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Approaching God One Thought At A Time

Men are apt to prefer a prosperous error to an afflicted truth.
- Jeremy Taylor

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Rule of Inference

The Rules of Biblical interpretation have stood the test of time, having long been employed by many disciplines. Yet tragically, Biblical illiteracy in a variety of forms is all but pandemic.

Even among
modern Christianity, there are hundreds of various denominations, each offering differing versions of Christ and the gospel. Furthermore, the average church attender is unable to quote ten, or often even five verses in row. Much less interpret and implement them properly. In response, Quantum Christianity has introduced the Rule of Emphasis, designed to clarify the context and content of Scripture. As well as to assist in the correct usage of the rule of inference. Together they aid Bible Study in a a variety, particularly in discerning the times and seasons in which we live. Far from merely an academic exercise, mistaken inference frequently leads to presumption, and even profanity, both of which are anathema to genuine Biblical faith.


But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.


- 1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV



BibleTopics.com explains the Rule of Inference this way:

  • Inference is a fact reasonably implied from another fact. It is a logical consequence. It derives a conclusion from a given fact or premise. It is the deduction of one proposition from another proposition. Such inferential facts or propositions are sufficiently binding when their truth is established by competent and satisfactory evidence. Competent evidence means such evidence as the nature of the thing to be proved admits. Satisfactory evidence means that amount of proof which would ordinarily satisfy an unprejudiced mind beyond a reasonable doubt. Jesus used this rule when he proved the resurrection of the dead to the unbelieving Sadducees in Matt. 22:23-33.
So far so good. However, it’s been noted “A little salt is better than none but too much spoils the food.” Particularly when the salt has lost it's flavor through the ubiquitous influences of temptation and deception, worldliness and sin. All threats now rampant within First World society and tragically modern Christianity.

Consider the following definition for conjecture, a necessary component of inference:

  • Conjecture is an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. an unproven mathematical or scientific theorem: the Goldbach conjecture. In textual criticism the suggestion or reconstruction of a reading of a text not present in the original source.

While conjecture is part of the process of inference, by definition the latter is more robust:

  • “An inference is an idea or conclusion that's drawn from evidence and reasoning. An inference is an educated guess. We learn about some things by experiencing them first-hand, but we gain other knowledge by inference — the process of inferring things based on what is already known. When you make an inference, you're reading between the lines or just looking carefully at the facts and coming to conclusions.
Study.com explains inference and it’s practice this way:

  • “Inference is using observation and background to reach a logical conclusion. You probably practice inference every day. For example, if you see someone eating a new food and he or she makes a face, then you infer he does not like it. Or if someone slams a door, you can infer that she is upset about something. Before you can begin to practice inference in literature, you should know what you are looking for. Your goal is to find the intended meaning of the text. Intended meaning is what we think the author is trying to teach us. Why is it important to make inferences? When writing a story, an author will not include all the information for us. He/she will expect us to read between the lines and reach conclusions about the text. When making inferences, you are looking beyond what is stated in the text and finding the ideas to which the author only hints. This makes you a more active reader and critical thinker. It also makes it easier to understand what the author is sharing with you.

  • When reading, we make inferences through the author, the text and our response. The first step to reaching a conclusion of the intended meaning of a writing is to look at the author. You should spend time reading the author's biography. Look at his/her other works and see what they have in common. Also, look at the historical and cultural context of the writing. This will help give you a background of the writing that you can use in the next step of reading. After you have taken time to read about the author, you are ready to start to read the writing. Your goal as you read is to make conclusions. These conclusions are not stated, but you should read between the lines to understand what the author is trying to say. As you read, make guesses. Try to guess what will happen next in the story, what a character may say or think or even what other characters not in the scene are doing. Next, ask questions. Why are the characters acting a certain way? What are they thinking? Where are they going? What are they feeling? What do you already know? What is missing? Why is the author not including information? See what is missing or stated in the details and make connections. Fill in the missing information using your questions, guesses and predictions. When you finish reading the text, you should take time to fill in between the lines by looking at your response and experience. Take time to review the guesses and predictions you had made and see which ones are correct.
To a greater and lessor degree, all the tips above are useful in Bible study. Yet like salt, while a little is better than none. Too much inference and/or conjecture, particularly when erroneous, spoils the food.



Inconvenient Truth


Consider the following unfortunate example. Conscientious Christians are often involved in ministry of one type or another. As a general rule, they also tend to be at least passingly familiar, if not well acquainted with, Scripture. It's easy to see how such service to God and others would infer pleasing the Lord. Few and far between are those willing and able to imagine they and those with whom they fellowship or even minster, might have overlooked something(s) significant. Now consider clinical
abortion, not to mention its far more nefarious contraceptive form. Much less the effect of either or both on the church. Fallout with heavy implication in regards to jeopardizing, if not aborting, our prayers and worship, communion and even salvation.

Resistance to contemplating error, particularly gross doctrinal mistakes, goes double for leadership. Suggesting that after years or decades, if not entire lifetimes of study and service, members of the clergy or even lay leadership might have missed the forest for the trees seems absurd. Then again, with differing doctrines of
hundreds of denominations offering various Christs and versions of Biblical truth, such arguments wear a little thin.

Furthermore, many reason that even if something like minimizing abortion were a cataclysmic blunder, it seems pointless to blame a few snowflakes for an avalanche. Even a
crimson one blanketing the entire Earth in innocent blood.

In the majority of cases, this quantum contradiction reflects the systemic nature of
faith and denial. To function we must choose. Choosing often equates to believe one thing while denying another. Over time, our choices become ingrained in personal and corporate belief systems. All the more so to the degree we think and/or act on our perspective faith.

So let us pray we
choose well.

“God loves us so we should not doubt the love of God” is a simple example of the kind of inference enabling
faith in the Divine virtues of love and mercy, to eclipse other equally important aspects of Divinity, such as holiness and justice.

Try as one might, circular reasonings in doctrine and lifestyle are tough nuts to crack. Again, consider the example of abortion, which given the sheer numbers involved may well currently qualify as the pinnacle sin of mankind. After decades of endeavoring to explain the truly
devilish nature of abortion, I’ve been forced to resort to a dreadful analogy. Warning. Some truths are not for the timid.

Imagine that parents, and society at large, used abortion clinics to kill
newborns and toddlers instead of embryos and fetuses. Take a minute or two and let the scenario sink in. Let the picture run through your heart and mind. Mothers, accompanied by fathers, or perhaps grandmothers, watching as doctors slice the throats of their precious little children or grandchildren. Now replay this world wide phenomenon millions and billions of times.

Consider the ramification. What might God think? In light of Jesus’ teachings regarding
salvation in such famous passages as the Good Samaritan, Rich Man and Lazarus and Sheep and Goats, what might Christ require of genuine Christians? How fully would the Holy Spirit anoint the prayers, much less ministries, of those turning a blind eye? What excuse for years and decades of our apathy and inaction would suffice? How long would judgment for such atrocities tarry?

Many equate
God's toleration of abortion with acquiescence, if not acceptance. From which billions may well infer the pre-born aren't truly people in the normative sense of the word. Yet rest assured that before God there is little or no spiritual difference between a embryo and child. We know this because Scripture conveniently records a key snippet of a conversation between Elizabeth and Mary:

  • “When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, the baby moved in her body. At the same time Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth spoke in a loud voice, “You are honored among women! Your Child is honored! Why has this happened to me? Why has the mother of my Lord come to me? As soon as I heard your voice, the baby in my body moved for joy.” Luke 1:41-44 Living Bible

Two thousand years before abortion’s holocaust, the Bible explains that as a baby” John the Baptist, a second trimester fetus about the size of a fist, leapt in Elizabeth’s womb in the presence of the “Child” Lord Jesus, a first trimester embryo about the size of a thumbnail. Far from the discardable “clumps of cells” or “inviable tissue masses” from pro-abortion rhetoric, Scripture declares that the pre-born are babies and children.

So why do so few believers take this issue seriously? Because like everything else, our attitude about abortion is a judgment call. Once made, justification solidifies our level of response, or lack thereof. Mindful of the process, God employs a variety of means to draw attention to our mistakes,
if and to the degree we are willing to see, hear and respond. Through the honest and diligent study of Scripture we are invited to grow in spiritual discerntment, learning to more fluently understand and speak the language of the Holy Spirit. Regarding modern Christianity's lack luster response to abortion, the following verse is eerily prophetic:

  • “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” This is God’s Message: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 The Message

This same Holy Spirit we seem to all but universally be grieving, assists and answers prayer for the purpose of support and guidance. Unanswered prayer is a leading indicator as to what degree we may be on or off course in following Christ. As Scripture itself attests, trusting in the size of church denominations or congregations, facilities or budgets, as signs of God’s favor is clearly pointless. It’s not the work of man, but of the Spirit, that provides the seal of Lord’s approval:

  • “So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord was working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed.” Mark 16:19-20 Amplified Bible

Jesus makes the same point in speaking of His own work:

  • “But if it’s by God’s power that I am sending the evil spirits packing, then God’s kingdom is here for sure. How in the world do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.” Matthew 12:28-29 The Message

Unfortunately, binding the strong man works both ways.

One need look no further than to the dwindling quantity and quality of
personal and corporate prayer, within the rank and file of modern Christianity, to judge how well prayer works. While we all have the occasional testimonies of answered prayertruth be told our unanswered prayers are overwhelmingly greater in number. A small success rate, similarly attested to by members of competing denominations and religions. This sad state of affairs accounts for the fact that the average Christian spends only a handful of minutes a day in undivided intercession to God. As noted, a stopped clock is right twice a day. Yet, to be of real value it must be dependable all day long. So too, failures in prayer are not only frustrating personally, but hamstring our mission to carry out Christ's great commission. So why doesn't prayer, particularly petition and intercession, work? While the Bible is full of conditions for answered prayer, few teach them. Fewer still meet them. Those regarding abortion less so.

Again, many argue that
God's love is unconditional. They claim the same for salvation, and the things accompanying it. It’s true, in a certain respects, that God offers His love freely. Nevertheless, even gifts can be both free and conditional. In point of fact all are. This grave doctrinal misunderstanding is a primary reason for rampant sin in modern Christianity and the chief rationalization used to excuse it. A grave error that, along with unparalleled levels of Me-ism and the original sin of entitlement, may well represent the single greatest stumbling block facing today’s believers.
The word "unconditional" fails to appear a single time in Scripture. The word
"if" occurs over 1,400 times.  In fact, the word "if" often introduces more than one condition, as in the case of 2 Chronicles 7:14's perfect formula for repentance. Here God Himself states in the most emphatic of terms and circumstances that IF His people will complete four requirements…

A. HUMBLE THEMSELVES

B. and
PRAY

C. and
SEEK His Face

D. and
TURN from their WICKED WAYS...

THEN (and only then) the He will:

E.
HEAR from Heaven

F. and
FORGIVE their SINS

G. and
HEAL their Land


Aborting Our Prayers?

The theme of conditionality is constant throughout the
Bible. Nowhere more so than in the multitude of Scriptures dealing directly and indirectly with abortion. This includes any reference to violence or murder, particularly those referring to the shedding of innocent blood. The Bible repeatedly states those participating in an/or tolerating the shedding of innocent blood are aborting their own prayers. While some passages on this subject require connecting the dots, others are crystal clear:

  • "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.  They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.  They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood." Isaiah 59:1-7 New International Version - Emphasis QC’s

Notice that bloodshed, particularly spilling innocent blood, opens and closes the list of actions or inactions that short circuit God hearing and acting on behalf of His people. Clearly Isaiah is warning the Church of his day, as well as ours, that shedding our children's blood will separate us from God, hide His presence from us, and cause our prayers to go unanswered! How much more so we, who in a single generation have aborted 5-10 times the entire population of the world in Christ’s day!

The above passage is just one of more than 150 pro-life passages dealing with the effectiveness of abortion as a weapon
against the Church, should we fait to do all that is required to end this unthinkable betrayal of God, our offspring and our own souls.  While such Scriptures are marginalized, we do so at our own peril. Keep in mind that in the Bible’s record of Earth’s greatest spiritual battle, Jesus declared that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Seen in such light, each of these passages is vital to the welfare of modern Christianity. Furthermore, all of the greatest and most often reoccurring tenants of Scripture emphasize our sacred duty to love others. Surely this includes bearing and raising our children to become a generation of godly offspring.

Isaiah, one of the most
insightfully powerful prophets to walk the Earth, clearly understood God's passion for the helpless and needy. The Book of Isaiah not only contains the Old Testament's most comprehensive prophecies concerning the coming of Christ, but mirrors the Messiah's complete identification with the needy and least of humanity:

  • "Why this frenzy of sacrifices?" God's asking. "Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don't you think I've had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, Running here and there, doing this and that— all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship? "Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless. "Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out." This is God's Message: "If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white. If they're red like crimson, they'll be like wool. If you'll willingly obey, you'll feast like kings. But if you're willful and stubborn, you'll die like dogs. That's right. God says so." Isaiah 1:11-20 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

Finally, what is needed for accurate Biblical study and application is spiritually quantum balance and equilibrium. In this case, as a decades old prayer partner once noted in regards to resolving the tension between accurately discerning Scripture and the centrality of the Holy Spirit, “Evangelism without prayer is Fruitless, Prayer without Evangelism is Faithless. Scripture without the Spirit is Lifeless, the Spirit without Scripture is Baseless.” With this mind, let us more prayerfully study the Bible, recognizing Scripture itself must be "spiritually discerned."


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