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"*": "{{Top of Page}}\n[[Image:Cblines.jpg|thumb|250px|right]]\nThroughout William Branham's ministry, he taught that, in order to understand the Bible, you had to read between the lines. The problem is that this leads to extra-biblical (i.e. non-biblical) revelation.\n\n=What the Bible says=\n\nPaul said in 2 Corinthians 1:13:\n\n:''\u00a0For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; As also ye have acknowledged us in part... (KJV)\n:''Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can\u2019t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, even if you don\u2019t understand us now. (NLT)\n:''\u00a0For we do not write you anything other than what you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely\u00a0just as also you have partly understood us... (NET)\n\nPaul is saying here that the Bible is not written to say one thing when something else is really meant. Paul\u2019s integrity and the integrity of the Bible as a whole is based on God always letting people know exactly where He stands on all matters.\n\nLuke 10:21\n:''In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. \n:''At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. \u201cI thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. (The Message)\n\nIsaiah 5:21\n:''Woe unto them that are pwise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! \n\n1 Cor. 1:19\n:''For it is written, \u201cI will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.\n\nIsaiah 29:14\n:''Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. \n\nWe don't need to add anything to the Bible by \"reading between the lines\". The truth of the Gospel is there for the simplest person to see.\n\n=Quotes of William Branham=\n\n:''You know, if you read the Word right like this here, it's all right, but you sure miss the meanings of It. '''The Word is written between the lines.''' Jesus said, \"I've hid It from the eyes of the wise and prudent and revealed It to babes such as will learn.\" These theological seminaries are just like them priests was back there, and the high priest, and all of them that read the Word but failed to see Jesus being the Christ. See what I mean?<ref>ISRAEL.AND.THE.CHURCH.2 JEFF.IN 53-0326</ref>\n\n\n:'''''You have to read between the lines to get the Bible''', a lot of times.\n:''...\n:''Along came Abraham. Watch between the lines now, you readers. This is not written right in the Word; you have to read it in between. It's hid from the eyes of the wise and prudent. When Job died, he specified his burial ground.<ref>DEMONOLOGY_ OWENSBORO.KY THURSDAY_ 53-1112</ref>\n\n\n:''Now, '''this is between the lines''', friends. That's the reason they re--failed to recognize Jesus Christ when He come. They'd read the Scriptures about it, but they failed to recognize Him. And it's the same thing today; we got our own ritualistic routine. Anything out of that, we don't believe it. Fundamental as we can be, but God comes right in between the lines sometimes. We fail to see it. Now, He was contacting her spirit.<ref>THE.HAND.OF.THE.LORD.CAME.UPON.HIM_ LOUISVILLE.KY SATURDAY_ 54-0403</ref>\n\n\n:''Now here, when I go overseas, my wife will write me a letter, and she'll say, \"Dear Billy, I'm with... here... I just put the children to bed...\" and she'll write me a letter. Now, I can read what she says there. Yeah, anybody could read that. But you know, I love her so much, I can read between the lines. I know what she's saying in between the lines. Well, that's the way God does His Bible.\n:''Now, the students can argue the Greek words, but '''the believer reads between the lines.''' Amen. It's revealed by the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. God writing His letter to His children, reading between the lines...\n:''If I had time here, I'd just like to show you through the Bible. But watch how this is, this little instant. Now, to make it true to you... About five years ago, I preached on this over here at a place, and a man wrote a book on it, put it on the radio, reading between the lines.<ref>THE.WORKING.OF.THE.HOLY.SPIRIT_ PRINCE.ALBERT.SK THURSDAY_ 56-0816</ref>\n\n\n:''Now, listen. This Man setting there, He said, \"Abraham, where is your wife, Sarah?\" A stranger, how did He know she was married--he was married? How did He know that his wife's name was Sarah? Watch that Angel, what message He gave.\nAbraham said, \"She's in the tent behind You (And the Bible said that the Angel had His back turned to the tent.) --behind You.\"\nSaid, \"Where is Sarah, your wife?\" How did He know that he had a wife, and how'd He know her name was Sarah? Watch the nature of that Spirit now to the elected church.\n:''The Gospel is wrote between the lines as the same as on the lines. He's hid it from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes such as will learn. Jesus thanked God for it. So do I. Don't take the seminary experience; you take the kneeology experience to know God. And...<ref>BE.CERTAIN.OF.GOD_ CLEVELAND.TN WEDNESDAY_ 59-0708E</ref>\n\n\n:''Look. What do we do? I love her; she loves me. We just get down and pray and I ask God to help her, and she asks God to help me, I kiss her good-bye and go overseas. That settles it. She don't have to worry about me. I love her too much. I don't worry about her; she loves me too much. As long as we love one another that way, we'll be all right. And you've got to love God. She'll write me a letter, and she'll say, \"Dear Billy, I just put the children to bed. And Sarah today did so-and-so. And Rebekah, all like this, and just...\" See? She's saying that on the paper, but I love her so much, I can read between the lines. I know what she's talking about. See? I love her.\n:''That's the way you've got be with God. You've got to love God. Then you can read between the lines and see what He means. He's hid it from the eyes of the smart seminary students and revealed it to babes such as will learn. That's what He said. Jesus thanked God for doing it. Now, doesn't take education; it takes a surrendered life.<ref>JEHOVAH.JIREH_ RICHMOND.VA SUNDAY_ 61-0312</ref>\n\n\n:''Now, reading the Bible, It's a love Story that God wrote to His Church. It's God. God is love. Do you believe that? And the Bible is written so that the educated and smart can never understand It. You have to be in love with God to understand It. You have to have God in you. He interprets Himself to you.\n:''Now, it's just like I got a wife. Oh, how I love her. I love her with all my heart. And I'll be overseas somewhere and she'll... After she gets the kiddies to sleep, she'll write me a letter, and say, \"Dear Billy, I'm setting here tonight, I'm thinking of you. I'm writing.\" See, I know what she's writing on the paper. But I know her and love her so much till I just know her nature; I know what she means, so I can read between the lines. See?\n:''And God wants His Church to read between the lines, not read anything out of It now You have to read between the lines to see what It's meaning. Now, watch and see, find out if It doesn't.<ref>TJEHOVAH.JIREH.2_ GRASS.VALLEY.CA 62-0706</ref>\n\n\n:''Oh, brother, the Bible is just like a love letter. You have to read between the lines, see what It means. God said, \"He hid it from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and revealed It to babes such as would learn.\"\n:''When I'm out in the missions, my wife writes me a letter. And I love her, and she loves me. And she say, \"Dear Bill, tonight I just put the children to bed. I've worked today.\" I see what she is reading, what she is writing. But, see, I so love her, I can read right between the lines. I know what she's talking about. She don't have to tell me. I know, 'cause I can read between the lines.\n:''That's the way it is with God, when not trying to study from some newspaper standpoint, some theological standpoint. But fall in love with Him, get down and really get Him in your heart, \"the love of God shed abroad in their heart by the Holy Ghost,\" then go to reading the Bible and you'll see It coming right out between the lines. See, you know what He is saying. He never said that right out in the Word. Jesus thanked the Father because that He had \"hid those things from the eyes of the wise and prudent.\" Now, no one else could read my wife's letters like that, 'cause I love her that way, see, and that's the way she writes to me. That's the way God writes to you. It's between the lines, you read It.<ref>JEHOVAH.JIREH.3_ LOUISVILLE.MS SATURDAY_ 64-0404/ref>\n\n\n:''Now you say, \"Radical, Brother Branham!\" Just a minute, see if he did. Notice, they turned back to a young man and woman. Now you say, \"Oh, Brother Branham!\" Now, God hides His Message between the lines. The seminary will never know It. That's right. No, no. It's a love story.\n:''My wife over there, she writes me a letter. And she says one thing upon the letter, but I can read between the lines. I know what she is talking about, 'cause I love her, I know just her nature. I know what she means. \"I'm sitting here tonight, Billy. The children is in bed. I'm thinking of you.\" Oh, I--I know what she is meaning, see, see, 'cause I love her.\n:''And if you're in love with God, and God's Spirit is in you, the Holy Spirit Himself is the interpreter of this Word.<ref>THE.TRIAL_ TOPEKA.KS V-20 N-6 SUNDAY_ 64-0621</ref>\n\n\n:''Now, I know that kind of chokes you a little bit now. But, remember, just so that you'll be sure to know now... You don't read the Bible like this; you read between the lines and see, make the picture come.<ref>THE.FEAST.OF.THE.TRUMPETS_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-16 SUNDAY_ 64-0719M</ref>\n\n\n{{Bottom of Page}}\n[[Category:Doctrines]]\n[[Category:The Message]]"
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"5031": {
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"*": "{{Template:Reason and the Message}}\nIs reason and thinking opposed to God?\n\nPeople in the message have said to us when confronted with errors in William Branham's message:\n\n:'''''\"We don't have to understand it, that\u2019s where faith comes in.\u201d\n\n<youtube width='440' height='320'>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJoOhbf3_Ts</youtube>\n\n\n=What William Branham taught=\n\nWilliam Branham stated:\n\n:''So don\u2019t try to use your own intellectuals, use your heart. Now remember, '''you don\u2019t never try to reason; we cast down reasoning.''' In the garden of Eden, the devil took a man\u2019s head to work through; God took a man\u2019s heart. And the man\u2019s always working to what he can see, and faith makes him believe things he cannot see. But he believes it because God said so. That settles it. That\u2019s just the\u2014the story of faith.<ref>William Branham, 59-0423 - Abraham's Seed, para. 29</ref>\n\n:''Notice, we cannot, we must not, listen to any other man\u2019s word. We don\u2019t care how smart, how educated. '''The Bible, in Proverbs, says, \u201cWe must cast down reasonings.\u201d''' See? Now, here in this second realm\u2026 First realm is your senses of see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. That\u2019s in your outer body. On the inner body, which is the spirit, is reasonings and thought, and so forth. We must cast all that down. '''Can\u2019t reason''', say, \u201cNow wait, if God is a good God\u2026\u201d And we\u2019re told so much today that He is. \u201cIf He is a good God, then if I be sincere, though I can\u2019t see that in that Bible being right, though I be sincere, I\u2019ll be saved.\u201d You\u2019ll be lost. <ref>William Branham, 65-0822M - Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word, para. 130</ref>\n\nWilliam Branham appears to be misquoting the 1890 Darby translation (although William Branham never mentions Darby... ever) of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (and not Proverbs) which states:\n\n:''For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds; \u00a0'''overthrowing reasonings''' and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ...<ref>John Nelson Darby, The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1996), 2 Co 10:4\u20135.</ref>\n\nTo get a clearer picture of what this means, we can look at a couple of other translations of this passage:\n\n:''We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...<ref>2 Cor 10:5, ESV</ref>\n\n:''We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.<ref>2 Cor 10:5, Holman Christian Standard Bible</ref> \n\nHow do you destroy or demolish arguments? With better arguments and reasoning... that's exactly what Paul did with the Jews in the synagogues that he visited.\n\nWilliam Branham said:\n\n:''That's how you know God is by faith, NOT BY REASON. Your reason power within yourself, but faith comes from God. Faith is something that's born in you, something that God gives you. \"And it's the substance of things hoped for, and '''the evidence of things not REASONE'''D.\" Hallelujah.<ref>54-1024 THE.UNPARDONABLE.SIN_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN</ref>\n\nWilliam Branham changes scripture (again) to suit his anti-intellectual bias. \n\nBut what Paul actually said is that \u201cwe live by faith, not by sight.\u201d<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 2 Co 5:7</ref> Paul never says, \u201cWe walk by faith, not by reason.\u201d Paul never says, \u201cWe walk by faith, not by thinking,\u201d because faith and reason, faith and thinking are not opposed to each other. Faith and sight are opposed to each other, because faith is being controlled by the truth.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref>\n\nAnother favorite for the \"blind-faith\" crowd is the story of doubting Thomas in John 20:24-29:\n\n:''Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, \u201cWe have seen the Lord.\u201d But he said to them, \u201cUnless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.\u201d\n\n:''Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d Then he said to Thomas, \u201cPut your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.\u201d Thomas answered him, \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cHave you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.\u201d\n\nAnytime someone asks for rational support for a belief, they are accused of being a \"doubting thomas\" and liken their own blind faith as the model that Jesus says was \"blessed.\"\n\nBut note that Thomas was not satisfied to have trust or faith even in the first hand, eye-witness accounts of his peers, he wanted EMPIRICAL evidence, to SEE with his eyes, to FEEL with his hands. This is the very epitome of the Natural Scientism worldview, if it can't be observed, handled, tested, etc, then it isn't believable. \n\nYet Paul says we walk by faith, not by sight. Every single believer who has lived on the Earth who has put his faith in the objective, historical reality of Jesus' death and resurrection and the recorded witness of that event qualifies under Jesus statement: \"blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.\" Again, Jesus did NOT say: \"blessed are those who have not THOUGHT and yet believed.\"\n\n==William Branham and reasoning==\n\nPaul reasoned in the synagogues and persuaded men to be Christians. What did William Branham think of this?\n\nWilliam Branham was opposed to reasoning:\n\n:''Notice, we cannot, we must not, listen to any other man's word. We don't care how smart, how educated. '''The Bible, in Proverbs, says, \"We must cast down reasonings.\"''' See? Now, here in this second realm...\n\n:''First realm is your senses of see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. That's in your outer body.\n\n:''On the inner body, which is the spirit, is reasonings and thought, and so forth. We must cast all that down.<ref>CHRIST.IS.REVEALED.IN.HIS.OWN.WORD_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-10 SUNDAY_ 65-0822M</ref>\n\n'''Please note that no such scripture exists in Proverbs.'''\n\n==What the Bible actually says==\n\nThe scripture that William Branham appears to be referring to is this:\n\n:''Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ... <ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), 2 Co 10:5.</ref>\n\nBut what does this mean?\n\n:''We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ...<ref>New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Co 10:5.</ref>\n\n:''We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.<ref>Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), 2 Cor 10:4\u20135.</ref>\n\n'''The Bible clearly does not say to \"cast down reasoning\".'''\n\n=The Bible requires us to think=\n\n:''Brothers, '''do not be children in your thinking'''. Be infants in evil, but '''in your thinking be mature'''.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Cor 14:20.</ref>\n\n:''Let those of us who are mature '''think this way''', and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Php 3:15.</ref>\n\n:''Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and '''I desire to reason with God'''.<ref>Job 13:3 (KJV)</ref>\n\n:''Come now, and '''let us reason together, saith the Lord''' : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.<ref>Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)</ref>\n\n==Jesus wants us to think!==\n\nJesus indicated many times that he wanted people to think. For example:\n\n:'''''What do you think?''' If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 18:12.</ref>\n\n:''Which of these three, '''do you think''', proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?\u201d <ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 10:36.</ref>\n\nThere are many other times where Jesus asked people to think. Why? '''He was challenging them to think about what He was saying so that they could come to faith!'''\n\n==Paul made the Jews think==\n\n:''So '''he reasoned in the synagogue''' with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ac 17:17.</ref>\n\n:''And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, '''reasoning and persuading''' them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, '''reasoning daily''' in the hall of Tyrannus.\u00a0This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ac 19:8\u201310.</ref>\n\n=How does faith start?=\n\n:''So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.<ref>New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Romans 10:17.</ref>\n\nFaith always starts with information. You hear the Word and then you start thinking about it. \n\nHow do you develop your faith? You develop your faith through thinking, through reasoning it out, through getting the evidence. \n\nHow do you develop faith in a doctor? How do you develop enough faith in somebody to marry them? What do you say?\n\nWell, I suppose there are some fools who do this. You look at her, and you say, \u201c''She is gorgeous. I don\u2019t want to know anything else about her. I don\u2019t want to talk to people about what kind of person she is. I don\u2019t want to spend time with her to find out just really what kind of character she has. I don\u2019t want to know the facts. I don\u2019t want to know the facts. I believe she is the woman for me.''\u201d\n\nThere are people who have done that. It\u2019s a sad thing, and that\u2019s not a joke. The fact is, everybody knows you do need faith in order to marry somebody, and the stupidest thing in the world is to try to build your faith by closing your mind to the facts. \n\nThe smart thing is to develop your faith, and that\u2019s the natural way to develop your faith, by thinking. How do you decide whether you\u2019re going to have minor surgery? You get up enough faith, and you do this.\n\nYou say, \u201c''I don\u2019t want to know. I don\u2019t want to know anything about it. I don\u2019t want to know why I need it. I don\u2019t want to know what the effects are. I don\u2019t want to know the side effects. I don\u2019t want to know that. I just want to do it.''\u201d \n\nWhy do you think Paul says we walk by faith, not by sight? He means as you walk by what you know, you stick with what the truth is, and you tell your moods and your feelings and your fears where to get off. That\u2019s faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. We go on what we know, not by what we see, not on what the appearances are, not on what the feeling is, not on how it feels at this moment. We walk by faith. We know.\n\nGod does not say, \u201c'''''Come unto me and check your brains at the door.'''''\u201d Most of us would agree that it wasn\u2019t until we came to him that we even began to use our brains. Until you become a Christian, you have a tendency to react. You react to things. You say, \u201c''I think this way, I do this because I\u2019m Italian, because I\u2019m Jewish, because I\u2019m a WASP. You see? Because I\u2019m from the Midwest, because this is the way my parents taught me, because this is what my friends say, because I\u2019m an English major, and this is how the people in my particular field think.''\u201d\n\nYou react. You don\u2019t think. When you become a Christian, you say, \u201c''Wait a minute now. I have a standard of truth here by which I can judge anything and everything. I cannot just go along''.\u201d '''God does not say, \u201c''Check your brains at the door.''\u201d Faith starts with thinking.'''<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref>\n\n=How does one lose faith?=\n\nIn order to get faith enough to have an operation, to have faith in the doctor and in the procedure, you study it. But say on Saturday morning, if you wake up and you say, \u201c''Oh my. I agreed to have this surgery, but now I just can\u2019t.''\u201d You call in sick, or you say, \u201cI can\u2019t do it,\u201d or you postpone it or something like that. You\u2019ve lost your faith.\n\nWell, how did you lose your faith? Did you get new information that shows you it wasn\u2019t a good idea? \n\nNo. \n\nYou lost your faith because you stopped thinking and you started reacting. You see that? You stopped thinking. You didn\u2019t get new information. You stopped thinking. You just got up and said, \u201cO''h, it\u2019s going to be painful. It\u2019s going to be hard. I\u2019m going to be off work for three days.''\u201d \n\nIf instead you say, \u201c''Wait a minute. If I don\u2019t do it now, this is going to happen later. I\u2019ve studied all this.''\u201d Then you will have the operation. Faith starts by thinking, and when you lose your faith, it\u2019s because you stopped thinking.\n\nIs faith the opposite of reason and thinking? Absolutely not. You lose faith because you stop thinking, because you stop reasoning, because you stop looking at the evidence and you listen to your emotions and you listen to your fears. It\u2019s actually silly to think faith is the opposite of reason.\n\nLook at Matthew 6 where Jesus says, \u201c''If you\u2019re worried, have no anxiety, but think about the lilies of the field. God takes care of them. Think. Have no anxiety, but think about the birds of the air. God takes care of them.''\u201d He says, \u201c''O ye of little faith? If God takes care of the birds and the grass, and you\u2019re more valuable than they, won\u2019t he take care of you?''\" \n\nWhat is Jesus doing? He says, \u201c''O ye of little faith? You\u2019re not thinking.''\u201d He doesn\u2019t say, \u201c''If you want to have faith, stop thinking, and just believe.''\u201d That\u2019s not faith. That\u2019s not what the Bible calls faith.\n\nDavid Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that Jesus Christ insists that the whole trouble with people of little faith is that they do not think. They don\u2019t gird up the loins of their minds. They allow circumstances to bludgeon them. Think about this. They allow their feelings to collar them. The Bible is full of reasoning. We must never think of faith as something purely mystical. Faith progresses through thinking, Jesus tells us.\n\nJesus says, \u201c''Look at the birds. Think about them. Draw your deductions. Look at the flowers. Do the same''.\u201d \n\nThat is the essence of worry. Instead of letting reason control your thoughts, other things have control of them, and you go round and round in circles. That is not thinking. Worry is the absence of thinking. Unbelief is the absence of thinking. And for the Christian, a lack of faith is a failure to think. \u201c''\u2026gird up the loins of your mind\u2026''\u201d\n\nNot only that, the Bible tells you that you can\u2019t grow in holiness unless you\u2019re willing to let God take over your thinking. It says in Ephesians 4:22\u201324 to be renewed through the renewal of your mind. That\u2019s the place where it says, \u201c\u2026put off your old self\u2026 put on the new\u2026\u201d and be renewed in the renewal of your mind.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref>\n\n=The Bible requires us to think=\n\nChristianity is the only thing that encourages thinking and gives a basis for it. There are '''only three basic worldviews''' you can have right now today. There have been other worldviews, but there are only three basic philosophies of life out there.\n\nYou have '''scientific materialism''', which says there is no soul, there is no supernatural, there is no God, and there is no heaven and hell. Therefore, everything is an accident, and everything has a natural cause. These people will tell you, ultimately, that means your mind is an accident, and the thoughts you\u2019re having right now are just the chance reaction of molecules under your skull. They\u2019re just bouncing off of each other. You believe what you believe strictly because of biological and chemical determinants. Therefore, on the basis of that, there is really no reason for you to trust your thinking. There is no reason for you to reason. Everything is relative.\n\nFor the last 30 years, people have been saying, \u201c''Because there is no truth, we are free! Our minds are free to think! In the old days, we thought there was a God and there was the Bible. We thought there was this and that, so we couldn\u2019t be free thinkers, but now we know everything is relative. There probably is no God. There certainly is no Bible and revelation, so we are free.''\u201d Do you know what that leads to? For about 30 or 40 years, people were saying, \u201c''Because all things are relative and all morals are relative, therefore, we shouldn\u2019t impose our values on each other.''\u201d\n\nThat doesn\u2019t make sense. If all morality is relative, why not impose your values on other people? That\u2019s just your value that says you shouldn\u2019t impose your values on other people. Don\u2019t you see that? If there is no truth, there is no basis for freedom of thought at all. \u201c''I\u2019ll control your thought if I want to. I\u2019ll do whatever I want.''\u201d\n\nThe '''postmodern deconstructionists''' say, \u201c''Because all values are socially constructed there is no right and wrong. The purpose of life is not to try to find out what truth is and what justice is and conform to it. Absolutely not! You do whatever the heck you want,''\u201d which means there is no search for truth. There is no reason to reason. There is no reason to think. It\u2019s all a power struggle.\n\n\u201c''Whoever has the power, whoever comes out on top is the one who rules. We don\u2019t find out what is right. We don\u2019t find out what is wrong. There is no right and wrong.''\u201d Don\u2019t you see that scientific materialism leads to the death of thinking? \u201cYou don\u2019t need to think. You can\u2019t trust your thinking.\u201d That\u2019s the first basic philosophy you have.\n\nThe '''second basic philosophy is Eastern monism''' (Eastern pantheism and Eastern religions). They believe, and anyone will tell you this who understands the New Age and understands the Eastern religions, what is wrong with us is that we think, that we\u2019re rational, that we reason. Eastern meditation is after what they call pure awareness without thought. Eastern meditation says what you need to see is that it\u2019s all one. \u201c''You\u2019re one with the tree. You\u2019re one with nature.''\u201d There is no individuality.\n\nEastern thought tries to frustrate the reason and tries to frustrate your analysis. It says, \u201c''Eventually we\u2019re all going to go back into the All Soul, and there won\u2019t be individualism. There won\u2019t be individuals. There won\u2019t be personality. There won\u2019t be rationality. We\u2019ll all be one.''\u201d Eastern religion gives you no basis for rationality, but Christianity, or I should say the religion of the Bible (Judaism and Christianity and even Islam, which is based very much on the Bible) teaches there was a God who created the world who was rational.\n\n\u201c''If there is a God who is rational, my reason is not an accident of molecules, and my reason is not an illusion. My reason is a reflection of his person. It means if a rational and orderly God created the world, then when I use my reason I\u2019m going to find out what is really out there.''\u201d But philosophically, at the end of the twentieth century, '''Christianity''' is the only thing in the world tonight that really encourages you to use your mind.\n\nIt\u2019s the only thing in the world tonight that gives you a basis for doing it, and it\u2019s the only thing in the world that really liberates the thinking. Somebody says, \u201c''What are you talking about? I got out of Christianity because I felt I couldn\u2019t be liberated. Now I can think of whatever I want to think about.''\u201d But the Bible says you\u2019re not free unless you know the truth because \u201c\u2026the truth will set you free.\u201d\n\nDo you know why? Look at all the people who really understood the truth and said, \u201cThe Bible is the truth.\u201d That\u2019s freedom. Do you know why? No matter what your friends tell you, no matter what your political party tells you, no matter what the ideology tells you, no matter what the dictator or the king who is ready to cut your head off tells you, you know what the truth is.\n\nIf you have the Bible, if you know there is an absolute truth, you could be the only person in the whole world, it could be you against the entire world, and you can know you\u2019re right. Look at Elijah standing before Ahab. Look at Moses standing before Pharaoh. Look at Paul standing before Herod Agrippa. Look at Polycarp in AD 88, the old man standing in the coliseum. They were about to throw him to the lions, and he said, \u201cAway with you all!\u201d He dies. Look at Latimer and Ridley being burned at the stake. Look at Martin Luther standing before the whole world.\n\nThese were free thinkers because they knew and because they had submitted to the truth. Now they had a standard by which they could judge any ideology. They had a standard by which they could judge any philosophy. They weren\u2019t the victims of their culture anymore. They weren\u2019t the victims of their party. They were always able to judge their own culture and their own party and their own philosophy and their own school. Christianity is the only basis for being a free thinker. It\u2019s the only basis and encouragement for actually using your mind.\n\nIf you want me to know why Christianity stimulates the use of the mind, I can prove it to you historically. Wherever there have been revivals, great awakenings in the history of the world, you will see the common people always receive the gospel. You go back to the New Testament, and it says, \u201c\u2026the common people heard [Jesus] gladly.\u201d\n\nWell, all the religious leaders thought that proved he couldn\u2019t be a great teacher. \u201cLook, the common people like you! The common people are following you.\u201d Of course, all through the early church, they were all the common people. They were the slaves. They were the illiterates. And what happened? Their minds woke up. The gospel always arouses the thinking. Throughout the history of the church, throughout the history of the world, whenever the gospel has spread amongst people, their minds wake up and they want schools.\n\nThe gospel always makes you gird up your mind, and do you know why? Because the gospel is not a teaching. The gospel is not a philosophy that says, \u201c''Here, live in this way. Just live in this way.''\u201d That doesn\u2019t make you think. The gospel says, \u201c''God has broken into the world in the form of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for us, and he was raised from the dead.''\u201d Don\u2019t you see? You can\u2019t even listen to that teaching without it electrifying the mind. It challenges the mind. It shocks the mind.\n\nIt\u2019s not at all like a philosophy of how to live. That doesn\u2019t stir up the mind. The gospel stirs up the mind. You can\u2019t even reject the gospel without using your mind because the claims are so incredible. God has broken into history. \u201c''\u2026when the time had fully come, God sent his Son\u2026 born under law to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons [of God].''\u201d That claim is so incredible you can\u2019t even reject the gospel without thinking because you have to say, \u201c''What is the evidence for the resurrection, and how do I know these things?''\u201d\n\nThere are only two kinds of people reading this. The first kind are the people who think Christianity is something maybe that might help them privately spiritually, but they really are afraid to actually let it challenge their minds. If Jesus is who he says he is, you must belong to him wholly: intellectually, emotionally, and volitionally.\n\nIf he is the Son of God as he said, if he rose from the dead as was claimed, you have to look at that evidence. You can\u2019t just say, \u201c''Well, I don\u2019t know what I think about all of this. I want to just have a kind of personal, mystical experience. I just want to have peace''.\u201d You can\u2019t do it. God says, \u201c''I will not come into your life unless I come in through your mind. You have to receive the form of teaching. You have to look at the evidence. You have to believe it. You have to check it out.''\u201d Don\u2019t you dare try to do it and run around the mind. Listen to the gospel. Let it argue with you.\n\nLastly, some of you are Christians, but you\u2019re not very consistent Christians because, really, so many people come out of fundamentalism or come out of liberalism or out of all these different churches, and they all really do bypass the mind. Don\u2019t you dare. You need to study the Word of God. You have to let the Word of God sink in. You have to let your mind be completely bathed in the authority of God.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref>\n\n==How are we supposed to think?==\n\n:''We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 2 Cor 10:5.</ref>\n\n=The relationship between faith and reason=\n\nRichard Dawkins once said:\n\n:''\u201cMany of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where\u2019s the harm? September 11th changed all that.\u201d\n\nThis view of Christian belief is common among skeptics and believers alike. Critics think Christians accept truth claims without any evidential support and many Christians embrace the claims of Christianity unaware of the strong evidence supporting our worldview. Dawkins is correct when he argues against forming beliefs without evidence. People who accept truth claims without any examination or need for evidence are prone to believing myths and making bad decisions.\n\nFollowers of William Branham should do likewise and closely examine the evidence that is available surrounding his ministry.\n\n==Christians Are Called to A Reasonable Faith==\n\nChristians are not called to make decisions without good evidence. The God of the Bible does not call his children to obey blindly. The Gospels are themselves an important form of direct evidence; the testimony of eyewitnesses who observed the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. That\u2019s why the scriptures repeatedly call us to have a reasoned belief in Christ, and not to resort to the behavior of unreasoning animals:\n\n=What the Bible says=\n\nJude 1:10\n\n:''But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, '''like unreasoning animals''', by these things they are destroyed.\n\nThe Bible uses the word \u201cunreasoning\u201d in a pejorative manner; to be unreasoning is to act like a brute animal. God clearly wants more from beings created in His image. In fact, God wants us to examine all the evidence at our disposal and to study the things of God with great intensity. When we do this, we truly begin to worship Him with our mind.\n\nMatthew 22:37-38\n\n:''You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, '''and with all your mind'''. This is the great and foremost commandment.\u201d\n\nThis kind of faith is unafraid of challenges. In fact, Christians are encouraged to examine what they believe critically so they can be fully convinced.\n\n1 Thessalonians 5:19-21\n\n:''Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But '''examine everything carefully'''; hold fast to that which is good\u2026\n\n1 John 4:1\n\n:''Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but '''test the spirits to see whether they are from God'''; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.\n\nRomans 14:5\n\n:''Let each man be '''fully convinced in his own mind.'''\n\n2 Timothy 3:14\n\nYou, however, continue in the '''things you have learned and become convinced of''', knowing from whom you have '''learned''' them\u2026\n\nCritical examination requires us to investigate the evidence, and God holds evidence in high regard. He wants us to be convinced after we examine the facts. Jesus valued evidence and continually provided evidence to make his case.\n\nJohn 14:11\n\n:''Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least '''believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves'''.\u201d\n\nJesus continued to provide evidence to the disciples, even after the Resurrection.\n\nActs 1:2-3\n\n:''\u2026until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, '''by many convincing proofs''', appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.\n\nThe earliest Christians understood the connection between reason, evidence and faith, and they did not see these concepts as mutually exclusive. In fact, Paul often used direct evidence to make his case for Christianity.\n\nActs 17:30-31\n\n:''\u201cTherefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.\u201d\n\nActs 17:2-3\n:''And according to Paul\u2019s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths '''reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence''' that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead.\n\nWhen believers use their minds, investigate the evidence and become convinced, something wonderful happens: We have the courage to defend what we believe using the same evidence, logic and reasoning power we used to come to faith in the first place. In fact, we are required to do this.\n\n1 Peter 3:15\n\n:''\u2026but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, '''always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you''' to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet '''with gentleness and reverence'''\u2026\n\nChristians in all disciplines of inquiry and discovery have used their reasoning power to investigate the evidence. Christians are not irrational, and Christian faith is not blind. The rich intellectual history of Christianity calls each of us to have a reasonable, examined, evidential, case-making faith. This kind of faith honors God and withstands skeptical criticism and personal doubt.<ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/the-reasonable-evidential-nature-of-christian-faith/</ref>\n\n=Christianity promotes rational thinking=\n\nAnais Nin, the avant-garde author and diarist, once said,\n\n:''\u201cWhen we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow.\u201d \n\nThis is true. If you were going to trial, the last thing you would want a jury to do would be to adopt a position blindly. But many people seem to think that Christians do this very thing, when they adopt the view that Christianity is true. This is largely due to the fact that the term, \u201cfaith\u201d is largely misunderstood. For some (even for some Christians), faith is best defined as \u201cbelieving in something that lacks supporting evidence.\u201d But this is not the definition of faith that is presented on the pages of Christian Scripture. \n\nThe Biblical notion of faith is more akin to \u201ctrusting in the best inference from the evidence.\u201d The Biblical authors repeatedly encouraged their readers to search the evidence to investigate the claims of Christianity (see 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 and 1 John 4:1) so they could be convinced of the truth of these claims (Romans 14:5, 2 Timothy 1:8-12 and 2 Timothy 3:14). \n\nThis encouragement is consistent with the notion that the evidence will lead us to a rational conclusion about the nature of Jesus. In fact, Jesus also encouraged his followers to consider the evidence he provided about his deity (John 14:11 and Acts 1:2-3). Christian faith is not blind. Instead, the Christian faith encourages investigation related to Jesus and to the world around us. Christians ought to understand the distinctions between unreasonable, blind and reasonable faith:\n\n=Unreasonable Faith=\n\nIf you believe in something '''IN SPITE of the evidence''', you are holding to an unreasonable faith - where we refuse to accept or acknowledge evidence that exists, is easily accessible and clearly refutes what we believe.\n\n==Blind Faith==\n\nBlind faith is believing in something '''WITHOUT any evidence'''. We hold a blind faith when we accept something even though there is no evidence to support our beliefs. We don\u2019t search for ANY evidence that either supports or refutes what we are determined to believe\n\n=Reasonable Faith=\n\nBelieving in something '''BECAUSE of the evidence'''. We hold a reasonable faith when we believe in something because it is the most reasonable conclusion from the evidence that exists. '''The Bible repeatedly makes evidential claims'''. It offers eyewitness accounts of historical events that can be verified archeologically, prophetically and even scientifically. \n\nWe, as Christians are called to hold a REASONABLE FAITH that is grounded in this evidence. The pages of Scripture support the notion of \u201creasonable faith\u201d. <ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2012/christianity-promotes-rational-and-evidential-exploration/ Christianity Promotes Rational (and Evidential) Exploration]</ref>\n\n==Doesn\u2019t the Bible Say True Faith is Blind?==\n\nThe Biblical definition of faith is a reasoned trust in light of the evidence. Jesus told us to trust his claims in light of the miracles that confirmed his words evidentially (John 14:11), and he spent 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection, providing them with many convincing proofs that he was alive (Acts 1:2-3). \n\nThere are several passages in scripture that, at face value, seem to be saying that faith is blind. For example, Hebrews 11 starts by saying that \u201c''faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.''\u201d This seems to be saying that faith is made out of hopes, and that having faith is evidence enough. It appears to be the closest Biblical statement affirming a \u201cblind faith\u201d that is not restricted to things that can be supported by evidence. \n\nBut is that what this verse actually says? Let\u2019s take a closer look at the passage in the NASB:\n\nHebrews 11:1\n\n:''Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.\n\nThe context of Hebrews 11:1, following Hebrews 10, is essential in understand what the writer of Hebrews is referring to in this passage concerning faith. In Hebrews 10, the author ends the section encouraging his readers to continue in their faith and to \u201cendure\u201d (verse 36) in spite of \u201creproaches\u201d and \u201ctribulations\u201d they may have experienced or observed. He finishes by saying, \u201c''\u2026we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul''.\u201d In the very next line (the passage we are considering at 11:1) the author says that \"''faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.''\u201d\n\nSo what is it here that is connected to \u201cfaith\u201d and is also \u201cunseen\u201d? Is it \u201cevidence\u201d? Is the author saying, \u201cNow faith is the assurance of things hoped for, when the evidence is unseen?\u201d \n\nNo, he\u2019s saying just the opposite. When considering chapter 10 prior to interpreting verse 11:1, it\u2019s clear that the author is encouraging his readers to endure those times when God seems absent; those times when trials and tribulations cause us to question God\u2019s existence. Where is God in these difficult situations? Why can\u2019t we see Him? Why can\u2019t we see His activity in our lives? \n\nIn verse 11:1, the author of Hebrews says that we can trust that God\u2019s salvation, protection and provision are still there for us, even though they may appear to be \u201cthings not seen.\u201d In spite of their apparent absence, we are told to trust that they exist. Why? On what basis? On the basis of what we can see.\n\nOver and over again the Old Testament saints, when questioning God\u2019s goodness, provision or protection, were encouraged by a leader or prophet to '''remember what God did for them''' in Egypt. God\u2019s rescue efforts in Egypt were provided as a '''piece of evidence''', demonstrating that He was capable of rescuing His children again. God has given us visible assurance that he exists, and the writer of Hebrews is simply asking us to trust this assurance when God and his mercies seem like they are \u201cthings not seen\u201d. Even the writer of Hebrews understood the conviction and assurance that resulted from evidence: the evidence of God\u2019s Old Testament activities and the evidence of Jesus\u2019 New Testament miracles.<ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2012/doesnt-the-bible-say-true-faith-is-blind/ Doesn\u2019t the Bible Say True Faith is Blind?</ref>\n\n=Adding to the Bible?=\n<br>\nWilliam Branham misquoted the Bible and then built a doctrine around his addition to the Bible. We challenge anyone in the message to find the following passage referenced by William Branham:\n\n:''That's the reason you can't rise up in faith, because you got intellectuals there. Your intellectual part says, \"Well, this, or that.\" It's a reasoning. '''We want to cast down reasonings, the Bible tells us.'''<ref>56-0121, The Inter-Veil</ref>\n\n:''But now, as long as you dwell in that mental reasonings, you'll never be no different. Now, '''the Bible said we've got to cast down reasoning'''.<ref>56-0128, Inspiration</ref>\n\n:'''''The Bible said, \"We cast down reasons.'''\"<ref>62-1014M, The Stature Of A Perfect Man</ref>\n\n:'''''The Bible, in Proverbs, says, \"We must cast down reasonings.'''<ref>65-0822M, Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word</ref>\n\n{{Bottom of Page}}\n[[Category:Doctrines]]\n[[Category:Critical analysis of William Branham\u200f\u200e]]\n[[Category:Adding to the Bible]]"
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