Yes. Cultural tradition is something of an obstacle we are advised to not lead us.
I would offer that "Religious Tradition" is an even more powerful obstacle than that of culture. I walked out of a church service yesterday (we were visiting) when the "children's message" turned out to be merely an indoctrination of that (evil) mis-translation of 2nd Timothy 3:16. I felt both helpless and furious at the same time. (It would seem that's been a constant state of mind for me recently.) Had I stayed for the sermon, it would likely have been impossible for me to suppress the temptation to stand up and shout "HERESY, that's not what the Bible's Greek text actually says
!!" Of course that would have helped nobody, so my wife and I just left. (There is no
IS in the Greek text of that verse. They added in words. (
And you know how that riles me up. I suffered a one year ban here because I objected to (... uh... strongly opposed...) certain members who changed the words).
That said, I've recently run into a "new" church nearby that used tacos and guacamole for their communion elements. Other times it might be pizza and beer. Or hot dogs and Coke.
Isn't that just wrong ??
No wonder Jesus lamented whether faith would still be on the earth when he returns. And I've heard of one Mennonite denomination here in PA that makes sure someone is named Faith in their church so that Jesus would be pleased.
(You know, I need to find a face palm emoji.)
I think that would dimish the directed scope. One couldn't readily state that Jesus appeared to all people. He hasn't, or else evangelism wouldn't be necessary. But the Grace of God
has been "presented" (appeared) to all Mankind (in general) as manifest through Jesus and his teachings.
Amongst the many problems that translators face is the consideration of linguistic artifacts - the unintended consequences that arise from poorly selected words in the target language. An example of this would be "everlasting punishment" in Matthew 25:46 when the Greek text states, "permanent pruning" (as in to be cut off forever). This more accurate word for word translation, however, supports the Doctrine of Obliteration so (HERESY) we must "tweak" the translation to fit our cherished religious tradition. Yeah, I think about all of this a lot. (Again, furious helplessness.) And yes, the Strong's entry for
κόλασις is wrong. I'd post the Liddell Scott link, but Tuft's University's computer servers are having problems,
rolleyes: I jest that they're switching to Windows 11).
The BIG mistake of Martin Luther was to think that other people, when reading his German translation of the Bible, couldn't possibly arrive at a different conclusion than he did. That's actually why he
made his German translation... so people could read the Bible for themselves in order to understand that he, Martin Luther, was RIGHT. (Well
that didn't happen.)
giving sight to the blind is (part of) God's mercy?
Well it certainly is merciful, both in the physical and in the mental.
... cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
(Ephesians 1:16 KJV)
What prayers?
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened (un-blinded); that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
(Ephesians 1:17-18 KJV)
Thank you for the encouragement. Something I am comforted by. A faithful obedience on your part, according to what is written.
You are most welcome my brother. I work hard to establish such a thing in my life each and every second of the day. (Not sure how successful I am
.)
Rhema
BTW, you might be interested to know that "Meek" doesn't mean wimpy or "milquetoast," or even "humble" for that matter. (Hey, Strong did his best.) Rather, we know now that the adjective
πραΰ́ς was used to describe a warhorse that wouldn't break training when in battle. So after about three months of looking at this, I currently believe that the English word "Steadfast" is best. "Blessed, the Steadfast (be), for they shall inherit the Earth."
"Stead" traces back through the German to:
"Fast" traces back to "Firm Place."
So... a warhorse that firmly stays his place.
(Ain't this fun?)