A10 • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE BATTLEFIELD CHRONICLES • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013
PUBLIC OPINION
ABOUT US
Should we take the bible literally?
What we’re all about
STAFF REPORTER
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
STAFF REPORTER
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
Letters to the editor
Letter from the editor
Welcome to the first edition of The Battlefield Chronicles newspaper,
reporting yesterday’s news today. Yesterday’s news today? What does
that mean? Simply, we are taking stories from the Bible and reporting
them in a modern journalistic style. We are interested in digging for
the stories behind the stories, so to speak. Hopefully you will find our
articles interesting. Maybe our newspaper will give you some things to
ponder. Perhaps you will be motivated to go and read the Bible yourself
just to see if our reporting is factual. After reading some of our articles
you may disagree with our journalism. In which case you can use the
platform of our Letters to the Editor column to make your point. We
can’t promise we will publish every letter, but we will do our best. In any
case, we hope you like this first edition of The Battlefield Chronicles.
You can contact us by email or though our website. We’d love to hear
your comments and any suggestion you may have.
GLEN BONHAM
Editor-In-Chief
A journey for “daily bread”
Dear Chronicles,
Re: your editorial, about two million leaving
Egypt:
It has been my understanding that the Bible
is written in a symbolic language; the info
contained therein is not to be taken literally. When you mention that possibly two
million people left Egypt in the Exodus, it
would merely mean a great number of people (the exact number is not important) and
the manna from heaven is to be understood
as God saves and provides for his people.
These things are not to be taken literally.
Ben A.
Response from the editor:
Thanks for your comments Ben.
Being the publisher and editor of the Chronicles, I feel it is important that my readers
understand where I’m coming from with
regards to how I interpret the Bible. Let me
state emphatically that I am a literalist. I believe in the inerrant Word of God and if it’s
in the Bible, I believe it! Someone said, “If
God didn’t mean what He said… why didn’t
He say what He meant?”
Sola Scriptura.*
The Bible declares itself to be God-breathed,
inerrant, and authoritative. The Bible also
teaches that God does not change His mind
or contradict Himself. So, while the Bible itself may not explicitly argue for sola scriptura, it most definitely does not allow for
traditions or symbolism that contradict its
message. The only way to know for sure what
God expects of us is to stay true to what we
know He has revealed in the Bible. I believe
beyond any shadow of doubt that Scripture
is true, authoritative, and reliable. I refuse to
base my beliefs on tradition or symbolism.
Letter from the editor
Sola scriptura is not as much of an argument
against tradition as it is an argument against
unbiblical, extra-biblical and/or anti-biblical doctrines. Thus my use of a disclaimer
of sorts, (see editors note on Who Is Abraham), whenever the Chronicles steps outside
of what is actually written in the Bible. And
our approach to reporting Biblical stories in
a modern journalistic style is not meant to
reproduce the Bible in newspaper form, but
to create interest in, and hopefully have our
readers give thought to, some of the stories
contained in the Bible. That being said, I do
recognize that, like you, not all of our readers will be of the same opinion with regards
to the Bible.
STAFF REPORTER
Editor-In-Chief
*Sola scriptura (Latin, “by scripture alone”)
is the doctrine that the Bible contains all
knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands
that only those doctrines are to be admitted
or confessed that are found directly within
or indirectly by using valid logical deduction
or valid deductive reasoning from scripture.
However, sola scriptura is not a denial of
other authorities governing Christian life
and devotion. Rather, it simply demands
that all other authorities are subordinate to,
and are to be corrected by, the written word
of God.
Contributing writers needed
If you would like to contribute an
article to The Battlefield Cronicles,
please contact the editor:
[email protected]
Remembrance
“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will
accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Isaiah 55:11
STAFF REPORTER
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
One of the main reasons for creating the Chronicles was to encourage people to read the Bible. I have a real appreciation for the Old Testament. I say that, of course, after having read the Bible through in its entirety every year for the last eighteen
years. I didn’t start out as a big fan
at all. But I thought, “Hey, if it’s the
best selling book in the world, there
must be something to it!” I picked up
a One Year Bible, (which I highly recommend,) some eighteen years ago,
and each January 1st. I begin anew.
When December 31st. rolls around,
I have finished both Old and New
Testaments, cover to cover. I recall
how daunting a task it was to open
up the first Old Testament books and
plunge in. My eyes would glaze over,
GLEN BONHAM
and I’m not sure how much I understood, but I kept at it. I eventually accumulated a collection of commentaries, (remember, this was before the internet!) I would faithfully slog
through those commentaries trying to get a better understanding of
what I was reading. The more I read, the more I understood. Year after
year, God’s supernatural Word would make more and more sense to my
natural understanding. Now it’s my daily bread.
I’ve changed versions a couple of times over the years, and all of
my Bibles have notations, highlights, and markings all through them.
When I browse through pages I think, “Oh, yeah, I remember that.” It’s
the closest thing I have to a diary.
Letter of thanks
STAFF REPORTER
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
I had this idea of a tabloid newspaper based on the Bible. I remembered an acquaintance whom I met several times at a writ W.(