The Greek language is excruciatingly precise with its meaning and translation. English is not nearly as accurate and can cause errors in the thoughts being conveyed when translated. The Hebrew language is also more true to what thoughts are being communicated, and culture or accuracy can be misinterpreted when put into other languages as English.
You can hardly get passed the second sentence of the first chapter of Genesis without two huge camps of theological thought being established with Genesis 1:2 which reads, “and the Earth was without form and void”. The Aramaic word “hayah” has been translated “was” or “became”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_language
Should “was” be your interpretive choice, then the Creation cycle as typically presented by those believing in a 6-day Creation remains in concert with standard Bible instruction. However, if you inject “hayah” with became, then the interpretation suggests an enormous time period has elapsed, known as the “gap theory” between verse one and two, and could mean a re-creation of an old Earth was necessary.http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c003.html
The key of how you interpret “hayah” will determine what theological camp you are in. What is important is there are experts in both camps that cannot agree, so it is impossible to come up with a consensus of truth. You can interpret based on your preference of what camp you wish to be in. However a literal interpretation should be applied to Bible scripture as a standard practice.
You can take the most widely known Bible verse in John 3:16 and come up with an issue with interpretation based on your indoctrination and belief system, to wit:
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him “should” not perish, but have everlasting life.
The translation of the parenthesis “should” implies that you should not perish if you believe, but you still could perish if you fail to live up to the required standard for maintaining your salvation. Other translations take the word “should” and inject “shall” not perish. Many that cling to the once saved always saved perspective absolutely declares you will be saved regardless of what you do. You can justify any position by merely using the Bible version that reinforces your preconceived position.http://www.preparingforeternity.com/oncesave.htm
In the Bible there are references to "being blotted out of the Book" meaning you could do an action that will qualify you being eliminated from salvation.
However it is imperative that “out of the mouth of two of more witnesses, let every word be established” be used. The Bible will always present a second witness to substantiate what was declared in another part of the Bible. There will always be complete agreement. Belief is not the cure all because the Bible also says, “the demons believe and tremble”.
Extrapolating phrases or words out of the Bible as stand-alone theology is an unwise thing to do because you can easily miss the spiritual law or truth that is being revealed. You can easily use another meaning of an Aramaic or Greek word to self-promote something that you wish to see. It is far too easy to take a word meaning in English that could be manipulated to what you choose.
The Bible warns to “study to show yourself approved, rightly dividing the word of truth”. Obviously you can wrongly divide the word of truth and create a preconceived denominational justification based on your decision to do so. Unfortunately, this is one reason there are so many denominations in the Christian faith. The original truth has been sliced and diced so much that many denominations are off target to what the Bible actually teaches.
You can minimize much by observing these simple issues:
1. Who said it?
2. Who is it directed to?
3. Has it changed?
4. Is there another witness?
5. Does it conflict with other Bible truth?
One of the gifts of the Spirit is discernment, and God will give each believer the ability to instinctively know if something is off or not, after all “the Spirit will teach you all things and bring all things to remembrance.” If one is sensitive to this gift, you have a fail-safe method that will help you weed out fake Christian philosophy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discernment
Bankers teach tellers to recognized phony currency by handling the real thing. God is wise enough to employ the same tactic for believers through the Spirit.
You spot a phony by being familiar with the real deal.
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