The Inspiration of the Bible

I believe in the full and absolute inspiration of the Bible. It is totally free of errors. Where errors have been claimed by critics the critics have usually been eventually proven to have been in error themselves. An example of this is the Hittite people .

Since no archeological evidence was ever found for the Hittites, many believed that they were a fictional element in the Bible. Then. in 1871, at Carchemish, extra-Biblical documentary evidence of the Hittites was unearthed. Later (1906 - 1907), the ruins of Hattusas, the capital of the Hittite empire, were discovered in Turkey. Hattusas was found the hold over 10,000 Hittite records recorded on clay tablets. Now, Hittite history, including king lists and court records, is well established.

It is true that there are still claims of errors in the Bible. I believe that they will eventually be resolved as we learn more about the history of the Middle East. There is probably more under the dirt of the Middle East than is on top of it.

Religious Humor: Proverbs 26:17

"He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears."  Proverbs 26:17

The Proverbs are part of the Hebrew Wisdom Literature.  The point made here is good advice presented in a humorous way which makes the wisdom point easier to remember.   The humor comes from the exaggerated, almost slapstick image, of a man who has grabbed a dog's ears in anger and then realizes he has more trouble than he started with.  Very Mr. Bean. The image is enhanced when you realize that dogs in most of the ancient Middle East were not domesticated.  They ran in wild packs scavenging for food.

This is not referring to intervening in obviously deadly or dangerous situations such as a rape or an assault.  It also is not counseling one to intentionally not see an illegal or unethical situation.  The image is one of an argument or a legal dispute into which one has not been "invited."

We all know people who have to "fix" every situation and who hop right in, sometimes forcefully.  They think that if everyone would just be "reasonable" it could all be solved and they are sure they know the reasonable solution.  When they inevitably are accused of taking sides in the argument they may end up angering everyone involved, including themselves.  The Hebrew words translated as "meddleth" (meddling, interfering, etc) are "mit abber" " מִתְעַבֵּר" meaning to "become furious."  If you don't know what is going on, don't just foolishly run in and make it worse.