5 Responses to “How Do You Know You’re Right?”

1. S. Johnson
   December 2nd, 2008 @ 3:30 pm

   I believe there is much confusion that surrounds experience. People don’t realize that experience is not self interpreting. All experience is filtered through our worldview—if our worldview is distorted then the interpretation of our experiences will also be distorted. Let’s say 3 people are sitting on my back porch one evening, a religious man, a naturalist/atheist and a UFO fanatic. Suddenly an orb of light appears. It comes down into the yard moves about a bit and then disappears. The UFO fanatic is excited because he believes he saw a UFO. The Naturalist believes he has seen some natural phenomena—perhaps some unusual variant of ball lightning. The Religious man who recently had been praying for a sign from God believes he has seen a manifestation of God—perhaps an angel.

   Note that although all 3 saw the same thing, yet they all had different interpretations based on their worldviews. This is why experience is so slippery—especially if it of the mystical order or if it is based on feelings. I believe it was Norman Geisler who said experience is like unformed Jell-O that is poured out on the counter. Without some structure to pour it into, it just runs all over the place. What it is poured into has much to do with the shape it takes. I have heard Geisler who is a logic machine and a Christian fundamentalist say, subjective experiences are multitudinous and contradictory. They are never a test for truth. There is simply no way to adjudicate between worldviews based on subjective experience, for the lens that makes up that worldview will always interpret the experience in keeping with itself. Once the correct worldview is determined, only then can experience be interpreted correctly. Unfortunately this seems to be a difficult concept for those who find greatest comfort in the subjective to accept.

   Even with the correct worldview our interpretations are still subject to the desires of our hearts and thus may not be correct. For as Jer 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”. How many times have we heard some minister give some off the wall revelation he has heard from God? Experience needs to be tested in light of the Word of God. The Word of God should never be subject to experience.

2. john
   December 3rd, 2008 @ 11:44 am

   It was a very important topic.
   I was thinking more on the lines of within the church.

   Good point made by S.Johnson .The condition of our heart is very important.Several years back i had given a word and the church didnt recieve it and it caused hurt.So after sometime i started getting all these negative and judgemental words towards the church and it seemed as if from the Lord, till i prayed about it.God showed me my offense and when it was healed i was surpised that i even thought that way.If we have asked for the Spirit’s light to constantly shine in our hearts then we can keep our hearts from the enemy taking control.Also there is that aspect of gaurding our hearts rather than the usual “after” damage control mode.
   Secondly it comes with properly understanding God ,His character and the way He works from scripture.”Moses knew His ways Israel knew His acts”
   This takes time and is a continuos process and can be progressed only from the place of surrender.

   Thirdly i think there is collective interpretation.We know in part.So does the part you have fit in with the rest or interpreting your part in line with the rest of the body.
   There are patterns though from scripture which are exceptions where everybody was corrupt from within that God had raise people from without.Elijah,John the Baptist….

3. Bijoy Thomas
   December 25th, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

   Dear Dr. Brown,

   I came across a booklet titled “The 70 Weeks Prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27″ by Gary Arvidson & Clyde Brown.

   They claim that the seventy week prophecy in the Book of Daniel is not messianic at all and also that it does not apply to Yeshua of Nazareth. They say that the traditional interpretation assumes that the seventy weeks are split in two as the first sixty nine weeks (483 years) which end with the crucifixion of Yeshua when the annoined one is cut-off and the last week (seven years) is still to happen in the future is erroneous.

   They claim in their book that there is no gap in the seventy weeks prophecy as many theologians assume it to be. They say that many scholars agree to the fact that there are no gaps in the 70 heptads.

   The say the that 70 week prophecy started in 415 BCE when Nehemiah started building the second Temple and then after 7 weeks (49 years) in the year 366 BCE a person named Jesus was slain in the Temple by his brother John who was the High Priest of the Temple at the time. As a result of this, the persians were so horrified according to Josephus that they decided to shut the temple down for seven years.

   Then in late 66 CE or early 67 CE according to Josephus, another “annointed” one named Ananus was killed by the romans.

   The authors say that there was covenant which Julius Caesar had made with Antipater which protected the Jews and the Temple. The last seven years start when Ananus was assassinated around 66-67 CE and three and half years later the Temple was destroyed and another three and half years later in 74 CE the war ends and the diaspora begins. If we go back 490 years from 74 CE we come to the time around which Nehemiah started building the second temple.

   Thus, the authors claim that Daniels prohetic message in Chapter 9 does not refer to Yeshua of Nazareth but the say Yeshua did prohecy this in Matthew 24. According to the authors the annointed ones who would be cut-off mentioned in Daniel 9 are Jesus (slain in 366 BCE) and Ananus (slain around 66-67 CE).

   The authors also claim that no NT writer address this prophecy to Yeshua of Nazreth which is a proof that it is not addressed to Yeshua.

   Dr. Brown, I personally do not agree with these claims and I would like to know your views on these and also if there are any ways to refute them.

   May God bless you and your ministry richly,

   Happy Hannukah,

   Bijoy.

4. Dr Michael Brown
   December 26th, 2008 @ 2:56 am

   Bijoy,

   I believe that the Messianic interpretation is the best one to follow, and I get into this in some detail of volume 3 of my Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, dealing with Messianic Prophecy. The information there should answer your questions.

   Happy Hannukah to you!

   Dr. Brown

5. Jabez H.
   February 20th, 2009 @ 3:42 am

   Interesting stuff. If Yeshua was not “cut off” in relationship to his preeminance as to the seasons of the Kingdoms represented of the Figure Nbzr. saw, and Israel and the Nations, why bother to have the future Kingdom of the last chapter of Daniel be the overriding and overpowering work of God’s establishment too? Why not have it be aliens, or demons, or a future episode of “Lost”, or anything but what it is to be according to the promises given of the Prophets of Old? Where does the battle of Hastings fit into it all; or Obamaism as its consultative notions sweep the Western consciousness? Perhaps the two who were also killed in Jerusalem levitated back through their stargate?

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