Can we step back a bit and ask ourselves this question?
Let's say that Christ has not yet come to die on Calvary but it is still 2012, the temple has not been destroyed, we are still observing old covenant procedures, and still going to synagogues.
If Christ appeared on the scene today, and started explaining things to us, should He explain them from the point of view of the educational and cultural equivalent from the year 3992?
And when the apostles are chosen and make their rounds to our known world, should they teach using the culture, science, and language from the year 3992?
The answer is an obvious NO. Their knowledge would be so far advanced that we would not have a clue what was being said. For instance, can you imagine the reaction you would receive by telling a 1st century individual about an email you sent to your friend living in another country? Or how about basic television broadcasts? They would think you as crazy people. One could not listen with any coherence whatsoever!
So, why then must we attempt to interpret 2,000+ year old Scripture (and way further back) from the educational and cultural standpoint of the year 2012?
Using this unreliable method is the reason why the mark of the beast gets such ludicrous understandings as laser implants...this is why 2 Peter 3's "elements" must mean the atomic components of the universe. And on and on it goes...
Shouldn't Scripture be interpreted according to the culture, customs, and language of their day in which it was spoken or written? Wouldn't this also mean that every generation could understand the Bible if they used this hermeneutic? What we seem to have today is that only individuals from the 20th century and later have access to a full understanding of the Bible
It is an underhanded argument because the Creator of the universe is not limited to the mentality of 1st Century humanity nor 21st Century humanity nor 11 Millionth Century humanity (if the Lord tarried that long)...
Job 26:7 (NASB95)
7 “He stretches out the north over empty space
And hangs the earth on nothing.Job, oldest book of the Bible, has cosmological science humanity did not have until recent centuries.
Including the rotation of the earth...
Job 38:13-14 (KJV)
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14
It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
Moses was trained up in the Egyptian schools which included various hygiene and medical practices we would be appalled by... yet none showed up in the law of Moses at all. In fact, recent medical discoveries note that circumcision prevents various viruses from being passed on to the wives causing genital warts and cervical cancer.
So, I suggest you attempt using that Jim Bob ho down logic someplace else...
