asserts That His Position Is Unchanged
Joe Tolbert’s letter of Oct. 13 distorted the content of my letter of Sept. 24, in a fumbling attempt to once again discredit God’s Word. He said that, in my letter, I corrected myself and took an opposite position. He then quoted half my statement, “Yes, saved people have questions and misunderstandings…”, underhandedly attempting to make his case. He left out the other half, “...but God progressively resolves them through serious Bible study.” His intentional omission of the last half of my sentence was very deceptive. I didn’t change my position.
He further said that “The Bible lends itself to different interpretations.” Not true. Instead, men have chosen to lend their own private interpretation to the Bible. The King James Bible is the preserved Word of Almighty God. All of the numerous modern day Bible versions are either: translated from flawed manuscripts at the hand of two men named Westcott and Hort, or they are merely paraphrases of their respective authors.
Today’s guide to truthful interpretation of the Bible is the Holy Ghost, not man’s religious whims. Saved people are indwelt and guided by the Holy Ghost. The Bible resounds these two facts. The first step toward becoming a serious student of the Bible is to be saved (born again).
Mr. Tolbert implied that his personal observations helped to make clear that, “personal experience determines the extent of theological aspirations” (whatever that means). The Lord Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The Bible proclaims in Acts 4:12 (referring to the Lord Jesus Christ): “Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” My faith is based on God’s Word, not someone’s personal observations.
Vince Cowan
Bluff City, Tenn.
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No one makes more good,common sense of the mess called a “bible” than Mr. Thomas Jefferson.
What did Jefferson write, i know,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
All while owning slaves. Now thats hypocrisy.
Thomas Jefferson: “If by religion we are to understand sectarian dogmas, in which no two of them agree, then your exclamation on that hypothesis is just, “that this would be the best of worlds if there were no religion in it.“
“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.“
“It is between fifty and sixty years since I read the Apocalypse, and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy, nor capable of explanation than the incoherences of our own nightly dreams…. what has no meaning admits no explanation.“
“We find in the writings of his biographers ... a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions, fanaticisms and fabrications.“(speaking of the so-called “gospels”)
“That sect had presented for the object of their worship, a being of terrific character, cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust.“
—Thomas Jefferson, referring to the god of the Jews under Moses
“We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select even from the very words of Jesus, paring off the amphiboligisms into which they have been led by forgetting often or not understanding what had fallen from him, by giving their own misconceptions as his dicta, and expressing unintelligibly for others what they had not understood themselves. There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man. I have performed this operation for my own use, by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill.“
—Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, October 13, 1813, clarifying his desire to strip away the myth introduced by the Gospel writers.
No one makes more good,common sense of the mess called a “bible” than Mr. Thomas Jefferson.
next wrote “It’s my belief and opinion that if the English printed version was as simple to read and understand, as you say, then we should not have as many different Christian denominations as we do.“
I believe he answers your statement here “ Not true. Instead, men have chosen to lend their own private interpretation to the Bible”
you wrote “Mr. Tolbert wrote is interesting to say the least. Here is something I think, based on what little I do know, is that the English written Bibles are translations done hundreds of years ago from Hebrew text, is that not correct”
Greek.
Mr. Cowan sir.
I’m not a biblical scholar I’m just a plain old down to earth everyday southern christian bible reading white man. I find that what you and Mr. Tolbert wrote is interesting to say the least. Here is something I think, based on what little I do know, is that the English written Bibles are translations done hundreds of years ago from Hebrew text, is that not correct. Keeping that in mind is it not also true that many of the words in Hebrew have no english translation.
I tend to disagree with the statement that the Bible is the absolute word for word, or preserved word as you said, of the Almighty God. There is only one person, a Baptist Minister, that I have met that can read Hebrew and translate from the Hebrew Bible, can you also do that or do you know of others that can.
It’s my belief and opinion that if the English printed version was as simple to read and understand, as you say, then we should not have as many different Christian denominations as we do. If you disagree with that then why do you think there are different interpertations of the Bible that’s taught by different Christian denominations or Churches.
Please don’t misunderstand my intentions here. I’m asking because I would like to here from both sides of an issue and I do this with the upmost respect for you and Mr. Tolbert.
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