I Would Like to Know Your Favorite Bible Verse

It's more than just one verse, actually:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father." ~ John 1:15, 14

For me, the Incarnation – that the creative Word of God became flesh for our sakes in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, not in some mythical dream-time, but in a particular geographic location, and at a particular point in historic time – is the key doctrine of Christianity, and for me the most powerful and evocative. As English poet laureate Sir John Betjeman put it in his poem "Christmas":

[i]And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?

And is it true? For if it is...

[b]No love that in a family dwells,
No caroling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.[/b][/i]

I happen to believe that it is indeed true, as C.S. Lewis pointed out:

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Your mileage may vary. ;-)

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Firespirit · 26-30, M

Genesis 20:12 - And yet indeed [she is] my sister; she [is] the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

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KnightRanger · 56-60, M

Beautiful! Thank you. :-) And the same to you!

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couchpotato · M

Proverbs 3.27: do not withhold good from him whom it is due when it's in your power to act..

taneegoan · 31-35, F

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

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KnightRanger · 56-60, M

I see. Okay, that make sense! It is all too easy to pick and choose just the parts that we like, that is true.

taneegoan · 31-35, F

@KnightRanger: thank you Sir , yes it's true and I never want to away from truth and honesty

KnightRanger · 56-60, M

That is a worthy desire! I pray you do not. :-)

Merinder · 51-55, M

I wish I could like this but the original bible said "logos", which means so much more than "word".

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KnightRanger · 56-60, M

@Merinder: I do understand what you're saying, or at least what I think I hear you saying – "Word" as a single, discrete word, like "at" or "the"... or "chair," or "pony." Am I reading you rightly? I think the point is that, throughout the Scriptures, you have the concept of God speaking and things happening (in fact there's a whole Jewish mystical/esoteric system called the Kabbala based on that idea, but that's an aside...). Right at the very beginning, in Genesis, you have the repeated "And God said...," followed by "And God called..." God acts in the world through utterance, through "speech." Maybe not literally, as we think of speaking, but as a metaphor. What the Prologue to John's Gospel does is combines that concept with the broader "Logos" concept of Greek esoteric / philosophical thought, bringing in the elements of plan, reason, etc. I actually prefer "Logos," but since almost nobody in the Anglophone world speaks Greek (myself included, a few theologically-significant words aside), if you do that, folks look at you and scratch their heads. Or they think you're talking about a software program... ;-) But even in casual conversation, you sometimes hear things like "What's the word?" – meaning, not what is the single, individual, specific word, but "what's going on? what do you have to share with me? what's important in your life?" – that sort of thing. I hope this all makes sense! :-)

Merinder · 51-55, M

@KnightRanger: Haha I like "pony". Yes you're reading me rightly. And yes, they'd scratch their heads. Still, if "logos" was used more commonly in translations, maybe there would be less head scratching because everyone would be used to it and everyone would have put some more thought into what that very central and important word might mean?
I actually used to ask myself what that single, individual, specific word is, by the way. Couldn't help it :-)

KnightRanger · 56-60, M

I think we all had passages like that, when we were kids! Young minds tend to the literal... ;-) And I agree, there's a lot to be said for using the original words as much as possible. :-) And explaining, as necessary.......!

Flenflyys · 31-35, F

I like the one where a bunch of kids made fun of a guy for being bald so god sent a bunch of bears to maul the children.

SW-User

Thanks

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