67 Surprising Things Not Found in the Bible; How Many Can You Guess?
46. "God will never give you anything you can't bear." Obviously not true in real life. God only knows where it came from.
47. "Cleanliness is next to godliness." That would be Francis Bacon, not the Bible.
48. Any suggestion that churches should be decorated with crosses, outside or inside. Or that there should even be church buildings at all.
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49. Any blanket prohibition of drinking alcohol
50. Any prohibition of consciousness-altering through external or internal means. Drunkedness is discouraged; but never controlled altered states. We alter our consciousness through prayer, going to movies (an induced vision), reading imaginative books, running (endorphins), and using coffee. John was in a serious altered state seeing the vision in Revelation. Ditto Ezekiel in his prophecy. Ditto Paul (who wasn't even sure if he was in his body or not).
51. Any mention that church leaders should wear different clothing than the regular peeps (clerical collars, robes, etc.)
52. Anything that says church music should be reflective, subdued, or played on an organ. (See the loud clashing cymbals in the Psalms–with trumpets and shouts)
53. Anywhere that says women can't wear pants (pants aren't mentioned at all) or use makeup
54. Any mention that women should work at home (see Proverbs 31)
55. Any specific "age of accountability" for baptism. Or even the concept.
56. Any command that baptism has to be by submersion. Paul was baptized in a home which likely had no running water.
57. Of course, only people in the New World were smoking tobacco; a substance and behavior totally unknown to the writers of the Bible. And using "your body is a temple" to forbid smoking would also outlaw junk food if you wanted to be specific.
58. Any mention that there should be separate "departments" in the church for kids (Sunday School), youth groups, or men's and women's ministries
59. The word or explicit description of a holy Trinity
60. Elijah taken up in a chariot (he was taken up in a whirlwind)
61. God changing Saul's name to Paul (Paulos, or "shorty" was just his Greek trade/business nick-name). Imagine: "O Saul, from now on thou shalt be named….Shorty!"
62. The word "wine" associated with the "cup" in the Last Supper. Fruit of the vine is probably wine, but the Bible does not make the explicit connection.
63. Jesus' command to baptize mentioning water (could be Spirit baptism–See Mark 1:8)
64. The "rapture" mentioned anywhere in the book of Revelation
65. Anything mentioning that Jesus had long hair (or a beard)
66. The phrase "personal relationship with Jesus."
67. Any record of anyone ending a sermon in the Early Church inviting people to receive Jesus into their hearts (the altar call perfected by Finney over a century ago)
Here are some of the biggest errors in Bible interpretation:
1. The mistake that "description is prescription." Since Jesus "came up out of the water" (description), baptism by immersion is commanded (prescription).
2. Inference equals explicit command. You can make an argument that the Bible infers a trinity (and I am a trinitarian, by the way), but the word is never used nor is the concept explained in even the most basic ways. The Bible doesn't connect the dots. We have to. But our "dot connecting" is not equivalent to an explicit Bible text.
3. Thus implicit does not equal explicit. My list is a list of things NOT explicit in the Bible.
4. An unfounded equating of terms. E.g. "seraphim are angels." Perhaps in your world this is true, and you are welcome to believe it; but the Bible uses different words here for different kinds of beings.
5. "You can't disprove it!" (e.g. that seraphim are angels). "You can't disprove/prove it" only works (and it works well) if you are trying to start a conspiracy theory. E.g. "You can't prove men landed on the moon." I'm just stating a list of things that the Bible simply does not explicitly teach. They may be true, but not because "the Bible tells me so."
Perhaps you can add some more in the comments [where this article originally appeared].
Or if you can prove me wrong, say so (ditto in the comments).
Please pass this link on to others. Fun discussion starter in a group setting. Or a good church newsletter article (you have permission to print it as long as you mention the site: http://ThornHeart.com.
